LUST OF THE VAMPIRE

Some girls are found dead from blood loss. A skilled investigator sets out to track down the killer and discovers that behind the murders lies a horrible mystery: an old witch kills young women to rejuvenate by drinking their blood. Defined by critics as "the first true Italian horror film," it was directed by Riccardo Freda in just two weeks. The story was set in Paris, but thanks to models and small but brilliant tricks (such as the use of postcards as backgrounds) created with the friend and collaborator Mario Bava, the film was shot entirely at Cinecittà. Freda’s take on the vampire myth is decidedly innovative and unique, no more coffins, crucifixes, and ash wood stakes, but only the frantic search for youth and eternal beauty. At the producers' request, "I Vampiri" is partially different from what Freda himself would have wanted, as some sequences (shot by Mario Bava) were added during editing in an attempt to give the film almost a "crime" tone, to meet the taste of a larger audience. The film has its most "spectacular" point in the aging of the protagonist that occurs live on the set. The makeup was a creation of Mario Bava: it was a makeup whose predominant colors were red and blue. A lamp positioned on the protagonist's face removed, depending on the color, the actress's makeup to highlight that of the other color. In this way, gradually changing the color of the light, one witnessed the progressive aging of the duchess-vampire. The film was presented successfully in France where it was titled "Les Vampires," in England where it was released as "Lust of the Vampire," and in the United States as "The Devil’s Commandment." In Italy, however, the film did poorly and earned little, probably because at the time an Italian horror film was not credible but rather anticommercial. Freda learned from this experience and, with his subsequent film "Caltiki - Il Mostro Immortale," signed as Robert Hampton.