Search - Female Vampire on DVD

The Vampire Eye of Jess Franco

Ava Lomax | Carrboro, NC United States | 08/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Female Vampire was the first film Jess Franco made after the death of his star and lover, Soledad Miranda, and the film is a haunting and mournful examination of fate and loss. On the surface there does not seem much to warrnt the very high opinion I have of this film: the dialogue is ludicrous, often pretentious, and the acting merely passable, at best. Viewed as horror or porno the film would seem to have none of the qualities we desire from either of those genres: deliberate pacing, various props to create atmosphere, an internal logic, no matter how warped. So while it may seem immediately facile to say so I think this film has more in common with 60's and 70's avant-garde that with, say, Hammer, or Corman. Stan Brakhage came to my mind after watching Female Vampire. Both Brakhage and Franco are obsessed with film as a purely visual medium, but whereas Brakhage sought to reproduce the way the mechanism of the eye perceives information, without interpreting the stimuli, Franco is more concerned with the memory's hold on what the eye takes in. Franco's camerawork can only be described as insatiable--it is the most tactile and grasping use of the lens imaginable. The line on Franco is, and you hear it repeated over and over, that he 'overuses the zoom lens' but he does so, I feel, to imbue the film's space with consciousness, to feel every inch of the subject in the lens (usually the luscious Lina Romay). But like all vampires, Jess Franco's starving eye can never hold, keep, or own, that which it craves so desperately, namely lost Soledad, the pulsing blood of time itself. . . ."

BAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF!

L. Steidl | NYC | 02/24/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It never fails that every time I experience this film, and I've seen it now about three times in the past year, it produces a vastly different reaction each time I view it. I bounce from absolute admiration for Franco's directorial style, dreamy camerawork and musical score, and committed performances from the cast, to thinking that this is nothing but a cheap, porno-wanna-be-flick with absolutely nothing to do with "vampires", and no artistic integrity whatsoever. Fortunately, the positive vibes win out over the negative and I, once again, admire this film and all that is right and wrong with it. If I fail to make sense, well good then, because neither does this flick. Ms. Romay is, to say the least, totally uninhibited as she romps about the beautifully filmed outdoor scenes while a Chopin-like score lusciously underscores her every movement. Her scenes with the bed posts are, er...., quite a moment in the Euro-Erotic field, and the way she swishes and moves about on her bed like a pent-up, totally horny young woman about to have an orgasm for the first time is, well...... something to see. I love the moments of male frontal nudity, especially a scene where Ms. Romay is seducing a hotel masseur. The simulated sex is quite laughable, especially since our young man can't seem to "get it up". This is quite an atmospheric film and, if you love your 70's horror/vampire flicks, I think you will find much to admire in this one.

Luigi - NYC

"

Wow

Fabiola | Puerto Rico | 05/23/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"That Jess Franco sure was wacky. This ultra-sexy 70's vamp flick probably arouses me more than any modern softcore film, but it's still not as good as Vampire Femmes or Vampyres. The woman here isn't really a vampire in the monster sense of the word. She's more of an energy sucker, kills by sucking sexual energy from her victims. The bad acting will get on some's nerves, and the plot is ludicrous, but if you buy this film to begin with, you can't expect Citizen Kane. A good b-movie sexfest."

Get this movie for Lena Lomay ONLY !!

Roger C. Martin | Austin, TX USA | 04/02/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For those of you who are fans of Lena Lomay (you might have seen her in another Jess Franco flick "Ilsa, the Wicked Warden"), then you'll want to get this one if you enjoy seeing her charms. (And by "charms" I don't mean acting talent. Her body does all the work for her.) First of all, this is not really a vampire flick. If you are looking for a good vampire movie, search elsewhere; but if you are looking to see a constantly naked and writhing Lena Lomay, then get this Euro-flick. She'll make you forget all about the plot of the movie. (Wait....this movie has no plot to begin with.) Anyway, there are some really good shots of her in this film (some with legs in the "eagle" fashion), and throughout the entire movie, she behaves like a nympho on steroids--she just can't get enough. The sex scenes themselves are pretty lousy, but like I said, this film is all about seeing HER. If you are a fan of the female form, then this flick is a huge chunk of eye candy, Lena Lomay style."