BA_Harrison 'What can we do to end all this nonsense?' asks one character in Fangs of the Living Dead. Well, there's always the stop button, but I'm made of sterner stuff than that. Besides, this silly Gothic horror from Amando de Ossorio, director of the Blind Dead series, mightn't be all that great, but it does offer up several very attractive Euro-babes who, although they don't get naked, do look extremely ravishing throughout, revealing about as much cleavage as a slip of a dress possibly can. And hot babes always make the going a lot easier.Anita Ekberg is the leading lady in this silly vampire romp about an heiress, Sylvia Morel, discovering that her new castle is home to bloodsuckers, but she is easily eclipsed by buxom brunette Adriana Ambesi as sexy vamp Blinka, and Diana Lorys and Rosanna Yanni as beautiful barmaid sisters Bertha and Freya Zemis. Together, this trio of tasty totty ensured that, although the plot was unremarkable and the direction uninspired, I was able to see Fangs to the very end, which, while I'm on the subject, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever (at least in the version I saw): after revealing that the whole vampire thing is a ruse cooked up by Sylvia's uncle, Count Walbrooke (Julián Ugarte), to have his niece committed, the count turns out to be a vampire after all (he disintegrates in flames), after which Max (César Benet), comedy sidekick of Sylvia's fiancé Piero (Gianni Medici), also sprouts a pair of fangs. Confusing, to say the least.

mark.waltz The return of Count Dracula as played by Christopher Lee in the late 1950's set a trend of sexy blood-suckers, both male and female, and when England got on the Universal band wagon (ironically right after the death of famed vampire extraordinaire Bela Lugosi), other European countries on the main continent followed suit, usually with much T&A and an almost animated look in its filming technique. Fortunately, this one focuses more on atmosphere, and while there are definitely some very busty women, they keep their clothes on. The very voluptuous Anita Ekberg gets the privilege of playing a dual role, a modern day heiress to the Italian castle of her descendent's, and her own grandmother, once burnt to death by villagers for alleged witchcraft, and now stalking the castle and nearby village for prey. Julian Ugarte is her older but still sexy "uncle" who has undead secrets of his own, and his goal is to keep Ekberg's modern day innocent heroine there as part of an effort to end the family curse.Certainly, this isn't anything that 1960's horror aficionados hadn't seen before with "The Fearless Vampire Killers" and other similar tales of the undead haunting second string movie theaters and drive-ins around this time. (Check out "The Vampire Happening" for an outrageous comic take on similar themes with plenty of T&A to go around.) This one has a fantastically eerie atmosphere, but there are some slow patches and some confusing plot elements which in retrospect make little sense. But the moments of true horror do pop in and out, and there's a very funny moment when an Italian playboy, unaware that his latest target is really a vampire, allows her to role-play in what he believes to be a sexual game of desire. The fate of one of the undead is truly graphic, if not gory, and it is the lack of flesh and blood which makes that scene even more morbid and spine-chilling. The twist at the very end is too silly to be tolerable, but like me, you may find yourself laughing in spite of the fact that your eyes are rolling at the same time.

Scarecrow-88 A voluptuous model, Sylvia(..the well endowed Anita Ekberg) is to inherit a gargantuan castle from her mother and discovers from her austere, rather enigmatic uncle, Count Walbrooke(Julián Ugarte)that her blood is polluted by the evil curse of her great-grandmother, Malenka, a "practicing witch" who dabbled in alchemy and discovered the key to eternal life, burnt at the stake by superstitious locals. Sylvia is told by her uncle that she must never associate with the outside world due to the curse and that includes her proposed betrothal to Dr Pietro Lufuani(Gianni Medici). Sylvia also discovers that her uncle could be a vampire..Director Amando de Ossorio's take on the vampire genre is a moderately entertaining effort with a dash of Bava(the use of colors and darkened areas of the castle), Browning(the reactions of the locals when Sylvia announces her reason for being in their village and the first moments in the castle, along with a cast of eccentrics), and Hammer(lots of heavy bosoms from sexy big chested European women in the cast, with big hair and theatrical acting). You have the mausoleum, eerie tunnels in and underneath the castle. You have the towering butler, the Count's hulking muscle when needed. You have the expected "rise from the grave" sequence featuring the luscious Diana Lorys as a pub bartender who "services" the Count when he has a "need to feed". Rosanna Yanni is Lorys concerned sister, Freya. César Benet is Medici's pal, Max, the comic relief of the film, who accompanies him on his journey to the castle to find out about Sylvia, why she would send him a letter calling off their wedding. Adriana Ambesis is a supposed vampire slave the Count keeps prisoner and assaults through lashings when she misbehaves and Carlos Casaravilla is a kooky village doc, Horbringer, a boozer who warns our heroes of the possible terror that awaits those who have the misfortune of coming in contact with residents of the castle.The version I watched is a mess. I have read that prints of Fangs of the Living Dead edit a lot of important details imperative in understanding the climax in better detail. It's not as atmospheric as I was hoping it'd be and is rather tedious despite being relatively short. The essence of the plot carries the usual vampire traits until the ending as chaos reigns. The attractive women and the castle itself are reasons I'd recommend it, but for pure atmosphere and dread you should pursue the ending of de Ossorio's Tombs of the Blind Dead instead. There are plenty of plot inconsistencies which may be better improved upon if a proper, more fleshed-out version is released in the future.

sol1218 ***SPOILER ALERT*** Only worth watching for it's star attraction the bust-out Swedish actress Anita Ekberg in a duel role as top Italian fashion model Sylvia Morel and 17th Century burned at the stake witch Malenka.Sylvia gets the news that she inherited the Wadrick Castle and the title of countess on the eve of her wedding to handsome Dr.Pietro Lufuani. It soon turns out that Sylvia didn't just inherit the castle and title of countess but her creepy Uncle, the keeper of Waldrick Castle, Count Walbrooke's bloodlines. The Count's bloodlines goes back some 600 years to the area around the Carpathian Mountains in Medieval Europe. It's doesn't take a genius to realize that Uncle or Count Walbrooke isn't as young as he looks being that he died at least over 100 years ago. It's also very obvious, from the moment you lay eyes on him, that the pasty looking and ice cold to the touch Count Walbrooke is actually a member of the living dead, a blood sucking vampire! Who needs fresh and above room temperature, at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, human blood in order for him to survive.Keeping the beautiful Sylvia under lock and key in his castle Count Walbrooke attracts the attention of not only her far off, back in Rome, fiancée Dr. Lufuani but the terrified townspeople of near by Wadrick! Of whom, mostly sexy and well endowed young women, the Count feeds, or sucks, on for his daily or nightly supply of human blood! It also turns out that the Count later, after sucking them dry, turns his victims into vampires like himself to join his army of the walking dead.Traveling to Wadrick together with his friend Max Dr.Lufuani attempts to rescue Sylvia from Count Walbrooke's clutches only ending up a prisoner in his castle. Sylvia who during the entire time played along with her sinister Uncle Walbrooke, in making believe she was hypnotized by him, frees the chained up Dr. Lufuani just before the Count was to take a bite out of him. It's later in the movie that the good doctor gives the Count the medical prescription needed to cure his craving for human blood: A flaming stake in the heart cooked medium to well done!