I'd like to start by saying that the print available from Sinister Cinema is in great shape and is in widescreen. The color is very vibrant and most of the night scenes are easy to see. I cannot imagine there ever being a better print than this. It does not have the flashing red screen warnings that are on some of the other releases of the film. That was certainly a plus, for me.The Loreley's Grasp is quite dreamlike, as are so many Euro horror films, from the time period. I enjoyed it very much, for its excesses and its simplicities. A little of the continuity is lost in the dubbing to English, but the viewer will totally understand what is happening, through the entire film. It is quite violent and should not be seen by younger viewers, without an adult first checking it out.I purchased my copy from Sinister Cinema, via Amazon. The price was $8.99 and, after viewing, I would have been happy to pay more. If you are the kind of collector who likes to make his own covers for releases like this, be prepared to have some trouble finding any decent posters or lobby cards from the film. They are out there, but it sure takes a bit of a search.This is the only film by Ossorio that I have seen, besides the Blind Dead series. I love the Blind Dead films (number 2 less than the others) and I loved The Loreley's Grasp. I will be checking out some more of Ossorio's titles, in the future.

A series of nasty and bloody murders in which young and sexy women are found with their hearts torn out are connected to a horrible mythological creature known as the Loreley,who lives under water.Eurohorror goddess Helga Line plays Loreley and she transforms from beautiful woman to an ugly creature with an urge to kill.Only local hunter Tony Kendall can stop her reign of terror."The Loreley's Grasp" by Amando "Blind Dead" de Ossorio is a fantastic slice of Euro-exploitation.It's loaded with beautiful Euro babes and nasty heart-ripping sequences.The atmosphere of horror is well-developed and the acting is fairly good.The film is quite tame when it comes to erotica.The monster makeup tends to look terrible.Still the film works as a charming mood piece.8 buxom ladies out of 10.

The iconic Spanish Horror director Amando De Ossorio is doubtlessly best known for his four 'Blind Dead' films starting with "La Noche Del Terror Ciego" ("Tombs of the Blind Dead") of 1971. "Las Garras De Lorelei" (aka. "The Lorelei's Grasp"/"When the Screaming Stops" of 1974 is yet another great little gem in the man's repertoire, which must not be missed by any Eurohorror fan.The film, which is (very loosely) based on the German Loreley myth and the Niebelungen Mythology, is set in a Village by the Rhine, which is struck by a series of gruesome murders. After a girl has been found with her heart ripped out, some voices claim that the gruesome murder was the deed of the Lorelei, a beautiful woman who turns into a monster by nights and devours human hearts. The hunter Sigurd (Tony Kendall) is assigned as a watchman for a nearby boarding school for (hot) girls, lead by the drop-dead gorgeous teacher Elke (Silvia Tortosa)...Connecting the fascinating Niebelungen myth with Eurohorror simply must result in great entertainment, especially since the man in the director's chair is Amando De Ossorio. It is undeniable that the film has a strong (and charming) camp-factor, but it has just as many moments of genuine creepiness. While the dialogue is sometimes camp and some characters' actions make little sense at times, Ossorio succeeds once again in creating a rich and menacing Gothic atmosphere. The photography and score are great, and the locations and set-pieces are beautifully gloomy. The female cast is full of beautiful women. The Regular redhead Eurohorror beauty Helga Liné shines in the role of the eponymous she-monster, and looks both incredibly hot and somewhat eerie. Silvia Tortosa, who plays the sexy young teacher, is even more ravishing. Miss Tortosa, who is also known for "Horror Express", must have one of the most impeccably beautiful faces ever seen on screen. The cast includes many regular Eurohorror actors, such as the creepy-looking Luis Barboo, Luis Induni (who also was in many Spaghetti Westerns) and José Thelman ("La Noche Del Terror Ciego"). There is some female nudity, but compared to other contemporary Spanish Exploitation films (such as some by Jess Franco, Paul Naschy,...) the film is rather low on sleaze. As usual for De Ossorio, the gore is very graphic and intense, and very well-made in spite of a low budget.Besides the "Blind Dead" cycle, "Las Garras De Lorelei" is one of Amando De Ossorio's most memorable films, and an eerie and outrageously entertaining little gem that no fan of European Horror should miss. Highly Recommended!

