Renato Polselli
L'amante del vampiro

Italian cinema of the past was great cinema, cinema made as it should be, the kind of cinema that, even though it didn't always produce masterpieces, was always dignified and even cited and honored by English, American, and Chinese directors.

"The Vampire's Lover" is certainly not one of those titles that stayed engraved in memory, but it's an early 1960s film that, in my opinion, still holds its own today, especially for vampire-movie lovers.

A film that thrives on beauty, there are so many beautiful women in this movie, and that alone is worth the watch! Very good direction, solid, elegant, and expert, extraordinary photography, excellent play of light and shadow—in short, a good film, a highly dignified horror tale. Apart from the wonderful homage to the film "Vampyr" that literally made me jump from my seat. The scene of the dead girl reopening her eyes inside the coffin and realizing she's being buried is extraordinarily well shot, both eerie and dramatic at the same time. Sure, maybe it doesn't reach the levels of the famous scene from "Vampyr," but then again, it's rare for an homage to surpass the original, and that's how it should be. Apart from this, the scene is truly stunning.

The settings are very beautiful, the atmosphere manages to recreate something cold, rigid, thanks to extraordinary photography (as I already mentioned), and then the beauty of the actresses is that final touch that makes everything decidedly interesting. The true "villain" of the film, the monstrous-faced vampire, is perhaps the weak point because at the beginning of the film, he seems really eerie and frightening, but then as we start to "know him," we realize he's not that scary. Let's say that character could have been developed much better! The tricks used in the final scene are excellent, and speaking of this film's ending... once again, I'm convinced that handmade effects, if really done properly, far surpass those made on computers. Watch this film, and in the finale, you'll have proof/a lesson on how handcrafted effects, if done with care and skill, can be wonderfully terrifying and successful.

A film that doesn't bore at all, a plot that captivates, women of extraordinary beauty, vampires, atmospheres suitable for the themes—it's a movie I recommend, a nice little early 1960s film that is at least worth a watch.

VinnySparrow