Even before Black Sunday, Mario Bava displayed his mastery with the filmic macabre in a film he wasn't slated to direct at all.  A happy accident it was that united...

By TESS HENSEN

Mario Bava was not only a director of some of the horror genre's most memorable films, but before he became well known as the director of such horror classics as Black Sunday and Black Sabbath, he was a cinematographer and special effects cameraman as well. He was also known as a rescuer of films. When temperamental directors like Riccardo Freda stormed off the set, not to return, Bava was often asked to step up and finish the project. Such is the case with the 1956 Italian horror film I Vampiri (a.k.a. The Vampires, The Devil's Commandment--1963 USA, Lust For A Vampire--1963 USA), a film in which Bava ended up co-directing with Freda.

I Vampiri is considered the first Italian "talkie" horror film. The first Italian horror film was a 1920-something silent version of the Frankenstein story. Released in Italy in 1956, I Vampiri should have been able to ride the wave of the horror-film revival started the following year by Hammer Studio's The Curse Of Frankenstein. But sadly, such was not the case. Instead, in 1960 the original film was shortened by 8 minutes from the initial 78 minute running time and additional footage was inserted that contained an appearance by Al "Grandpa Munster" Lewis. The film was then released in America in 1963 under the alternate titles The Devil's Commandment and Lust For A Vampire.

I have never screened either of these versions, and have heard and read that I Vampiri in it's original form is, of course, a much superior film. It has an engaging storyline that successfully combines the filmic ingredients of noir-ish crime drama, romance, giallo like sequences and a couple of different classic horror themes. Another interesting aspect to notice is the musical score, which hearkens back to the classic age of Universal Horror films. A homage perhaps? While it might seem odd to think of the music in that context, it works in this film, and I found myself more often than not smiling in remembrance of those golden Monster Memories when screening this film.

The plot is thus: A young woman's body is found floating in the Seine river in Paris, drained of blood. She is not the first victim to bear a similar mode of death, as other bodies have been found in the same state, and the Paris newspapers abound with headlines of "The Vampire". Another young woman, Mirielle, who is a dancer, is attacked and abducted from her dressing room and a young reporter named Pierre Lantin (Dario Michaelis) is sent to the scene of the crime to investigate. He soon becomes obsessed with the case. On a clue given to him by his photographer friend, Ronald Fontaine, Pierre goes to the Joan Of Arc school to interview the friends and classmates of Nora, the girl whose body was found floating in the Seine. There he encounters a perky blonde named Lorette from whom he learns that a man had been following them the day of Nora's disappearance.

After speaking to Lorette and her friends, Pierre is stopped on the street by a beautiful lady named Giselle (Gianna Maria Canale), who is the Duchess Margherita Du Grande's niece. She tries to manipulate him into coming to visit her at her castle, as it's apparent she is romantically interested in him. He graciously evades her offer, as it's apparent he has no interest in her. He re-joins his friend Fontaine, who cannot believe he has spurned her advances, stating to him that she's only the most beautiful woman in Paris. Pierre is not particularly impressed, and explains to his friend that it has something to do with their family's past history. Fontaine then states that he is definitely interested in pursuing her and asks Pierre to introduce him to her.

Meanwhile, drug-addicted Joseph Segnoret--the man who abducted Mirielle, the dancer--is approached in his apartment by another mysterious man who shows him a picture of Lorette, the girl from the Joan Of Arc school. The mysterious man promises Segnoret a fix in return for his abduction of Lorette, and he agrees. Segnoret stations himself outside the school to wait for Lorette. Pierre has come back to the school as well, to conduct more interviews. Pierre sees the strange man waiting outside the school, and recognizes him from a picture his friend Fontaine had given him as a clue. The picture was taken of Lorette's friend, Nora, the day she disappeared, and the man was standing in the background--the same man that Lorette had mentioned being followed by that day.

