aka HANNAH, QUEEN OF THE VAMPIRES
One night on an isolated European island, an archeologist named Bolton goes snooping around in a deserted church where he discovers the bleeding hanging carcass of a sheep, obviously a sacrifice of some sort. He is set upon by a more-or-less one-eyed hulk (named in the credits as The Wild Man), is strangled by a handsome fellow hiding in the shadows, and then placed under a huge stone sarcophagus; the two men break the coffin's legs and it falls, crushing Bolton to death. Days later, Bolton's son Chris (Andrew Prine) arrives to find that his dad's body is still under the enormously heavy sarcophagus, and freeing it will require equipment, men, and a couple days' time. But he is welcomed warmly by Peter (Mark Damon)—whom, despite his smiling friendliness, we recognize as the handsome strangler—and his attractive sister Mary (Patty Sheppard). The stone coffin supposedly contains the remains of the 13th century Queen Hannah who, according to legend, was marooned on the island, succumbed to vampirism and turned the entire island's population into vampires. Peter says he is researching a historical novel based on these events, but as we soon find out, he is actually attempting to raise the dead queen through demonic means. Mary, who knows nothing about her brother's plans, hits it off with Chris. We meet a few villagers, including a wise old blind sailor, all of whom are wary of plans to open the coffin. When they do, they find the perfectly preserved body of Hannah—lovely, blond, and wearing a sparkling tiara. Soon, she is fairly active around the island, occasionally turning into a wolf and threatening one and all, including a couple of children. At the climax, Peter is holding a black mass of sorts in hopes that he will become Queen Hannah's favored acolyte while Chris and Mary lead other villagers in trying to stop Hannah before she spreads her evil.
Despite the cheesy titles, this is a solid piece of classic-era Euro-horror. The colorful restored print looks great, showing the atmospheric sets and shadowy locales—except for a particularly bad day-for-night sequence late in the film. Prine is too reminiscent of a wasted hippie wanderer to be truly effective as a hero—plus, as other critics have noted, with his 70s mustache, he looks a lot like the unsavory porn star John Holmes—and I never really warmed to him. But the good-looking B-lead Damon, best known as the romantic hero of Roger Corman's HOUSE OF USHER, carries the film. The fact that we clearly see his face in the opening scene makes hash of any attempt to make his role as vampire-worshiper a surprise, but that's the director’s mistake, not Damon's. Sheppard is pleasant looking as Mary but doesn't have a lot to do. While she's half-alive in the coffin, awaiting resurrection, Teresa Gimpera as Hannah (above left) looks way too modern (the shiny ash-blonde hair, the mascara), but once she's revived, she plays the role nicely, acting mostly with her eyes since she has no dialogue. Once only available in murky public domain prints, this looks great on Blu-Ray and Amazon Prime. Pictured at right are Damon and Prine. [Streaming]
One night on an isolated European island, an archeologist named Bolton goes snooping around in a deserted church where he discovers the bleeding hanging carcass of a sheep, obviously a sacrifice of some sort. He is set upon by a more-or-less one-eyed hulk (named in the credits as The Wild Man), is strangled by a handsome fellow hiding in the shadows, and then placed under a huge stone sarcophagus; the two men break the coffin's legs and it falls, crushing Bolton to death. Days later, Bolton's son Chris (Andrew Prine) arrives to find that his dad's body is still under the enormously heavy sarcophagus, and freeing it will require equipment, men, and a couple days' time. But he is welcomed warmly by Peter (Mark Damon)—whom, despite his smiling friendliness, we recognize as the handsome strangler—and his attractive sister Mary (Patty Sheppard). The stone coffin supposedly contains the remains of the 13th century Queen Hannah who, according to legend, was marooned on the island, succumbed to vampirism and turned the entire island's population into vampires. Peter says he is researching a historical novel based on these events, but as we soon find out, he is actually attempting to raise the dead queen through demonic means. Mary, who knows nothing about her brother's plans, hits it off with Chris. We meet a few villagers, including a wise old blind sailor, all of whom are wary of plans to open the coffin. When they do, they find the perfectly preserved body of Hannah—lovely, blond, and wearing a sparkling tiara. Soon, she is fairly active around the island, occasionally turning into a wolf and threatening one and all, including a couple of children. At the climax, Peter is holding a black mass of sorts in hopes that he will become Queen Hannah's favored acolyte while Chris and Mary lead other villagers in trying to stop Hannah before she spreads her evil.
Despite the cheesy titles, this is a solid piece of classic-era Euro-horror. The colorful restored print looks great, showing the atmospheric sets and shadowy locales—except for a particularly bad day-for-night sequence late in the film. Prine is too reminiscent of a wasted hippie wanderer to be truly effective as a hero—plus, as other critics have noted, with his 70s mustache, he looks a lot like the unsavory porn star John Holmes—and I never really warmed to him. But the good-looking B-lead Damon, best known as the romantic hero of Roger Corman's HOUSE OF USHER, carries the film. The fact that we clearly see his face in the opening scene makes hash of any attempt to make his role as vampire-worshiper a surprise, but that's the director’s mistake, not Damon's. Sheppard is pleasant looking as Mary but doesn't have a lot to do. While she's half-alive in the coffin, awaiting resurrection, Teresa Gimpera as Hannah (above left) looks way too modern (the shiny ash-blonde hair, the mascara), but once she's revived, she plays the role nicely, acting mostly with her eyes since she has no dialogue. Once only available in murky public domain prints, this looks great on Blu-Ray and Amazon Prime. Pictured at right are Damon and Prine. [Streaming]
No comments:
Post a Comment