Argentinean movie director Emilio Vieyra immediately fires up his 1967 horror/sex send up “Blood of the Virgins” with the acute notion that most have given the legend of vampirism at least a cursory glance. Very little dramatic build up leads to even less character development, and then we’re out of the gates and plowing down the home stretch. Amenities and blouses be gone! We only have 77 minutes to settle this sucker! Bring on the bare breasts and blood! And that’s precisely what Vieyra does.
In short, a group of swingers are touring the vamp’s area when their hippie van collapses, leaving them to spend an unforgettable and seemingly unlivable evening at the Count’s lodge. The Count has kept an unwilling yet equally undead bride in his clutches, and not surprisingly, a sing-song “vampire” romp ensues. However, at least Emilio Vieyra was at the helm to save us from that tired fodder as boobies quickly begin to flow from the females’ brasiers as fluently as blood from their fang-punctured wounds.
Thematically there is an interesting twist as the Count’s vamped bride not only exterminates her captor with the dreaded silver dagger but then turns the damnable instrument upon herself. Cinematically we’re treated to numerous topless Go-Go dancers who wiggle wildly to cool-school jazz while inserts of sea gulls double for vampire bats. Weird.
Emilio Vieyra is Argentina’s answer to Brazil’s Coffin Joe, Spain’s Jesus Franco and France’s Jean Rollin. Vieyra haphazardly stumbled upon the horror/sex combo and immediately submitted three very bizarre entries into the cycle. In fact all three were released between 1967 and 1970. Vieyra’s genre credits include; “The Deadly Organ” (a.k.a.: “Feast of Flesh”), the mind/crotch-blowing “Curious Dr. Hummp” and of course “Blood of the Virgins”.
This DVD from Mondo Macabro features a fantastic documentary on Argentinian exploitation filmmaking as well as production notes, a still gallery and alternate subtitles.
