"Jonathan" is a West German movie from 1970, in the German language, so this one approach its 50th anniversary as well. It was written and directed by Bavarian filmmaker Hans W. Geissendörfer (his very first work as writer and first full feature work as director) and is loosely based on Bram Stoker's Dracula. I think the connection is very vague though because honestly the fact that vampires are in here and one of them is the count is not really enough to make this connection. I am not entirely sure if this film plays in the past or future, but it is the story of the character in the title and how he was chosen to stop the domination of the vampires. There are some major problems with this film though. First of all, from the poster it may look like a soft porno, almost a Schulmädchenreport, but honestly it is a completely different movie and I guess they just wanted to use this series' popularity to get as many people to theaters as possible. Anyway, there are also issues with the plot. We have really strong vampires here apparently, who managed to adapt evolutionary in a way that not even sunlight can't hurt them anymore, yet we are supposed to believe that a young man is powerful enough to put an end to them. I just can't buy it. Other than that, the film occasionally offers an approach on the subject of vampire films that can still be considered fresh and different almost half a century later. So I think there was definitely the possibility for this to turn into a really interesting work. But because of major plot holes I think it can really only be appreciated as a guilty pleasure today or for its general awkwardness. In contrast to many other German films from the 1970s, the film does not include actors in the cast that are still known today, not even to big film buffs I'm afraid. This also includes lead actor Jürgen Jung. Still I think that is not the major problem here. Of course, none of the performances stand out at all or are memorable, but they also aren't worse than the mediocre rest in all areas of this projects. I give it a thumbs-down and nobody except vampire film completionists should check it out.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! I caught this a few years ago at a revival theatre in Massachusetts. They had to special order a copy of it from Germany. I knew that it was a political vampire film--I believe it likened fascism to vampirism. Not a bad idea but the movie is a total mess. For starters some of the subtitles were misspelled ("piece" was used instead of "peace") and the plot was basically nonexistent. It just had a bunch of people in bad vampire makeup mumbling some political propaganda. My audience took it seriously--at first. Then when it became obvious that the film was going nowhere and repeating itself the audience began to laugh. When the villagers in the movie destroyed the vampires my audience was in hysterics. Gotta love the scene where a woman is slapping a dead person...and the guy obviously blinks! It all leads to a truly stupid ending with the vampires being forced into water and dissolving (????) So, the basic idea was not bad but this movie didn't know how to handle it in an interesting (or coherent) manner. Hard to find for obvious reasons. I give it a 1.

i was looking endless for this movie and finally got my hands on a DVD copy. its a very political movie, if you see it in the context of the time that it was made. it has a great camera, that starts of a certain point for example, then goes without a cut for some minutes through a scene and ends again with the scene from the beginning, continuing the story it had started in the first location. other parts of the movie remind more of a play performed on a stage. the surroundings and behaviour look very staged but though very familiar. and not to forget the great "dracula", the one second you think you might look through his mask, but the next second you notice he fooled you. great acting. i really can recommend that movie, even if the political aspect might be a little antique. its this old style though that makes the whole movie so refreshing. it should be a must in everyones vampire collection, thats for sure. i think i'll watch my DVD again soon, its definitely worth a second look.

This a weird retelling of the Dracula story reconfigured as to be some sort of anti-fascist film. Its a beautiful film to look at but more than a bit strange in execution.The plot, if I picked it up correctly, has to do with a town that has been held in the grip of a band of vampires who all dress in what reminds one of fascist uniforms. Their leader bears more than a passing resemblance to Hitler, but with out the mustache. Deciding that they have had enough of the terror they form a plan to drive all of the vampires into the ocean. In order to get better information on the vampires they send in one of their own to the vampires castle.What transpires after that is both interesting and very pretentious, unfortunately the pretentiousness wins out. You have speeches and discussions that are less than veiled discussions of politics and completely ruin any normal sense of horror. You have a group of young girls who appear in many scenes of the vampires performing odd ballet or synchronized moves and in so doing distract you from the main action of the scene. It wouldn't be so bad except that much of the film can't make up its mind as to what its about, is it a horror film or a political film? I don't think it fully knows. The result of the confusion is a film that often comes off as being very funny, the problem is I can't be sure how much of it is suppose to be funny.The best part of this film is the look of it. This is one of those movies that amazes you with every shot. No matter what is going on, silly or serious, it all looks great. It sucks you in simply because you want to see the images that pass before your eyes. This film has tracking shots and haunting images that will stay with me forever (Two high points that come to mind are the first time we go to the vampires castle and travel among all of them; and the final sequence on the beach which has some haunting imagery.) Can I recommend this film? Truthfully, not to anyone who isn't a vampire completest or a film nut who loves to see beautifully shot films since the cinematography is what makes this work despite its pretentious flaws,