Hurrah for Region 2 (for once). (Vampyros Lesbos (DVD))

Member Name: Brett Bligh

Product:	Vampyros Lesbos (DVD)
Date:	08/02/01 (167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: crisp and clear anamorphic transfer; a general feeling of luxurity which one does not get often from a horror DVD.

Disadvantages: a director interview or some other such extra might have been nice.

In this little cult ‘masterpiece’, Jesùs Franco combines the vampire legend with unashamedly exploitative eroticism and a kitsch style. We lucky Brits also have a unique opportunity — to see this film, usually cut even in the US, in an uncut state, and with a nice-looking film to boot.



THE FILM

Vampyros Lesbos features Linda Westinghouse, an estate agent working for the Simpson and Simpson company, sent to visit Countess Nadine, a woman who resides on an isolated island and who wishes to purchase a property left to her by Count Dracula. Linda is a woman plagued by a recurring dream, during which she enjoys physical relations with a woman she has never met in a location which she has never visited. When Linda and her boyfriend visit and bar and witness an adult show, Linda recognises one of the women in the show as the woman from her dreams, and when, after some delay, she finally goes to the island and meets the Countess, Linda is shocked to discover that the woman in her dreams (and the woman in the bar) is her.

The Countess is a vampire more than a century old, converted from a human to a member of the undead by Dracula himself, who became infatuated with her. Now Nadine has fallen for Linda, and Linda must fight the intoxicating powers which the Countess possesses with all of her will if she is not to avoid the same fate…



THE DISC

 Distributor: Second Sight Films [2NDVD3006].

 Region: 2 (PAL encoding).

 Type and case: DVD5 with black amaray case.

 Running time: 86 minutes approx.

The DVD also explicitly states “uncut version” on the back inlay cover.

 Picture format: 16:9 anamorphic transfer.

Since the film was originally made in 1.66:1 aspect ratio, this 16:9 version is a good approximation, and to find the print is an anamorphic one is a pleasant surprise on this kind o
f DVD.

 Audio: mono.

It would probably not be a good idea to mess around with the audio of this film in any case … the soundtrack seems to have just as much a cult following as the film itself.

 Subtitles: English.

 Extras: Scene Index, Trailer, Photo Gallery.

By general DVD standards these extras are quite sparse, but by the standards of horror DVDs, and especially exploitation horror DVDs, this selection is not bad. The photo gallery shows a selection of still images culled from the film in the usual fashion. The trailer, as always is a very useful and enjoyable addition to the release, although the decrepit state of the trailer print shows the film’s age.



CONCLUSION

By the low standards to which most horror DVDs are produced, this is quite a refreshing release. In place of the usual absolutely knackered print doshed onto a disc with no thought whatsoever without even thinking about an anamorphic transfer or anything but the plainest of menus, what we have here is a fully restored and remastered edition, presented anamorphically in what we are told is the first time this version of the film has been available anywhere in the world; this would seem to be confirmed by the fact that one (American) correspondent to the IMDB complains about the trailer on his disc not containing a scene shown in the trailer (the one with Soledad Miranda lying back dead in the pool with the scarf around her neck), since this scene is most certainly contained within this release. Hurrah for Region 2, for once.

The menus are not actually animated as such, but are accompanied by some of the brilliant music from the film, and are designed in a stylish fashion which reflects the DVD’s inlay card cover. The range of extras is also, as pointed out above, far from disastrous for this kind of release.

I have not heard of Second Sight Films before this release, but
if this disc is anything to go by I would enjoy seeing more of their releases in the shops in the near future, and on this basis I decided to be generous when awarding the release an overall mark.

Summary: