Fangs of the Living Dead is a 1969 horror film about a beautiful virgin who inherits a castle only to find that the inhabitants include a strange nobleman and a bevvy of beautiful women she suspects may be vampires.
It was written and directed by Amando de Ossorio (Demon Witch Child; The Loreley’s Grasp; the Blind Dead series).
The movie stars Anita Ekberg, Rossana Yanni and Julian Ugarte (All the Colours of the Dark; The Mark of the Wolfman). The film is also known as Malenka, the Niece of the Vampire; Malenka la vampire, Malenka: la nipote del vampiro, Malenka: la sobrina del vampiro and The Vampire Girl.
There are two alternative endings for the film, a rationale-type ending in which the vampire turns out to be a hoax and a supernatural ending.
Some of the soundtrack score by Carlo Savina (Lisa and the Devil; The Legend of Blood Castle; Naked You Die) was later recycled for Night of the Damned (1971).
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Plot:
Italian fashion model Sylvia (Anita Ekberg) is delighted to discover that she’s inherited not only the noble title of Countess, but she has also inherited a castle located in Germany. She excitedly calls her fiance Piero (Gianni Medici) to tell him that she’s going to travel to view the castle. Once there, Sylvia visits a local inn, where she announces her destination and relation to the castle’s inhabitants – which horrifies the townspeople.
Unswayed by the townspeople’s reactions, Sylvia arrives at the castle and meets her uncle, Count Walbrooke (Julian Ugarte), and beds down for the night.
She is later awakened by the maidservant Blinka (Adriana Ambesi), who warns her that Walbrooke is a century-old vampire who means her harm. Blinka’s attempts to draw Sylvia out of bed and out of the castle are interrupted by Walbrooke, who takes her into another room and whips her. Sylvia pleads with him to stop, only for Walbrooke to reveal that Blinka herself is also a vampire…
“Fangs of the Living Dead marks an inauspicious genre debut for de Ossorio…” Lawrence McCallum, Italian Horror Films of the 1960s
” …Crudely strung together and seems unsure of how intentionally funny it’s meant to be. Indeed, at times it seems like little more than a hotly contested battle of heaving bosoms, Yanni bolstering already pneumatic mix of Ekberg, Ambesi and Lorys.” Jonathan Rigby, Euro Gothic
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