The Vampires' Night Orgy

A 1972 Spanish horror directed by the king (in my opinion, naturally) of the genre, Leon Klimovsky, the title is somewhat misleading - there is a little sexual activity but certainly nothing approaching an orgy, unless it refers to the periodic flocking of the undead over human meat.  In a similar fashion to several of the Italian go-go Gothic chillers of the sixties, the film starts with a busload of people travelling through the European countryside.  After assuring the crowd that the 'crate' of a bus will make the journey, the bus driver himself finds that he doesn't quite have the same longevity - he has a heart attack at the wheel.  The enervated group decide to take a detour (corpse lying across back seat) to the nearest village for a rest, there finding the place relatively deserted and quite creepy.  After meeting up with another traveller and one or two locals they are all invited to wine with the resident countess, who insists they are welcome to stay.  The next day their newly adopted driver appears to be acting a little strange, which is put down to alcohol consumption, and the bus now won't start!  They are forced to stay longer than expected, however, to their peril the locals are not entirely your normal collective of villagers...

Overlooked by the majority of horror fans unfortunately, this - as with many other Spanish horrors of the period - is something of a minor classic in my eyes.  The isolated rural village has a great look, an air of the uncanny persistently underpinning the proceedings.  The undead creatures themselves are very spooky - through the use of odd angles, misdirected lighting, and sudden wide angles, Klimovsky had a knack for shooting the supernatural with a distortion that really gives certain scenes some punch.  Amidst all of this, however, are some great lines that mix amusement with horror to great effect.  For example I love the scene where one of the guests screans at a human finger in her dinner (certainly trumps a fly in the soup).  Unbeknownst to the travellers humans are being butchered to get the meat, hence the missed appendage during the mincing.  But to cover up the truth they say that the cook had an accident whilst preparing the food, as if that's supposed to comfort everyone!  Said cook then materialises from the kitchen carrying a new dish and one missing finger...

I used to view this film via the old UK Pagan DVD, but Code Red have since put it out on Blu-ray.  Being one of my favourites I decided to import.  It's definitely a significant step-up from the old Pagan disc: the Blu features a much bolder, more vivid image compared to the washed-out, blurry, low resolution mess that was the (non-anamorphic) DVD.  It's nothing format-smashing objectively speaking, and the colour grading is a bit of a mess, but I guess we have to keep expectations in check for such a niche title where the original elements may no longer exist (which would be tragic), hence I suspect this Blu was taken from a (fairly battered) 35mm print - there's certainly a lot of wear/scratches.  Both discs run the film for approximately the same length, the DVD around four minutes shorter due to PAL speed-up, but the Blu features the unclothed version (about three sequences, including sexy Helga Line, containing nudity that is covered up by night dresses in the alternate version found on the DVD.  The other difference is the fact that the Code Red utilises an English print, whereas the DVD has credits in Spanish (although both only feature English language audio).  Sound is shrill on both, the Code Red featuring deeper vocals with a more distinct music track, though a fair bit of hiss too.

In terms of extras, the Code Red actually loses to the old UK DVD, though not by too much: we're talking about a very rough VHS quality trailer versus notes on the film and crew plus stills.  One day I hope for a restoration from superior materials and the option to view this film in Spanish with English subtitles, until then the Code Red Blu, whilst far from perfect considering the price, is a very welcome upgrade of a fantastic Spanish chiller from what should now be thought of as a golden era.