May contain some small spoilers.I vaguely remember the German folk story about the Siren that lures sailors to shore only kill them and take all their treasure. To say That I vaguely remember it means that I have heard of it in passing. It is an intriguing story and to make a horror movie out of it is a pretty good idea. You have all the settings for a typically frightening shock fest with intangibles like a small sleepy town located on the Rhine River. The nights are mist-filled and fog covered. And since there has been something about small ghost towns like this one that have captivated a horror audience, I have to say that this adds nicely to ambiance and potential of the film. Also typically present in this film is an all girls school that feels threatened by a murder of a young girl and needs protection from the beast that is on the prowl. In short, there are some very powerful elements working for this film and it has all the ingredients to be a great entry in the horror genre, but ultimately it falls short of achieving greatness and that has to be attributed to the flimsy story, amateur directing and a conclusion that ultimately lets you down.The english translation to this Spanish film is When The Screaming Stops, when really the film is titled Las Garras de Lorelei, which I can only assume means the legend of Lorelei or the revenge of Lorelei or something to that matter. It was wise to give it a different english name but as I stated earlier, the legend of Lorelei is a very intriguing story and it should be been better than this. As it stands, the film begins with a young woman brushing her hair, alone at night. We see a large, scaly hand envelop the screen. We hear heavy breathing and soon the creature attacks the young woman and tears her apart quite well. Blood splatters everywhere and her skin is literally excoriated, in quite a gory fashion. There is little editing here to preserve the appearance of non-violence. In other words, the Ontario Film Board has not gotten their paws of censorship into this one. Many times various other films have been hindered because the OFB has deemed the scenes too violent for our fragile little minds to embrace. And although I have to admit that my wife was looking away in disgust, I was quite impressed with the amount of gore and the quality job they did of making it seem like a heart was being ripped out and that skin was being torn from the body. So on that level the film is worth seeing. There are not many films that remain intact--from the directors view-- and straight to us. Most of the time ( take many of the later Friday the 13th's ) films are cut and then pasted back together, but not this one.Back to the story: So now the all girls school hires a hunter to hunt down this animal and to protect them. This is one of those 70's porno-girls schools where the girls don't ever go to class, get giddy at the site of a man, run around in the skimpy bikinis, laugh for absolutely no reason (all of the time) and behave like sex starved kittens from hell. The only thing we don't have in this film is lots of gratuitous sex. There is a fair bit of nudity, but only when someone is getting filleted. Now the hunter finally meets a mystery woman that shows up in strange places, first with hooded men that act as body guards and then as a half naked gorgeous looking "siren" that sits on the beach and then flees when he approaches. Soon enough she reveals to him that she is Lorelei and that she is here to eat people's hearts so that she can survive. That is all you need to know about the film because as I said, what starts out as an interesting idea is wasted by the inneptitude of all involved. The direction is amateur at best. To build tension, there is nothing but bushes that shake everytime someone is about to be mangled. There is no build up and ultimately no pay-off. You know who is going to die and by the second killing you know that you are going to see the same manner in which it is done everytime. I have seen some excellent gore in my horror days so watching eight or ten people get their hearts ripped out grows cumbersome and a little boring after the first two or three.As I said, the denouement is absurd and silly. The film could have been saved had the ending been a little better. Our fearless hunter has fallen for Lorelei's pulchritude and this has been disguised as love. And although he has to kill her, he is finding it increasingly difficult to do so, even though she has promised him a life of enslavement and the fact that she has gone onto kill a multitude of towns folk. Maybe the film can be forgiven because it is Spanish ( no disrespect to Spanish people) and maybe the whole culture and legend of Lorelei is above my comprehension, but lost in all of this is the fact that this is first and foremost a horror film and beyond the blood and gore and dripping hearts, there is nothing horrific about it.5.5 out of 10-- If you come across this film at your local video store, it may be worth a look. It is, as I said, not the greatest horror film but if you are hoping to one day make a good one, this will show you what not to do. Anyone can make a model of a human and fill it with blood and organs, but not everyone can emulate John Carpenter ( when he was making Halloween).