THE
PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE (1962)
Directed By Piero Regnoli
Image Entertainment DVD
Reviewed 06.23.05
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
The Transylvania chamber of commerce
just opened their second bottle
of French Cognac tonight. Dang!
Why the celebration? Well, they’ve
figured out a surefire way to drum
up some new tourist biz: sultry
showgirls in flowing see-through
nighties. Sure, there’s still
a few pinstripe-suited vamps lurking
around, but sex sells, my friend.
It’s time to open the cash
register.
In real life, it wasn’t Transylvania;
it was Italy. The Italian L’ultima
preda del vampiro (1960) was
snatched up by stately British schlock
producer Richard Gordon in 1962.
After a thorough dubbing, the film
was released to the “adults
only” market as The Playgirls
And The Vampire in 1962. Thanks
in part to the brilliantly exploitive
title and ad campaign (“Raw,
naked, terror!”), it was a
big box office ticket taker. The
hook? Sex ‘n’ ghouls!
Playgirls was one of the
first films in the world to shimmy
up an eyeball popping mix of erotic
undertones and rampaging monsters;
a precurser to American trash like
Peter Perry’s Kiss Me
Quick! and the Spanish cool
of Jess Franco’s The Diabolical
Dr. Z. Count Kernassy beckons
you.
It’s the age old story: febrile
Vera finds herself and the rest
of her traveling burlesque show
(four other girls, a manager, and
a piano player) stranded in the
middle of a thunderstorm. Insert
the eternal wind sound effects.
Luckily, they chance upon the castle
grounds of a certain Count Kernassy.
The Count is outraged! He beckons
them to leave, but changes his tune
when after noting Vera’s striking
resemblance to his long-dead love,
Margherita. The troupe is permitted
to stay and near nakedness ensues.
Raven-haired Katia is murdered,
but manager Lucas sez, “As
if we didn’t have enough headaches!”
To mourn for their dead friend,
the girls cue up a blues piano riff
and perform a strip tease. Vampires?
Bedside copies of Frolic magazine?
Midnight strolls? A falling suit
of armor?! A twist ending?!! It’s
all too much...then they throw in
that Halloween cut-out transformation
scene.
Aside from the pedestrian plot (paving
the way for literal rip-offs like
The Bloody Pit Of Horror)
and an uneventful midrift, Playgirls
rarely leaves a bad aftertaste.
In fact, the tight direction from
Piero Regnoli, coupled with Aldo
Greci's highly stylized photography,
makes for a classy slice of timid
sleaze. As a whole, it's very similar
to some of K. Gordon Murray's exported
Mexican horrors (detattached dubbing,
cheaply effective atmosphere), just
with a naked female vampire and
plenty of cheescake. Story-wise,
the whiff of a yellowed, sixty-cent
"adult" paperback hangs
throughout; most of the dialogue
stinks and the characters are as
thin as a dime. Thankfully, that
only makes things better.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Presented in its original 1.33:1
aspect ratio, Playgirls
looks just as it should. The blacks
are thick, there’s a fair
amount of dirtiness, and the picture
is as clear as it’s going
to get. The mono sound had a welcomed
layer of hiss over it, yet still
remained audible. I wouldn’t
have it any other way.
EXTRAS
The supplements are sparse, but
perfect: the film’s rip roaring
theatrical trailer and extensive
liner notes from Tim “Video
Watchdog” Lucas.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Groundbreaking and definitely curious,
Playgirls makes for perfect
midnight screenings. It straddles
the line between monster innocence
and adult spice, existing as a quaint
reminder of ancient 20th century
taboos. Now available as part of
Image’s Euroshock Box, so
snatch the whole thing up post-haste. |
Vera
The smut market
In mourning
Babe fangs
|
