Fangs of the Living Dead

1973
4.4| 1h34m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 18 May 1973 Released
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Country: Spain
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

A beautiful virgin inherits a castle, but when she arrives at it, she finds that the inhabitants include a strange nobleman and a bevy of beautiful women she suspects may be vampires.

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Reviews

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
Michael_Elliott Fangs of the Living Dead (1969) ** (out of 4)Malenka (Anita Ekberg) receives word that she has inherited a castle so she heads off to claim it. As soon as she arrives in town she gets the cold shoulder from locals when they find out where she's going. Once she arrives at the castle she is greeted by Uncle (Julian Ugarte) who seems to be holding back some deep secrets.FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD, the film's U.S. title, isn't the greatest film you're ever going to see but it became a public domain staple on television, VHS, DVD and that's where most people saw it. The film was directed by Amando de Ossorio and this here was his first venture into the horror genre, although he would make his name several years later with the Blind Dead series. As far as this film goes, it's pretty much your basic vampire tale without much originality.If you're familiar with the vampire lore or if you've ever seen a vampire movie then it's doubtful anything here is going to take you by surprise. I guess it's important to note that Spain and their run of horror films was just starting so I guess it was an obvious choice to go with a vampire film. This one here is beautiful to look at and there are some rich colors and some nice cinematography but that doesn't make up for the lack of a real story or of an interesting one.It's really too bad more wasn't done with the story because the elements are here for what should have been a much better film. I liked Ekberg in the lead role, although one might say she was a bit too old for the part. There's no question her name alone means a lot more today so getting to see her in a horror picture like this was quite nice. Ugarte was also good in his supporting bit and if you look quickly you'll spot Paul Muller. The film also benefits from a nice music score.FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD isn't an awful movie but there's no question that it's rather bland story makes for a boring film.
Bezenby For feck's sake! I wasn't totally impressed with Ossario's Blind Dead films (the two that I've watched anyway), but I was willing to give him another chance with this vampire film, and it sucks! And that wasn't a pun! Anita Ekberg is excited to receive a letter from her Uncle declaring her a Countess following the distribution of her mother's estate. She heads of for the creepy castle these folk live in but soon finds out that there's a slight caveat about her new role in society. Namely that of everyone in the castle being a vampire...and boring vampires to boot!Vampires! Please note - when giving your non-vampire niece a tour of your crypt, please try not to use sentences like "This one in here is REALLY dead" because it just draws suspicion and when you don't answer any subsequent questions it just makes you look guilty. Long story short Anita's going to be the new head vampire if they can just get her turned. Her fiancé and his mate turn up to stir things up a bit and most of the chicks run around with plenty cleavage on display and then the Uncle turns a local barmaid into a vampire and the first thing she does is turn up at his front door and start nagging him and then some other crap happens but this film is boring as hell and not worth your time. It's kind of like Polanski's Fearless Vampire Killers (I didn't like that either). Maybe I'm not the best judge of vampire films to be honest. I don't really like them.
mark.waltz The return of Count Dracula as played by Christopher Lee in the late 1950's set a trend of sexy blood-suckers, both male and female, and when England got on the Universal band wagon (ironically right after the death of famed vampire extraordinaire Bela Lugosi), other European countries on the main continent followed suit, usually with much T&A and an almost animated look in its filming technique. Fortunately, this one focuses more on atmosphere, and while there are definitely some very busty women, they keep their clothes on. The very voluptuous Anita Ekberg gets the privilege of playing a dual role, a modern day heiress to the Italian castle of her descendent's, and her own grandmother, once burnt to death by villagers for alleged witchcraft, and now stalking the castle and nearby village for prey. Julian Ugarte is her older but still sexy "uncle" who has undead secrets of his own, and his goal is to keep Ekberg's modern day innocent heroine there as part of an effort to end the family curse.Certainly, this isn't anything that 1960's horror aficionados hadn't seen before with "The Fearless Vampire Killers" and other similar tales of the undead haunting second string movie theaters and drive-ins around this time. (Check out "The Vampire Happening" for an outrageous comic take on similar themes with plenty of T&A to go around.) This one has a fantastically eerie atmosphere, but there are some slow patches and some confusing plot elements which in retrospect make little sense. But the moments of true horror do pop in and out, and there's a very funny moment when an Italian playboy, unaware that his latest target is really a vampire, allows her to role-play in what he believes to be a sexual game of desire. The fate of one of the undead is truly graphic, if not gory, and it is the lack of flesh and blood which makes that scene even more morbid and spine-chilling. The twist at the very end is too silly to be tolerable, but like me, you may find yourself laughing in spite of the fact that your eyes are rolling at the same time.
bevnshea_914 So I gave this a three instead of a one for a couple of reasons. I completely agree that this movie is, for all intensive purposes, a crappy production. However, me and some of my college friends got together and watched this movie - which we bought at Walgreens for $1 (it was a 2-fer... Fangs of the Living Dead AND Night of the Living Dead). If you're looking for a good laugh, this is the movie for you. I particularly enjoy the fact that when two people are having a conversation, the cameraman never manages to get them in the same frame.