There's a Vampire Blog-a-thon going on (instigated by the Film Experience Blog), and I wanna play too. And to expand on a vampiric metaphor (metaphor?-- maybe a cliche), let us prey and suck on the fat and prodigious bandwidth of a Google enabled YouTube, as yet still unbloodied by copyright fights to come or starved skinny by a toll on a muti-tiered info-turnpike. We're talking vampire movie trailers, nothing from anything made after 1979, so no Lost Boys, Hunger, Fright Night, or Coppola's own Stoker Ace, kids. Nothing but gold here...
Requiem Pour Une Vampire --"...dans le chateau des orgies". Jean Rollin may not be everyone's cup of blood (and I'm not really sure he's mine), but his pictures have a poetic sensibility all their own, although paced with the languor of a laudanum high.
Planet of the Vampires --"...harboring a form of life worse than death". Bava goes Gothic in outer space and goes nuts with the color filters.
The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman --"...your blood will boil and your flesh will crawl..." A favorite from wayback. See it with someone you hate.
Mark of the Vampire --"Watch out! They may be hovering over you! Or you! Or YOU!" This one goes wayback to 1935. Nice central role for Lugosi in this trailer, and he camps it up nicely.
The Vampire Lovers"...sample, if you dare, the deadly passion of the Vampire Lovers!" Some early 70s Hammer, trying to sex up their gothic horrors with varying levels of success. It's better than most, if that doesn't seem to be damning with faint praise.
Lady Vampire (Onna Kyuketsuki) --Never heard of this one until I ran across the trailer on YouTube. I had no idea the Japanese were making gothic horrors in the 1950s. The trailer's completely in Japanese, so I'm taking guesses as far as the movie's plot goes. The lead vampire (not a lady, by the way, nor a gentleman for that matter) wears a classic Dracula style cape and walks around in cool shades. And he's pretty vicious when he attacks, with really large canines. If you're only going to see one of these trailers, check this one out!
Blacula --"...the black avenger, rising from his tomb to fill the night with horror!" Sure, it's ludicrous, but Blacula's still one of my favorite vampire films from the 70s. William Marshall is fantastic in it (what a voice!). Great soundtrack by Gene Page.
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (Kyuketsuki Gokemidoro) --Another Japanese vampire spectacular, and this one's really good. Not really a gothic take, although the filmmakers take some of the gothic conventions and play hardball with them. Vampirism (of a sort) explained through a colorful and crazed science fiction prism. This one needs to be available on DVD Region 1.
Orgy of the Living Dead Triple Feature --"This man's name is John Austin Fraser. He lived in Chicago, Illinois. He now resides in the state mental hospital." Not a great example of a vampire movie trailer, but an excellent example of classic American movie ballyhoo. The trailer's a better piece of cinema than any of those three features. I think one of the features is a vampire film, Fangs of the Living Dead, sometimes known as Malenka.
Nosferatu The Vampyre --"A film unlike any Dracula film you've ever seen...." Werner Herzog's version, of course. It's the best version of Dracula on film and it's the best vampire movie ever. Yeah, I said it.
All right, one more... Blood-o-Rama Shock Festival --"Are you ready for more than four hours of blood drenched, chill crammed terror?" Another trailer for a entire program of films. I like the act they use the term "festival" to give it an air of sophistication. I believe all the films come from the Philippines.
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