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the Vampires Night Orgy
[Sinema Diable]
1972; color
Directed by Leon Klimovsky
Starring: Helga Line, Jack Taylor & Dyanik Zurakowska
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Here's another in a seemingly endless series of films no one ever heard of the first time they were released seeing the light of day thanks to DVD technology and the whims of one or more people in possession of a little extra cash and a video copy of an obscure movie yet to be released in the newer format. That's not a complaint, just an observation. I mean, without films with words in the titles like vampire, night and orgy there would be no B-Movie Buffet so I say let the blood red rivers of Eurotrash flow. By the way, before you get excited, the orgy part is purely metaphoric; the most you get as far as that kind of action (in this version of the movie anyway) is a glimpse of the pretty blond heroine chick's boobs. Which is a blessing in disguise. The vampire countess might be wealthy and powerful and have eternal life and all but she's no Ingrid Pitt. (PS - what the fuck is up with her hair? Vampire countesses conduct electricity, like that ball at the Franklin Institute, causing hair to get all static-y and stand on it's end? I didn't know that.) Anywhoo, like many foreign horror films made in the 70's, the Vampires Night Orgy has a long, drawn-out plotline that's pretty easy to figure out based on the title and the first few minutes of the film. Basically a bus full of people on their way to new jobs wind up in a mysterious town which—remember the title—is inhabited by those oh-so-pesky bloodsuckers. Of course, the people don't know that at first. All they know is, they need to pull off the road and find a place to rest and regroup after the excitement of watching their bus driver keel over and die. The first and only place they come across will just have to do, and the fact that this particular inn in this particular town boasts an odd combination of creepy old world charm and total lack of staff or guests isn't gonna deter our travelers any. In fact, they're about make themselves at home when—surprise, surprise—a mysterious stranger appears. No, he's not a vampire. Oddly enough. He's a "romantic interest" for the aforementioned pretty blond lass; a swinging bachelor type who's troubled American sports car has also led him to this unusual town. Super; no blond in a horror movie should ever be without a man to save her - even if he turns out to be a pervert who spies on her through a hole in the wall while she undresses. (Trust me, in comparison to the other guys she was traveling with she did well for herself.) Speaking of the other bus people, it's not really important to familiarize yourself with them because, as is the case with many movies of this ilk, pretty much everyone the viewer is introduced to in the first part of the movie who isn't the hero, heroine or a vampire is quite dead by the end. (Or, in this case, is that undead?) Unlike a lot of other movies of this ilk though, there wasn't a ton of gore or blood. VNO is one of those psychological thrillers - the kind that are only psychologically thrilling if you can get carried away by the story. I couldn't, but maybe you'll be able to. I've seen better Euro-trash vampire movies but I suppose I've also seen worse.
—Bunny
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