Fangs of the Living Dead (1973)

best movie i've ever seen.

Absolutely the worst movie.

Absolutely brilliant

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Along with many other European horror movies of the 1960s and 1970s, mainly Italian, Spanish, and/or Portuguese productions, this movie was a drive-in classic for us boys between the ages of seven and 14.Most adults probably found this to be quite un-scary after seeing movies like "Rosemary's Baby" and "Night of the Living Dead." It isn't 'too' scary for a child to have nightmares, but, it has vampires and rustic settings that made for a decent horror movie.After seeing this movie again as an adult, what I find best are the beautiful actresses - Anita Ekberg; Rosanna Yanni; Adrianna Ambesi; and, especially, Diana Lorys. Also, that cat-fight between Diana Lorys and Adrianna Ambesi is kinda-cool...but, they didn't tear any clothing off, which is a bummer!?!? :( Since they're both vampires, is it a 'bat-fight?' Or, is a 'bat-fight' between two old and ugly women? :D What I find worst about this movie is that weak-wimp-of-a-vampire, Count Walbrooke, who gets overpowered by a mere human; and, how his 'traditional' female-vampire servants don't always obey him...WHAT!?!? Also, that over-sexed-under-courageous-clown, Max, who's afraid of everything...but, then laughs at Dr. Horbinger's vampire ritual!?!? If he thinks vampires and their rituals are so silly, what's he so scared of?Anyhow, this is a good, even great, vampire movie, if you're a very young horror fan; or, an adult who scares easily. It's also enjoyable if you love beautiful European women with a lot of cleavage; or, if you're an Amando de Ossorio fan and wish to see this just so you can say you did. His "Blind Dead" trilogy is much better; and, that Spanish actress, Maria Elena Arpón (Helen Harp), is beautiful!As an adult, I give this six stars. As someone who saw this as a child, I'd have given it the same as I'd have compared it to "Tombs of the Blind Dead" (1972); "The Vampires' Night Orgy" (1974); and, the American-made/Esperanto-spoken "Incubus" (1966) - which are all scarier and far more superior.

A beautiful model in Rome named "Sylvia Morel" (Anita Ekberg) inherits a castle and sets out to take legal possession of it. When she gets there she meets her uncle, "Count Walbrooke" (Julian Ugarte) who traps her inside and tells her bizarre stories about her family in preparation for a diabolical initiation. At any rate, rather than disclosing what happens next, I will just say that there are some odd twists at the end which might leave you wondering. The acting isn't great by any means and the special effects were pretty bad as well. But this film does offer some attractive women, most notably two barmaids named "Bertha Zemis" (Diana Lorys) and "Freya Zemis" (Rosanna Yanni) along with the aforementioned Anita Ekberg. But other than that there really isn't anything that special or unique about it. That said, I would recommend this movie strictly for die-hard vampire fans only. Slightly below average.

Before director Amando De Ossorio made his classic blind dead films he helmed this interesting tale of vampirism. The movie centers around Anita Ekberg who has inherited wealth from her long lost mother. She has always despised her father for taking her away from her ancestral estate and raising her in Rome, but her old man had a reason: he had married into a family of witches, warlocks and vampires.Engaged to be married to a doctor (John Hamilton), Ekberg tells her betrothed that she is going to her home country to retrieve her inheritance and will be back in time for the wedding. Her plans change however as her nefarious uncle (Julian Ugarte) convinces her that her destiny rests in her family's castle. She sends a letter to her husband-to-be, breaking off their marriage, but he doesn't take the rejection lying down and heads off to bring Ekberg back to Rome. The good doctor is exposed to a superstitious people and tries to reason the odd occurrences through science with the help of his chum that he brings along for laughs.STORY: $$ (The story is typical. We have a young woman forced to adhere to her past, one that is steeped in black magic and vampirism. Her fiancé is a man of science who bad-mouths the old ways even when the legends of witchcraft and vampires are the only logical answer to the plague. This film injects too much "comedy" into the script with the doctor's squeamish sidekick who is only moderately funny at best).ACTING: $$$ (The acting is okay. Anita Ekberg does a fine job as the damsel in distress. It is quite clear that her performance is hindered greatly in dubbing. Julian Ugarte is effectively creepy as her uncle and John Hamilton does a good job as her fiancé. Diana Lorys of BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL and Rosanna Yanni of DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE have co-starring roles as managers of the local inn. Diana Lorys does an amazing job transforming herself from mild-mannered innkeeper to seductive vampiress while Rosanna shines as her concerned sister).NUDITY: None. However, there is more cleavage here than in an Hammer Horror film. Diana Lorys is an extremely sexy woman and Adriana Ambesi's lowcut dress can hardly contain her chest.

I viewed the 90 minute version, "Malenka, the Niece of the Vampire," and checked all the other comments before deciding to make a few observations of my own. There is precious little atmosphere in this film, Anita Ekberg's character does indeed come off as annoying, engendering no sympathy. It seems to me that Malenka was neither witch nor vampire, but an alchemist who died at the stake, but not before successfully prolonging the life of Anita Ekberg's 'uncle.' The girl in the castle and the one from the tavern were only pretending to be vampires, as we see the latter installing her fangs in a tiny compact mirror, and neither are seen after the fiery demise of the 'uncle,' disintegrating simultaneously with the burning portrait. In the 74 minute TV version, titled "Fangs of the Living Dead," there is a gag ending not seen in the longer print, Rosanna Yanni, sister of the tavern girl, being chased by the dizzy friend of Anita's doctor fiancée, sporting a set of fangs. What appears to be a clichéd retread winds up being a huge disappointment, with no vampires, only one real villain, no sex or nudity, no real violence or gore, and leaving a bad yawn in one's mouth. I first saw this film on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater back in 1978, alongside superior Spanish horrors such as "The Murder Mansion," "Horror Rises from the Tomb," "The Bell from Hell," "It Happened at Nightmare Inn," and "The Night of the Sorcerers," another credit for Amando de Ossorio, who wrote and directed "Malenka." Such features became cherished friends for long-time horror buffs like me, but now we are able to see them in all their uncut gory glory, with nudity intact. In this case entire sequences were missing from the Chiller Theater broadcast (all expendable exposition, as indeed the entire film turned out to be), and today you see what was missing and judge for yourself. Only the gag at the end, running about a minute and a half, remained exclusive to the TV version, plus one scene depicting the burial of the phony vampire Berthe, whose name is prominently displayed on the tombstone.