VAMPYROS LESBOS was my second Franco, and the one that guaranteed there would be a third, fourth, and 50th Jesus Franco film in my future. It's very rare to come across something so utterly bizarre and unorthodox in every particular but to "get" it instantly. That's how VAMPYROS LESBOS and I hit it off, though.
Bela Lugosi's Dracula has been sequelized, remade, rehashed, and referenced more times than can be easily counted, but, as far as I know, this is the only time anyone set out to produce a "remake" that consciously reversed everything in the movie. Night becomes day, hetero Count becomes lesbian Countess, Puritanical vampire hunter becomes degenerate obsessed with becoming a vampire, and so on. The perversity of it all is delightful. When Franco zoomed into Soledad Miranda's exquisite face as she tells us how much she loves wine, I didn't spare a shout.
Bela Lugosi's Dracula has been sequelized, remade, rehashed, and referenced more times than can be easily counted, but, as far as I know, this is the only time anyone set out to produce a "remake" that consciously reversed everything in the movie. Night becomes day, hetero Count becomes lesbian Countess, Puritanical vampire hunter becomes degenerate obsessed with becoming a vampire, and so on. The perversity of it all is delightful. When Franco zoomed into Soledad Miranda's exquisite face as she tells us how much she loves wine, I didn't spare a shout.