This is one of those movies that few people have heard of and even fewer have seen. You'll find people that espouse this movie as being a long lost gem of 70s art horror, or those who saw it as a child and it hits a special nerve with them. For the average horror aficionado, though, I think you will find that this movie is very hit or miss, having some great highs, but a lot of lows, as well.
A young, innocent virgin is a singer in a church, but also the child of a notorious gangster. At the beginning of the movie, the man kills his wife and her lover and goes into hiding in the countryside, where he reaches out to his daughter to come visit him. Eager to do right by her father, the young girl sets out on her own.
What follows is a story that definitely plays on the ideas of sexual repression, lesbianism and the male fascination with underage girls, as every character in this movie seems to leer at our young heroine in sexual longing. The movie starts off rather slow and off, leaving you to wonder just what you are watching, but things start to pick up as her journey begins. The bus ride into the wilderness is fantastic, as a creepy ass driver makes wild faces, while regaling our heroine with stories of why she should fear these swamp marshes, which all leads to our first encounter with monsters. The creature design reminds me a lot of the zombie films of the time, such as CHILDREN SHOULDN"T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS or LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE. They are colorful monsters, with oddly heightened tones, rather than being rotting, undead shamblers.
After being imprisoned for a time, we finally meet Lemora, a semi- masculine lady vampire (with a bad acting issue and even worse makeup), who can't quite seem to make up her mind how she feels about the young girl. Is she going to seduce her, love her, destroy her or eat her? It seems to go through all of the gamut. There are times that the bad production values of the movie threaten to destroy it entirely. None of the acting is great, by any stretch. The story meanders a bit here and there. The music has that bad early 70s LAST HOUSE vibe where everything is far too pretty and nice to fit into a horror film and much too indicative of its' time era to be anything but a 70s film. Certain scenes are almost laugh out loud, such as the dancing scene with the children.
Still, the movie has just enough Gothic vibe to keep you engaged, playing with the idea of two rival breeds of vampires, the suave, intelligent brood of Lemora and the bestial monsters that live in the woods around the house and remind me a lot of the beasts in Moreau's island.
This movie is not, at all, going to be for everyone. I love low budget horror. I love 70s horror. I love artsy horror. I found myself slowly drifting my attention away here and there, though, as the movie definitely requires an acquired taste for finding subtle strengths in low budget horror and appreciating theme when story is lacking.
A young, innocent virgin is a singer in a church, but also the child of a notorious gangster. At the beginning of the movie, the man kills his wife and her lover and goes into hiding in the countryside, where he reaches out to his daughter to come visit him. Eager to do right by her father, the young girl sets out on her own.
What follows is a story that definitely plays on the ideas of sexual repression, lesbianism and the male fascination with underage girls, as every character in this movie seems to leer at our young heroine in sexual longing. The movie starts off rather slow and off, leaving you to wonder just what you are watching, but things start to pick up as her journey begins. The bus ride into the wilderness is fantastic, as a creepy ass driver makes wild faces, while regaling our heroine with stories of why she should fear these swamp marshes, which all leads to our first encounter with monsters. The creature design reminds me a lot of the zombie films of the time, such as CHILDREN SHOULDN"T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS or LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE. They are colorful monsters, with oddly heightened tones, rather than being rotting, undead shamblers.
After being imprisoned for a time, we finally meet Lemora, a semi- masculine lady vampire (with a bad acting issue and even worse makeup), who can't quite seem to make up her mind how she feels about the young girl. Is she going to seduce her, love her, destroy her or eat her? It seems to go through all of the gamut. There are times that the bad production values of the movie threaten to destroy it entirely. None of the acting is great, by any stretch. The story meanders a bit here and there. The music has that bad early 70s LAST HOUSE vibe where everything is far too pretty and nice to fit into a horror film and much too indicative of its' time era to be anything but a 70s film. Certain scenes are almost laugh out loud, such as the dancing scene with the children.
Still, the movie has just enough Gothic vibe to keep you engaged, playing with the idea of two rival breeds of vampires, the suave, intelligent brood of Lemora and the bestial monsters that live in the woods around the house and remind me a lot of the beasts in Moreau's island.
This movie is not, at all, going to be for everyone. I love low budget horror. I love 70s horror. I love artsy horror. I found myself slowly drifting my attention away here and there, though, as the movie definitely requires an acquired taste for finding subtle strengths in low budget horror and appreciating theme when story is lacking.