In the depths of the English countryside, Fran (Marrianne Morris) and Miriam (Anulka Dziubinska) hitch lifts from unwary men along quiet country roads, take them back to their mansion, seduce them, then feed on their blood. The bodies are then placed in staged car crashes and dealt with by the uninterested police. Fran meets businessman Ted (Murray Brown) and decides to keep him alive as her prisoner, using him for sexual and sanguineous sustenance. He manages to eventually escape and seek help from John (Brian Deacon) and Harriet (Sally Faulkner), who are caravanning  in the mansion grounds. Harriet becomes fascinated by comings and goings the two black-cloaked mysterious women and enters the house to face the horrors within.

It had been some 20 years since I last saw Vampyres, a film that had been banned in Britain up until the recent relaxation of censorship laws, so I was over the moon when Anchor Bay released it on dvd. Time hasn't diminished my enjoyment of this stylish, sexually charged vampire romp, although it was an awful lot tamer than my memories had built it up to be. Marianne Morris is gorgeous as Fran but for me throbbing beauty of Anulka Dziubinska steals the show. The story itself is very simple, the film's charms lie in the dreamy, gothic atmosphere and Spanish director Joseph Larraz's allegorical portrayal of feminine dominion over men's ineffectuality. Actually, it's just about gorgeous bi-sexual vampires getting naked and having sex. Nice.  

Vampyres.  1974.

Directed by José Ramón Larraz.

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