I Vampiri (1957)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

I Vampiri (1957) – R. Freda & M. Bava

Mario Bava took over the direction of this Cinemascope horror film from Riccardo Freda after first serving as cinematographer.  A persistent journalist seeks to find a serial killer that the police haven’t been able to identify; the killer’s trademark is that all of the blood is drained from the victim.  Less a vampire film and more of a mad scientist yarn with a close kinship to Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face (1960), all of the victims are female and their disappearance is related to a duchess who refuses to grow old.  Enough said.  The film varies from plodding and stagey to a more gloriously creepy use of the widescreen with Halloween-esque sets visited in tracking shots.  Bava, the master stylist, may have still been learning the ropes (or we could blame Freda for the less fluid parts).  Worth a look for its first peek at Bava who would soon produce Black Sunday (1960), a more fully realized look at his talent. (Beware the shorter American print, I’m told).