Prolific cult director Jess Franco returned to the world of Dracula with this gorgeous, surreal masterpiece.
Soledad Miranda is the focus of the film, playing Countess Nadine Carody, who’s set to inherit Dracula’s estate. Many of the story’s traditional roles are flipped, with Jonathan Harker’s role taken by Ewa Strömberg’s Linda Westinghouse. However, rather than trapping Linda in her castle, the Countess opens Linda’s sexual world with various sins of the flesh. The Van Helsing proxy here is Dr Alwin Seward (played with delightful zest by Dennis Price). The story isn’t as important as the visuals, however, with Franco filling the screen with flash and flesh.
Severin’s 4K restoration of Vampyros Lesbos is nothing less than stunning. It’s presented in German, but sounds fantastic, making the most of the celebrated score by Manfred Hübler and Sigi Schwab. The release is also packed with extra features (five hours’ worth!), some carried over from previous releases and some new. Kat Ellinger’s commentary track delves into the film’s themes and is enlightening and thoughtful, and another focuses more on Franco’s life and career. As is usual now with any serious Franco release, author Stephen Thrower (who wrote the final word on the director’s work with his two massive books) has some valuable input.
Vampyros Lesbos may be the gateway to the world of Jess Franco, but that stills comes with a caveat that it won’t be to the taste of many. If you love the bizarre and are not afraid of the erotic, this release is invaluable.
