Vinegar Syndrome has released another title from the classic era of Italian Gothic horror. THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE (original title L'ULTIMA PREDA DEL VAMPIRO) makes its Blu-ray debut.
This movie forms an unofficial trilogy with fellow early 1960s Italian flicks THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA and THE VAMPIRE OF THE OPERA. All three films are in black & white and set in contemporary times, and all three feature a bevy of curvy dancing girls under threat by the undead. In THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE, it's five dancing girls (along with their manager and accompanist) who are stranded at a creepy castle inhabited by one Count Kernassy (Walter Brandi). The Count happens to have a lookalike centuries-old vampire ancestor (also played by Brandi), and one of the girls happens to be a dead ringer for the undead's lost love.
I wrote a blog post on THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE a while ago, and I noted that it wasn't as good as the two other films linked to it. What hurts it the most is that none of the actors are particularly charismatic or interesting (Brandi is underwhelming in both his roles). It does have some notable elements, such as the fact that one of the dancing girls who has been turned into a vampire cavorts about in the nude.
Vinegar Syndrome states that THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE has been scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm fine grain master. The movie looks better than the many versions one finds on the internet and YouTube, but the image appears soft at times and the visual quality is rather flat. I think this is more due to the source material--THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE isn't as cinematic as most Italian Gothics made during this period. The film is presented in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio.This Blu-ray features Italian and English audio tracks, along with newly translated English subtitles. The disc is region-free.
The main extra is a 26 minute featurette with Mark Thompson-Ashworth, who mentions the unofficial "Dancing Girls and Vampires" trilogy, along with going into some background about the cast & crew. including writer-director Piero Regnoli. Unfortunately there is no audio commentary.
The disc also has three alternate title sequences for the film, an original trailer, and a still gallery. If you order the movie direct from Vinegar Syndrome, you get a wraparound sleeve with vintage ad artwork for the film, and the disc case sleeve is reversible as well (see above). The artwork is more energetic than just about anything in the movie!
THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE isn't one of the best Italian Gothics, but it's perfect late-night viewing for old monster movie buffs. It's nice that Vinegar Syndrome has given it an official release.
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