‘Vampyros Lesbos’ 4K UHD Review
Stars: Soledad Miranda, Ewa Strömberg, Dennis Price, Paul Muller, Heidrun Kussin, José Martínez Blanco, Michael Berling, Andrea Montchal | Written by Jaime Chávarri, Jesús Franco, Anne Settimó | Directed by Jess Franco
Vampyros Lesbos sees lawyer Linda Westinghouse (Ewa Stromberg), whilst in Istanbul on business, finding herself having dreams of a mysterious woman. When she travels to the island estate of a Hungarian Countess (Soledad Miranda), she finds herself entranced by the woman who has inherited her fortune from Count Dracula.
Vampyros Lesbos is, despite the sleaze-filled promise of the title, actually very much a straight-laced adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel. Albeit with some sapphic love thrown in for good measure! Oh, and guess what? Much like Franco reused his cast in various films, he here recycles the soundtrack from She Killed in Ecstasy, which also shares cast members with Vampyros Lesbos, repeating its hypnotic disco-funkiness here too!
Even on paper that sounds like a flimsy plot, and on screen it’s no different. But this is Jess Franco – if you’ve seen any of his movies you’ll know he doesn’t need a plot on which to hang his films, he certainly doesn’t here. Instead, he fills Vampyros Lesbos with haunting, oddly hallucinating visuals. Nowhere more so than the mesmerising and incredibly erotic in-film stage performances of Soledad Miranda – she contorts and twists around the stage, and her co-performer, in a snake-like manner and, like in the aforementioned She Killed in Ecstasy, it’s clear she’s giving everything to her role; such is the natural, raw, performance of Soledad Miranda… It’s a damn shame she passed away before either film saw a wide release.
Watching Vampyros Lesbos today, it’s actually quite surprising just how faithful this sleazy film is to the Bram Stoker tale. Whilst Franco may take liberties with the erotic content, the core of the original story is there – the supernatural relationship between Linda and the Countess reflects Dracula’s relationship with Lucy Westenra; Franco even has his own Renfield in Heidrun Kussin’s mental patient Agra; and Van Helsing in the form of Dr. Seward (Dennis Price).
The new 4K release of Vampyros Lesbos has been newly scanned in 4K from the original camera negative, delivering a Native 2160p presentation encoded in HEVC/H.265. The film is presented with both Dolby Vision and HDR10 for enhanced contrast and colour, and is framed in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, slightly adjusted from its original 1.85:1 theatrical ratio – complete with English subtitles – along with 5 hours of special features, including:
DISC 1: 4K UHD (Film & Special Features):
- Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author Of Daughters Of Darkness
- Audio Commentary With Film Professor Aaron AuBuchon And Oscarbate Film Collective’s John Dickson And Will Morris
- German Trailer
DISC 2 (Blu-ray):
- Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author Of Daughters Of Darkness
- Audio Commentary With Film Professor Aaron AuBuchon And Oscarbate Film Collective’s John Dickson And Will Morris
- Interlude In Lesbos – Interview With Director Jess Franco
- Fever Dracula – Interview With Stephen Thrower, Author Of Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema Of Jesús Franco
- The Red Scarf Diaries – A Jess Franco Career Appreciation By Academy Award®-Winning Filmmaker Sean Baker
- In The Land Of Franco Part 12 – A Video appreciation of the film by Academy Award-winning director, Sean Baker (Anora).
- Sublime Soledad – Interview With Soledad Miranda Historian Amy Brown
- Jess Is Yoda
- German Opening Title Sequence
- German Trailer
Not as effective (at least in terms of a comprehensive story) as its Franco movie-mate She Killed in Ecstasy, Vampyros Lesbos is still a fantastic example of Jess Franco’s work and the kind of boundary-pushing eroticism that was prevalent in European cinema of the late 60s/early 70s. Add to that a stunning performance from Soledad Miranda, and this is a winning package!
***** 5/5
Vampyros Lesbos is out now on 4K UHD from Severin Films.
