‘When the moon is up the fun begins.’
The Vampires Night Orgy is a 1973 Spanish horror film about a group of travellers who become stranded in a strange isolated village. Also released as Orgy of the Vampires and Grave Desires.
Directed by León Klimovsky (Trauma; The People Who Own the Dark; A Dragonfly for Each Corpse; Vengeance of the Zombies; The Dracula Saga; Dr Jekyll vs. The Werewolf) from a screenplay co-written by Gabriel Moreno Burgos (Hypnosis) and Antonio Fos. Produced by José Frade.
The José Frade Producciones Cinematográficas movie stars Jack Taylor (Axe; The Ninth Gate; Edge of the Axe; Count Dracula), Dyanik Zurakowska (Orgy of the Living Dead; The Mark of the Wolfman; Cauldron of Blood), José Guardiola, Charo Soriano, Helga Liné (The Mummy’s Revenge; The Loreley’s Grasp; Horror Express), Manuel de Blas, David Aller, Luis Ciges and Gaspar ‘Indio’ González.
Reviews:
“The films one major misstep is a woefully unremarkable soundtrack. A few cues are pleasing, but all of them are canned tracks, and most of them do not fit the onscreen action at all […] There are a few nude scenes to amp up the trash quotient, but gore is kept to a minimum. The story is quite good, and Klimovsky’s direction looks far more assured and focused than it normally did.” Cool @ss Cinema
“The gloom of the place is beautifully captured by veteran cinematographer Antonio L. Ballesteros […] and Klimovsky contrives some exceptional set pieces – Indio González being surrounded by the villagers at dead of night, a gang of previously unseen vampires suddenly sitting up in the coach to which they’ve lured two other victims, and finally a remarkable expansion of an early scene in Night of the Living Dead…” Jonathan Rigby, Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema
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“The Vampire’s Night Orgy is no classic but it’s a lot of fun with several top notch set pieces and an attractive cast (the uncredited score, likely poorly chosen library cues, is bloody awful though). Liné is a lot of fun as the Countess […] The real stars though are Patones de Arriba whose slate buildings, wreathed in dry ice fog, linger longer in the memory than anything else and Ballastero’s excellent masterly photography.” The EOFFTV Review
“It’s actually pretty dull for the most part, and the musical score (which sounds as if it was lifted from a travelogue somewhere) is mostly inappropriate. I’ve also heard some complaints about the twist ending, and had the rest of the movie worked for me, I might have an opinion on it myself; as it is, all I’ll say is that it’s one I’ve seen before in one capacity or another.” Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
” …The Vampires’ Night Orgy is rarely boring and sports a solid cast of monsters and victims. The always appealing Helga Liné turns up as the vampires’ leader and could have used more screen time, while Taylor is a typically solid leading man. The scope photography makes the most of the spooky settings, which feel unnervingly genuine compared to the fog-bound sets of Hammer’s vampire sagas.” Mondo Digital
” …the film generates a certain icky frisson out of not being sure what the meat being served up to the guests in the scenes immediately after is human or not. Of all the horror possibilities inherent though, everything that Leon Klimovsky generates is dull and plodding. The film’s pace is sleep-inducing and nothing that happens throughout raises the slightest interest.” Moria
” …it’s the creepy atmosphere that works best in this one. The gloomy countryside locations are well used. The remote village and its strange inhabitants is a typical horror staple but it’s well done here nevertheless […] It’s a movie that should certainly appeal to Eurotrash devotees…” Red Barracuda
” …entertaining and scary almost despite itself. The characters are universally bland and ill-defined […] the town is home to vampires but it is also home to some sort of spirit that looks like a little boy spirit […] the soundtrack is one of the most inappropriate and badly done I’ve come across, with musak-style easy-listening tunes playing as a vampire attack happens…” Terror Titans
“This lowkey Euro-horror is not without its charms, including some moody dark photography and a nicely tense climax. Best scene: the clever vampire ambush in the bus. Lesson here: a chopped-off finger in your meat stew is not haute cuisine.” The Terror Trap
“Despite its rather unambitious premise – the plot is a simple conflation of vampire and folklore legends, with a dash of Brigadoon thrown in for luck […] it does benefit from considerable, pitch-black humour. One particularly grotesque running joke finds the villagers, who have no ‘real’ meat to feed their visitors, lopping parts off each other’s bodies for use in the cooking pot.” The Wild Eye
Availability:
Most DVD releases are sold out but The Vampires Night Orgy is available to rent or buy via Amazon Prime
For more info, the trailer and opening scene visit page 2
