Gebissen wird nur nachts (1971)

User Rating:

4.5/10   

Director:

Freddie Francis

Writers:

Karl-Heinz Hummel (writer)
August Rieger (writer)

Release Date:

4 June 1971 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

The Adult Vampire Sex Comedy!

Plot:

An American actress inherits a castle in Transylvania. What she doesn't know is that her ancestor, the Baroness Catali, was in actuality a vampire countess, and emerges from her tomb to ravage the nearby village and Catholic seminary. |

Plot Keywords:

Castle | Actress | Vampire | Sadism | Dracula

Cast

Pia Degermark	...	Betty Williams / Clarimonde
Thomas Hunter	...	Jens Larsen
Yvor Murillo	...	Josef
Ingrid van Bergen	...	Miss Niessen
Joachim Kemmer	...	Martin
Oskar Wegrostek	...	Abt
Ferdy Mayne	...	Count Dracula
Lyvia Bauer	...	Gabrielle
Daria Damar	...	Kirsten
Kay Williams
Michael Janisch
Toni Wagner
Raoul Retzer

Also Known As:

Happening der Vampire
The Vampire Happening

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Company:

Aquila Film Enterprises

Quotes:

Abt: They ought to ship that dyke back to Holland!

Movie Connections:

References Dracula (1958)

An honest opinion

This is the story about a young actress, Betty Williams, who inherits a castle in Transylvania. When she arrives, the caretaker immediately recognizes and shows her the stark resemblance between Betty and her great great grandmother, Clarimonde: who just so happens to be a most feared vampire. During her time in the castle, Betty unknowingly awakens the 'still fresh looking' corpse of Clarimonde deep in the castle vaults and mayhem ensues.

If intelligent and thought provoking is what you are looking for, then you won't find it in The Vampire Happening. This is a movie that garners its charm from the satirical, sex driven jokes found throughout the entire film. You have your senile old man that has a habit of freaking himself out all of the time, an aspiring monk that happens to be a closet nymphomaniac (this becomes comically apparent when he starts seeing visions of sexual display in the form of nature during a walk in the woods.), and last but not least, gratuitous amounts of nudity.

Yes, it's full of bad acting, bad scriptwriting and shoddy direction, but this film still managed to accomplish what I'm sure the filmmakers ultimately intended: it entertained me. I think it's important for any person expressing interest in the horror genre to give movies like The Vampire Happening a chance: there's something to admire in the people who make them.