[Blu-Ray] FILM REVIEW: Vampyros Lesbos

Vampyros Lesbos - Severin Films 4K Blu Ray Release

Director: Jesús Franco

Starring: Soledad Miranda, Ewa Strömberg, Paul Muller, Dennis Price, Heidrun Kussin

Written by: Jesús Franco, Jaime Chávarri

Produced by: Artur Brauner, Arturo Marcos

Cinematography by: Manuel Merino

Original Score by: Manfred Hübler, Sigi Schwab

Synopsis:

In Turkey, a lesbian vampire - who uses an erotic nightclub act to find new victims - lures a lawyer to her private island under the pretence of resolving an inheritance issue.

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Thoughts:

The great auteur Jesús Franco provides us an unconventional take on 'Dracula' in 'Vampyros Lesbos' (1971) that feels so of its era. A hazy, erotic hallucination that drifts in and out of a nightclub, narrative norms and consciousness. 

A German-Spanish production steeped in 1970s European stylings, it plays like a cross between camp and experimental, mixed with elements from exploitation cinema and yet still something far more surreal. My mind wondered immediately to the world on David Lynch, at times evoking the disorienting dream logic of 'Mulholland Drive' and later 'Inland Empire'. Did Franco inspire Lynch?

From its beautiful seaside opening, the golden sunsets and empty beaches are all captured with dramatic zooms and shots out of focus that lead into the erotic performance in a club. Moments that establish the movie as more of a constant dreamscape, rather than a horror that is narrative driven.

The story centres on Linda Westinghouse’s perspective after witnessing a strange, hypnotic and explicit performance/erotic ritual that leaves the audience transfixed, including Linda who becomes psychologically and physically entangled with the mysterious Countess. The heavy use of the colour red which is in nearly every frame of the film was a great stylistic choice from Franco. There are red props, red splattered costumes, the candles are red, the furniture, the kite that appears as a constant motif, along with the iconic long red scarf of Countess Nadine Carody.

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The scene itself is truly mesmerising along with its incredible psychedelic score mixed with mostly an organ and sitar. Seductive loungecore which sets the tone for everything that follows. Linda is visibly aroused and unsettled and from that moment on, the film suggests that what we are watching may be as much her dream as reality.

Franco leans heavily into this ambiguity. Linda travels to a remote island to deliver an inheritance tied to the Dracula lineage in Hungary, only to fall deeper under Nadine’s spell. The island becomes a place where death itself seems to reside and somewhere Linda feels compelled to go, as if she were summoned. Strange disembodied voices, and to the unnerving soundscape that’s filled with experimental effects. The film’s sound design is particularly striking, blending waves, whispers, and surreal audio cues into something genuinely disorienting.

Visually, the film is rich with 70s European decor with sleek hotel interiors, bold colours and stylised compositions that border on camp without fully tipping into parody. Scenes of Linda and Nadine by the sea swimming together, sunbathing, sharing what can only be assumed as blood as Nadine rejoices “I love this red wine”. These scenes are sensual but also oddly detached, as though observed through a dream. Franco frequently interrupts these moments with jarring images of scorpions, a kind of dragon fly and back to those early shots of the red sunset along with other abstract imagery that doesn’t really add to the narrative. 

As the story progresses, reality becomes even more unstable. Linda awakens in a clinic with no memory of the island, haunted only by the image of a naked woman lying dead in a pool. Under the care of Dr. Seward, and reunited with her boyfriend Omar, she is told she is safe yet the film suggests otherwise. The clinic itself, with its wooden walls, red-painted spaces, and strange patients, feels just as unreal. One sequence, involving a woman in distress under harsh lighting and shadow, recalls the unsettling tone and familiar staging of Inland Empire.

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Nadine’s origins emerge. The story being her trauma, the violence that she experienced and her transformation at the hands of Dracula, who promises to take all her suffering away. Her hatred of men and reliance on seduction becomes a defining trait as Linda is positioned as the next to be initiated. Meanwhile, Dr. Seward becomes obsessed with vampirism, drawn into the same seductive abyss.

The film loops back on itself returning to the nightclub performance which is revealed as both spectacle and ritual. Nadine bites her partner as the audience applauds, blurring the line between entertainment and sadism. The imagery grows increasingly stylised with red spiral staircases, shifting lights and Morpho, Nadine’s silent enforcer, complete with striking purple-tinted sunglasses who moves through scenes like a phantom. The climax unfolds in violence and release. After a chaotic confrontation, the resolution feels ambiguous as if the dream never fully ends. 

Borderline camp yet undeniably hypnotic, 'Vampyros Lesbos' thrives on mood over logic as is complemented by its psychedelic soundscape, surreal imagery and experimental narrative form. Ultimately, as dreamscape cinema or just pure sensory indulgence, 'Vampyros Lesbos' remains a striking piece of exploitation and cult cinema. Strange and seductive.

Scanned in beautiful 4K from the original negative that highlight's the vivid colours and textured cinematography maintaining all its essence. The new set from Severin Films contains new commentary tracks and over 5 hours of extensive extras, including a great 20 minute interview with Jess Franco (Interlude in Lesbos) a new sit down where he's smoking a cigarette, telling stories of the producers, getting 'Vampyros' made right after his Dracula film and the many plans they had for Soledad Miranda before she died. Plus 'The Red Scarf Diaries', a career appreciation piece by filmmaker Sean Baker on Jess Franco, and detailing the influence the film had on him and 'Anora'.

Severin Films is a studio dedicated to restoring and releasing the works of Oscar nominees and cult cinema icons on special edition blu-rays, 4K UHD and digital platforms. Look out for the works of Argento, Fulci, Meyer across the sub-genres of exploitation cinema and European erotic thrillers.

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

-Gary McIlhagga

'Vampyros Lesbos' is released on 4K UHD Bluray on March 30th from Severin Films