Leofwine_draca THE BLOODSUCKER LEADS THE DANCE is a late entry in the Italian giallo cycle, although this has just as much in common as the Gothic horrors that flooded Europe in the '60s and '70s. Things get off to a good start as a bunch of disparate types are invited to a remote castle on an island just off Ireland (although the locations are unquestionably Italian throughout) and you think you're going to be in for a good "old dark house"-cum-"slasher" film as they're bumped off one by one.True, this is exactly what happens... but not until we've suffered an HOUR of plot-less, no-story drivel. An hour of talky, poorly-dubbed inaction, as the various characters walk around and generally have sex together in a series of poorly-staged encounters, ranging from a couple of lesbians together in their bed (hilariously, the maid sees them and tries to emulate them later on) to a female aristocrat who has it away with the rough fisherman to a woman who sleeps with the count because she reminds him of his missing wife! Basically all this sex is just an excuse to show the female characters in the nude as often as possible but the result is boring rather than titillating.Finally, things pick up in the last half an hour with a series of gruesome decapitations – well, I say gruesome, but there's only one or two gory scenes in the film (and the first 'head' we see is clearly a woman buried up to her neck in the ground). The film strives to include a murder-mystery type plot and indeed the cast is fleshed out with red herrings, from the half-man hated by the women, to the religious fanatic butler, and the sleazy 'peeper' of a gardener. However, the mystery is solved in the most routine way imaginable, without a second's excitement; indeed this film doesn't have a moment's action in it at all; I was hoping for a few chases or fights, but there's nothing. To make matters worse, the murderer, when revealed, then goes into a fifteen-minute explanation of their crimes...this is just as boring as it sounds.The film's cast is rather unengaging. The actresses seem to have been picked for their willingness to take off their clothes rather than any real acting ability and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, a regular in Italian cinema, must give the most wooden performance of his entire career. In fact the only one who comes away with any credibility is Luciano Pigozzi, aka the Italian Peter Lorre, who has a ball as the aforementioned sleazy gardener. Sadly he's on screen far too little, although the moment where he's caught spying on the lesbians is the stuff of high comedy.The one thing this film has going for it is its look. The castle surroundings are beautiful and sometimes spectacular and the costumes are all spot on. An atmosphere is built up from the setting alone without the director having to make any effort. The one thing I could have done without was the stock footage of crashing waves which is repeated throughout the film; astonishingly, this piece of footage is shot in black and white, while the rest of the film is, of course, in colour. The effect is bizarre, to say the least. Italian actor Alfredo Rizzo made half a dozen films as a director in the '70s, but he really should have stuck to being in front of the camera, as this film is a real yawner.

HumanoidOfFlesh The action of "The Bloodsukcer Leads the Dance" takes place in 1902.A group of theatre actresses is invited by wealthy Count Richard Mamack to his castle.He is especially attracted to Evelyn because she reminds him of his dead wife.There is the curse of in the Marnack family that involves decapitations of females.Alfredo Rizzo's "The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance" is a dreary and unremarkable Italian Gothic horror with plenty of sleaze.It has few sexy Italian starlets including Krista Nell,Patrizia Webley of "Malabimba" fame and Femi "Strip Nude for Your Killer" Benussi.Apart from plentiful sex and nudity there isn't much to recommend in "The Bloodsukcer Leads the Dance".7 severed heads out of 10.

EVOL666 Wow-this one sucks. I'm gonna sum it up as quickly as possible. A count invites 4 naive sluts back to his castle. A bunch of nothing happens for a long time. Some lame and un-erotic soft-core sex scenes happen. Some girls get their heads cut off (off-screen)-The End.The only things going for this one are the decent looking sets and costumes, some bad dubbing which leads to some unintentionally funny dialogue, and a few brief nudie shots. And believe me-those things are not enough to redeem the 90-minutes of tedium that this film is. In fact-the best part is the tacked on beginning from the distributor that features some slutty goth chicks covered in blood and showing their tits-and again-this is definitely not worth the price of admission for this garbage. As everyone else has noted- the title of the film is completely nonsensical-as there's absolutely no bloodsucking, nor dancing of any sort in the film at all. It may as well have been called 'The Goat-Raper Leads the Circle-Jerk'-and at least then it would have had a better title that also pertains to nothing in the film. An accurate title would have been '90 Minutes of Torture'-another alluring title that would have at least been truthful...for the viewer. Honestly-the trailer that's on the disc shows all the best parts (and i use the term 'best' extremely loosely...) so I highly suggest watching that instead if you're still curious.  I can't imagine anyone liking this wreck of a film-please take my advice and leave this one on the shelf. 2/10

Scaramouche2004 The Horror Channel plays nothing but erotic soft porn Gothic flicks each night from 10pm till about 4 in the morning, but their 'scare' factor is very limited, if one exists at all. In fact I am sure I will find a multi-million pound lottery win more scary than anything this channel has to offer.The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance deserves special mention because it is I feel, the undisputed low of a channel full of lows. I cannot even begin to tell you how bad this film is, but for the purpose of completing the minimum 10 lines demanded by this site, I will at least give it a go.Firstly the title is misleading and bears no resemblance to the action on the screen. In fact the film might as well have been called 'Toothbrush' or 'Wallpaper' for all it has to do with the plot. At least they used toothbrushes...at least they had wallpaper.There are no bloodsuckers for miles around and whats even worse there are no dances, not one. I'm sure they were making two different films by mistake here.A more suitable title would have been, 'Horny Italian Count Leads Five People to a Scary Castle and Bores us Silly for Ninety Minutes.' Yes that fits better.The acting is terrible and and the dubbing appalling, and that guy who plays Seymour was almost as wooden in his walk as he was in his character....abysmal.The only saving graces of this film are a small but slightly interesting lesbian sex scene, two small and very interesting heterosexual sex scenes, and the added attraction in that every single female character gets her kit off. Bonus.Otherwise steer a wide birth away from this one. No vampires, no dancing, no scenes of a brutal or gruesome nature and no way on Gods earth I will ever, ever, ever watch this one again.No word of a lie, this film could put you off motion pictures for life.