| Cave Of The Living Dead (1964) |
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| Took a chance on picking up this Image dvd.The prices had been reduced on selected titles and it was an attractive choice.Some had called it similar to an Edgar Wallace movie with the supernatural thrown in.Heck it had Wolfgang (Dr Mabuse) Priess in it and it was in black and white and letterboxed! In a small European village 6 girls have died in the past six months. Everytime this happened the power all over the area would go out.Even though the idiot doctor(Carl Mohner)erroneously classified the deaths as heart failure the villagers claimed vampirism.Interpol decides to send Inspector Dorin(Adrian Hoven) to town to see if he can figure out the angles. Dorin meets Karin (Karin Feld) who is Professor von Adelsberg's(Wolfgang Priess) assistant when he arrives at the village.The power goes out and Dorin has to walk to the village inn where he meets the horny owner who wears a funky chapeau.Dorin is given the room next to Maria, the virginal(and that is important)maid. We're then treated to a Nosferatu type shadow of a vampire creeping across the village.Maria is found dead in the morning.Dr Stoopid declares heart failure as the cause despite the wounds on her neck. Dorin meets Natty the local witch.She proclaims that the vampires walk the night and are claiming victims.Dorin surprisingly takes her at her word.Talking to the locals Dorin discovers that the killings began almost as soon as the Professor moved into the castle by the grotto.DUHHH.Somebody drive a stake in his arse! Dorin is invited to stay at the castle which he does.He goes back to check on the body of Maria for an autopsy.But Maria woke up with that horny look on her face and a mouthful of pointy fangs.So she took off out the window.Dr Stoopid still doesn't get it. Karin is half naked in her room doing her hair using the mirror when the Professor comes in.She doesn't see his reflection in the mirror and he smashes the mirror to the floor a la the 1931 Dracula.Sharpen that stake! Maria shows up and puts the bite on Karin.But with some magic powder from the witch she is restored to health.Dorin, Karin and John the servant descend into the grotto for a final showdown with the vampires. The sexual subtext is pretty heavy in this movie.Virginal Maria is dressed in white in her coffin.When she awakens we next see her in black panties and a black body slip looking like a little sex fiend out to bite anybody she can.Hoo hah!Does vampirism awaken the sexual appetite? This film was shot seemingly in Yugoslavia.I'm not sure if the grotto is real or a well done set.It is appropriately creepy.The village seems to be an actual small peasant town.The film is well photographed and has some spooky scenes for such a low budget affair.Dorin accepts the supernatural explanation quite quickly even though Dr Stoopid refuses to which is a reversal from type. The film is rather talky and there aren't many surprises along the way as to who the lead vampire really is.We're also not given a reason for the power failures whenever the vampires went to feed.At times it gets rather slow but I didn't find myself drifting away from the plot. At under $10 with a nice presentation this may be worth checking out. |