He follows the man to an apartment, knocks on the door so he can get a better look to verify that it is indeed the man from the picture. Pierre then calls the authorities, thinking he has found "The Vampire". They follow him back to Segnoret's apartment. Instead of finding the addict, they find an older, retired policeman who let's them in to have a look around. He states that he does not know the man in the picture, and that he has been in the apartment all day with no visitors. Pierre is greatly confused by this, as Segnoret answered the door not 20 minutes before. The authorities apologize and leave the apartment much to the chagrin of Pierre, who adamantly states that this is the apartment door he knocked on--the one right after the street barricade. In a related scene, we see two men who notice that the street barricade has been moved, and put it in it's original place - in front of the second set of apartments.

Joseph Segnoret pays a visit to the Professor Julien Du Grande--the Duchess's cousin--stating that he is leaving town and wants money and lots of it, or he will tell the press everything. It's the Professor who has been keeping Segnoret in drugs, and who has made him abduct young girls in return. Joseph tells the Professor that the press and authorities are on his tail and that he's not going to take a fall for him. He again threatens to go to the police and tell them everything about the Professor's shady doings. The Professor's assistant, in a desperate attempt to silence Joseph, accidentally kills him instead. An elderly lady then enters the room, draped in black from head to toe, and tells the Professor that soon the police will be on to him as well, and that there is only one thing he can do to divert them. So, the Professor fakes his death.

At the funeral, it is pointed out by friends and mourners that the Professor, even though a cousin of the Duchess's, was in his youth, very much in love with her. She, however, considered him only as a brother. Nevertheless, there was nothing he would not do for her. It is then noticed that Giselle, the Duchess's niece, is not in attendance for the funeral. The comment is brushed away by someone who states that she is not much for funerals and will return from her apparent out-of-country trip soon. Pierre and Fontaine are at the funeral where they notice that the Duchess is dressed in such a way that not even her face is showing. Pierre tells his friend that she was once a beautiful woman who did not grow old gracefully, and therefore hides her aged face from the world. He also states that her love for his father was partly to blame for her aged looks. Apparently, she was deeply in love with Pierre's father, but he wanted nothing to do with her. She destroyed Pierre's mother's life and he has not forgiven her for that.

After the funeral, a couple of men who are obviously working for the Professor, go to the crypt and retrieve the body that's inside - Joseph's. The body is taken to a laboratory, where the Professor starts an experiment to isolate the organs and oxygenate them in order to extend their life, which would allow them to survive independently from the corpse. He, like Dr. Frankenstein, is on a quest to create life from death. Before he can conduct the experiment, the Duchess interrupts him. She tells him that she needs him the get things ready for that night, as Giselle has to be at the castle the next day. It's all very "cryptic"--not only in the Duchess's enigmatic request, but also in the fact that the Professor's laboratory is located behind the crypt wall. The Duchess calls for her driver, saying that she wants to go out for a while.

Back at the Joan Of Arc school, A blind man stops Lorette on the street. He asks her to deliver a letter for him. Being the kind person she is, she agrees. She takes the letter to the assigned address, unbeknownst that it is a trap. She is abducted almost as soon as she sets foot inside the door. Meanwhile, Pierre has paid an unannounced visit to her parent's house, where they are anxiously awaiting her arrival for dinner. Her parents tell Pierre that it's not like her to be late, and after waiting a while longer, he accompanies them to the police station where they report her missing.

Lorette is being held captive by the Professor in the Du Grande castle, but for what purpose? She wakes up from her drug-induced sleep and tries to find a way out of her gothic prison. What she finds instead is a concealed room full of skeletal corpses, whereupon she faints in horror.

The police have called in one of Lorette's friends and the blind man who has been positively identified as the one who gave her the letter. They get the address of the letter from the blind man and go to investigate. The police find an empty apartment, and realize that it had been set up as a trap to snag Lorette.

Back at his office, Pierre is called in to see the boss. The boss, angry that Pierre has failed to come up with a decent story on "The Vampire", tells him that he has been pulled off the case, and has instead been reassigned to cover a ball for the social column that the Duchess Du Grande's niece, Giselle, is holding that night. Pierre, of course, protests, but to no avail. At the ball, some attendees notice that the Duchess herself is not in attendance. Pierre and his photographer friend Ronald Fontaine arrive.

