A low-budget Brazilian horror-comedy about a botanist (Ariel Coelho) who obtains a carnivorous plant but finds himself unable to handle it safely. After his demise his wife Silvia (Nicole Puzzi) takes up managing a nightclub and creates a successful dance number called "The Seven Vampires" but soon people start falling victim to a mysterious masked murderer, nicknamed "the vampire killer". Investigating the crime spree are a private eye named Marlou (Nuno Leal Maia) and an inept cop named Pacheco (Colé Santana).The movie makes many references to famous horror films by using music from them, notably Psycho and The Shining, and there's even a short clip of Alfred Hitchcock "presenting" the film to us. Otherwise the story is not very creative after all and the plot gets repetitive after a while. The colourful lighting and design are somewhat good-looking though and the flesh-eating plant looks awesome and hilarious – a great shame they don't show more of it! To go with the sleazy style, there are also rather poor gore effects and plenty of female nudity. One scene deserving a special mention is the catchy pop song by Bob Rider (Leo Jaime), but over all I don't think The Seven Vampires is quite crazy enough to truly work as a fun schlocky comedy. Of the four Ivan Cardoso films I've seen so far, I prefer The Secret of the Mummy.

Minor SpoilersFred Rossi (Ariel Coelho) is a botanist who brings a rare specimen of carnivore plant from Africa to Rio de Janeiro. He is attacked by the plant, and while trying to rescue him, his beloved wife Silvia Rossi (Nicole Puzzi) is bitten by the plant and transformed is some sort of vampire. After the death of her husband, Silvia is invited by her friend Rogério (John Herbert) to move with him to Petrópolis (a city nearby Rio de Janeiro – abt. 50 miles distance) to help him to manage his nightclub, which is near a bankruptcy. Silvia prepares the successful show `The Seven Vampires' and the audience increases in the club. Meanwhile, many deaths are happening and the ridiculous detective Pacheco (Colé Santana) is in charge of the investigations. When Rogério dies, attacked by the vampire, his lover Ivete (Simone Carvalho) hires the clumsy private eye Raimundo Marlou (Nuno Leal Maia) and his secretary Maria (Andrea Beltrão) to conduct a private investigation. Many confusions happen along the story. The director Ivan Cardoso was the creator of a genre called in Brazil of `terrir' (`Ter' from terror, horror + `Rir', which means laugh in Portuguese). This type of comedy used elements of the `Chanchadas da Atlântida', which was very successful in Brazil of the 40's and 50's, beautiful naked women (since the rigid censorship in Brazil had finished just a few years ago and the people was avid for sex and naked women), pop songs (in this movie, through the successful pop band (in 1986) `Leo Jaime e os Miquinhos Amestrados'). `As Sete Vampiras' was very successful in Brazil when released in the movie theaters, but nowadays the story is very silly and naive. Anyway, it is a great production for Brazilian standards, with good lighting, photography, performance of the cast and gorgeous women and has some importance in our culture. Although not being the best, it is probably the most popular work of Ivan Cardoso. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): `As Sete Vampiras' (`The Seven Vampires')