Vampyros Lesbos (Widescreen)

... If alien anthropologists came to earth to study us in our natural habitat during the late sixties/early seventies, what would their version of a Discovery Channel Special look like?

Well wonder no more! As it turns out, a director named Jess Franco answered that question in 1971 with the release of his Vampyros Lesbos.

Vampyros Lesbos starts out much like the Disney Nature films of that era, except this time, human beings are the lemmings being driven over the cliff to make some sort of nefarious artistic point.

The film begins with the camera pointing at the sun rising over a ship at sea. Or it could be of the setting sun. We [the viewer] don't know because we are not told what direction we're facing. An alien anthropologist starts narrating something, probably something like "As the sun rises (or sets) over the Mediterranean, the Vampyro Lesbo rises from her lair to dress and then consume her prey."

Most of the time, the camera just tells the story with the alien anthropologist narrator probably interjecting expository information as he/it feels is needed for his/its intended audience. While the subject of this documentary seems to primarily be the vampyros lesbos, every so often other inhabitants of this great planet of ours is discussed/shown, including that mightiest of birds of prey: the mighty kite.

From the human point of view, the movie is highly disturbing. It has the paper-thin plot, as one might expect, as well as the explicit nudity/erotic scenes to propel that paper-thin plot along. But all the while the thought nags: What if it isn't nature show, but a cooking show? Is our beloved earth the equivalent of an intergalactic four-star restaurant or just another fast-food drive-thru?

The DVD has a nice picture quality but is thin on the extras. The movie is in German with English subtitles and there's a trailer that is in German with no subtitles. The thing I would like most as an extra for this kind of film would be a commentary track by a Jess Franco super fan and/or a short bio on the key players or some sort of trivia.

But overall, I feel this is a very good buy and I will probably be thinking about this film weeks from now. Or, at least days.

I just watched Vampyros Lesbos for the fourth time yesterday and I'm always amazed!
Jess Franco did a great Job. It is by far one of his greatest if not the greatest of all. Nice camera work (yes sometime it is out of focus but it brings to the out of this world atmosphere... probably not always planned but sometimes it fit strangely well), the rythm (both for the eye and the ear)is quite excellent. When the story loose pace, I suspect some cuts (made by who and when I don't know but the sound cuts suggest it to)Nice use of translucent and reflective surfaces and shadows. A simple miror seem to have been used for the lightning at many moments in the movie wich is brilliant and contribute to the magic. The actors are excellent and way above the average for such low budget flicks and talent is well distributed accordingly to the importance of the characters. At the top of the cast shines Soledad Miranda... Hypnotique et Magnifique!! The costumes as thin as they are sometimes are superb. The long red scarf / veil is the trade mark of the countess and provides one the most beautiful generic ever presented on a screen! This movie is filled with a deep powerful lingering eroticism... but you have to be in a receptive state of mind. Compare to other movies of the same era it is way on the top. The metaphoric elements are excellent and relates to the esthetic of classic vampire movies in a very original way. The sly scorpion chasing his victim like the countess, the butterfly caught in the fishnet like Linda caught in the web of the vampire. Some see the kite as a bat... I see it more like the soul of Linda that is connected with a thin line to the hypnotic power of Nadine... Well, all this to say that it is brilliant! The locations are beautiful and makes me want to go to Turkey one day! And to settle the case of the sunbathing vampires... My theory is that Nadine is so powerful a vampire that she doesn't care for sunlight anymore... she carry no guilt of what she is... She assume totally her vampirism and so she is almost invincible... She is so thirsty that she feeds on lifes pleasures themselves as much as on the livings... Well, enough said... Go watch it on the biggest screen you can find... Turn off the subtitles and give yourself body and soul to the Countess ;)

sure, we've all heard about this one throughout the years & some of us even own the soundtrack which is still big in clubs throughout the world even today. but how many of us can actually say we've had the chance to see this fun film? if nothing else, you should atleast view vampyres lesbos for the performance of the late, but lovely soldedad miranda. if you love watching salma hayek grace the screen, you will nearly die while watching ms. miranda indulge in sensual, vampiric activity. contrary to what the title might suggest or what mr. franco's films are normally like, this one is rather tame but artistic nevertheless. i couldn't say that i would watch this with my religious grandmother. here we have a beautiful countess carody who has inherited all dracula's wolrdly goods & she has an insatiable taste for women's blood. to make things more complicated, we have a pyschopath running around the island who has lost his wife to the countess. if this weren't enough, we have a dcotor who's been doing pyschological research on vmapires & he treats a woman named alga who constantly swears the countess carody is coming or that she can feel her presence. at the heart of all this, we find our heroine who dreams of countess each nite & then meets her in the person to assist her with business. needless to say, our heroine has been somewhat drawn to the countess since the beginning of the film through her dreams initially & then later on dancing with a mannequin on stage. instead of bats & rats, we have flying kites & a water creature. obviously, franco does want to stay true to the campy horror genre but i love his campy twist. lesbos is wicked, sinful, & ironically funny but sure to please. get your copy today before this goes out of print for a million years.