Pierre makes a beeline for the terrace, hoping Giselle will not spot him. She does, however, and follows him out. Once in his presence, she makes romantic overtures to him, stating that she can't believe how much he looks like his father. He asks her how she could have known his father, and she tells him that her aunt has a picture of him in her room that she guards jealously, being that she was so in love with him. They suddenly hear an abrupt scream, and Giselle explains it away by telling Pierre that her aunt still has occasional 'attacks' that they try to keep as quiet as possible, but are not always successful in doing so.

In a related scene, the Professor enters the room where Lorette is being held captive, and admonishes her not to scream again, as no one can hear her. Her tells her that her life is in his hands, and that he doesn't really want to hurt her. He then forcefully sedates her to keep her quiet.

Pierre, having had enough of Giselle's advances, abruptly leaves the ball. He has no wish to lead her on, as he has no interest in her. His friend, Fontaine, stays behind, hoping to get acquainted with her himself, as he finds her irresistibly attractive. The guests leave the ball, and Giselle retires to her room to relax, have a smoke, and fantasize about Pierre. She is suddenly surprised by Fontaine, who has climbed in through her window. She immediately demands to know why he has performed such an impudent act. He states that he has come to just admire her beauty and to profess his love for her, which he can't explain. He tells her to forget about Pierre, that he has no interest in her. He then tries to force himself upon her.

Giselle escapes his grasp and demands that he leave her room immediately. As he backs away from her, a look of surprise and dawning horror crosses his face. She is visibly aging, and quite rapidly, before his very eyes! It is at this point that we, as viewers, realize that Giselle and the Duchess Du Grande are one and the same. She confesses to Fontaine that she is indeed the Duchess Margherita Du Grande, and that she becomes the young Giselle at the cost of human life. She does all this for Pierre Lantin, who she cannot let get away from her like his father did. She then shoots and kills Fontaine, and has the Professor's lab assistants do away with the body.

The Duchess/Giselle demands that the Professor find another way to help her preserve her youth. He tries to explain to her that he has done all he can and that even the results of the experiments he has performed on her recently have had consistently shorter durations, and can trigger the aging process again by something as trivial as strong emotions. The new experiments he is working on are not perfected yet and may kill her if tried too soon. The Duchess/Giselle does not care and the Professor is forced to perform the untested experiment on her against his will.

Lorette is sedated and strapped to a cot, and the Duchess/Giselle is lying on another. Something like a blood transfusion takes place with Lorette's blood supposedly infusing the Duchess/Giselle with youth and beauty.

The Duchess/Giselle, young and beautiful again after the successful experiment, goes shopping for a painting at a local art shop. Along the way she runs into Pierre and demands that he accompany her. Pierre obediently tags along, where he witnesses her writing the check for the painting with her left hand. Pierre, not knowing that the Duchess and Giselle are one and the same, makes a note of the way she seems confused when trying to decide if she's right or left-handed. She leaves Pierre at the shop saying that she has other errands to run.

Pierre asks the shopkeeper if he has ever noticed if she was left-handed and he states that he has not. He asks to use to shopkeeper's phone, and he calls his friend Fontaine, only to find out from the desk clerk at his friend's apartment building that he did not come home the previous evening and was still not in. Pierre, knowing that he last saw his friend at the Duchess's castle, goes to the police to enlist their aid in a search. They refuse because he has no solid proof, so Pierre decides to visit the castle himself to get the proof he needs to conduct a missing persons search.

The Professor is in the lab preparing to perform the experiment on Joseph Segnoret's (remember him?) body that had been put on hold, when he gets a call from the Duchess. She tells him that she is not feeling very well and is afraid that her heart is failing. He rushes to her right away. Joseph's body lies inert upon the lab cot, when unexpectedly, his eyes open, and he rises from the table! He is either still alive, or resurrected. As Pierre explores the castle, a sensor alarm goes off, and he flees outside only to run into the recently revived Joseph, who begs to be taken away from the castle. Pierre has found the proof he needs and takes Joseph back to the police station. Segnoret then confesses all to them before collapsing in a faint.

