It's October; the first movie in my Chiller Theater month begins with a woman in a nightgown being chased up and down stone stairs through an old theater by a vampire who attacks her with a pitchfork. Then she wakes up from this nightmare. She is Giulia, a member of a dance troupe. The director, Sandro, has moved the troupe into their new home, an abandoned theater, dilapidated and cobwebby. Sandro is warned by Achille, the cantankerous caretaker, that the theater is cursed by the presence of an ancient vampire who was behind the disappearance of actresses in the theater over the years. Suddenly, a group of glow-in-the-dark skeletons pop up out in the audience, but surprise, they're actually the male members of the troupe dressed up to spook Sandro and the girls. No one is terribly concerned with the caretaker's warnings and soon they're rehearsing Sandro's dance version of Cyrano de Bergerac and cleaning up the theater at the same time. Though the building is locked up, a mysterious man shows up, claiming to be a devotee of the theater, but we soon learn that he is actually Stefano, the vampire, and that Achille is his servant. He is attracted to Giulia because she looks like, or perhaps actually is, the reincarnation of the Countess Laura with whom Stefano was carrying on an affair many years ago. Eventually she ordered her servant to bury Stefano alive; he prayed to Satan and somehow cane out of this situation as a vampire. The servant, of course, was Achille who has also become immortal and must serve his master even against his will. As the plot unfolds, not only is Giulia threatened but the entire troupe is. No one can leave the theater because of invisible force fields, and we discover there is a door to another dimension which contains several of Stefano's skimpily clad past vampire brides, chained to a wall. Achille warns the troupe that in order to fend off possible attacks from Stefano, they must keep moving or dancing, which they proceed to do like dervishes. But Giulia, like a character from Dark Shadows, winds up trapped in the torture chamber dimension and may never escape.
Most critics who write about this Italian film directed by Renato Polselli reference his earlier movie The Vampire and the Ballerina which I tracked down after I saw this and which I'll review soon. This film has one setting, the theater, and plays out more or less in real time. Its Gothic feel and theatrical setting do conjure up The Phantom of the Opera, though the occasional humor, the occasional queer touches (a lesbian and at least one fey gay boy), and the modern dancing bring Phantom up to date. The choreography is actually good and quite sexy. Marco Mariani (above left) is very good as Sandro, an enthusiastic Bob Fosse type who leaps around like a dancer even when he's not rehearsing, and he gets as much if not more screen time as Barbara Hawards, playing Giulia. There is a big cast of supporting players, most not developed as characters, and all are good at being enthusiastic and light-hearted for much of the running time. A moment that looks like it will turn into a lesbian love scene becomes a giggly three way kiss. The scene with the men in skeleton leotards is great fun. The plot doesn't need to be attended to too closely, as the primary attractions here are the atmosphere, the vigorous camera work, and the goofy troupe of actors. Stefano's fangs are excellent. A nice discovery, and available in a very good print. A skeleton boy and troupe girl are pictured at right. [Blu-ray]
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