The police and Pierre go back to the castle to question the Duchess, who, they are told by the doorman, is not there. However, Giselle is, and lets them in stating in so many words that she has nothing to hide. The police begin a search of the castle, hoping to find Fontaine. They find nothing, as the Professor and his assistant, upon hearing the police sirens, have neatly hidden any evidence and the still alive Lorette away. The police apologize to Giselle, and much to Pierre's chagrin prepare to leave her in peace. Just as they are walking to the door, one of the officers who was inspecting the castle grounds, steps in and sees Giselle on the stairway, aging before his eyes!

He alerts the other officers who watch in amazement and horror as the young and beautiful Giselle becomes the old and decrepit Margherita - the Duchess Du Grande. A more thorough search is then conducted, and a secret passageway to an attic room is found. There, the Professor and his assistant are found and shot. One of the officers finds the crypt and takes off the lid where they find Lorette, weak from blood loss, but still alive. The Duchess then dies, after confessing all; and Pierre, who nobody believed the entire time, finally gets his kudos.

This film is yet another entertaining Bava offering from his vast library of cinema. It has everything--a likable hero in Pierre, a love triangle between Pierre, Lorette and Giselle, a mad scientist and his limping assistant, and not one but two classic horror themes are explored. The first and most recognizable is of course, the Frankenstein parallel. Professor Du Grande is obsessed with his experiments regarding extending and creating life. While he is not quite mad--he is, after all, being manipulated by the Duchess, with whom he is in love--he is dedicated enough to his vision that murder is not beneath him.

The other theme is the Countess Bathory parallel. The Duchess is, in simple terms, a vampire. No, she does not drink the blood of her victims like the typical fanged fright, but nevertheless, she uses the blood of young girls, through various serums and transfusions, in order to preserve her youth and beauty. While Mary Shelley's story of Frankenstein had been explored in cinema several times before this film was released, I am uncertain as to whether the Bathory tale had been given a filmic interpretation before 1956. At any rate, both themes combined turn into a sort of modern crime-drama/horror film that works quite well in this instance.

My source for this article was the Image Entertainment DVD version from the Mario Bava Collection. Once again, they have presented this film in it's original 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio in wide screen. The black & white transfer is very clean and the picture crystal clear with very little dirt, lint or haziness visible. The subtitles are large and are a sort of soft yellow color, which allows them to show up very well at the bottom of the screen. They sometimes move rapidly though, so prepare to be a fast reader when viddying this version of the film.

The special features on this disc include a Mario Bava biography and liner notes by Tim Lucas, director filmographies, a photo and poster art gallery which also features stills from the Americanized versions of the film, and trailers for other Bava offerings that include Baron Blood, a highly entertaining one for Twitch Of The Death Nerve in which the film is titled, instead, Carnage, The House Of Exorcism (which is another Bava film I really must see in its original form as Lisa And The Devil), Black Sunday, Black Sabbath, and The Girl Who Knew Too Much. There is also an option for you who comprehend the Italian language to watch the film sans subtitles.

All in all, I Vampiri is a very enjoyable little film. I believe you fans of Universal Horror will appreciate the apparent homages--both in theme and music--to the golden age of the genre we all come to this website to read about. Bava's cinematography is apparent throughout, with such gothic images as the Du Grande crypt and the medieval castle and grounds. One can see shades of Black Sunday in the photography of this predecessor. It's no wonder that Bava was in such demand as a cinematographer and cameraman in his early years in film. By all means, viddy well this often-overlooked Bava gem, and enjoy!

Thanks so much, Tess!  Even if this film doesn't entirely bear the stamp of Bava's creativity, it's a worthy first fright film in every respect.  And it certainly is the "granddaddy" of Italian horror cinema.

Article copyright © Tess Hensen

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