As they celebrate their honeymoon in a faraway castle, newlyweds Wolfgang (Walter Brandi) and Louise (Graziella Granata) are unaware of the bloodthirsty vampire (Dieter Eppler) who lives in the basement wine cellar below. With a knack for romancing female guests and seducing them into his lair, the undead Lothario racks up a string of tasty victims -- and as soon as he spots Louise, she'll be next. Can Wolfgang save his young bride? Also appearing: Alfredo Rizzo, and directed by Roberto Mauri. This film is also known as "Curse of the Blood Ghouls", though that is in no way a good translation.On the Netflix version, the sound editing is really poor, rough and abrupt going from scene to scene. The Dark Sky disc may be better, as they have a way of restoring old foreign films. And the little girl's voice sounds like an adult dubbing a child. It would be much better subtitled.Luca Palmerini says this is a "dismal example of an Italian horror movie" and "amateurish". I don't think it was all that bad, but this may be based on a poor copy. If nothing else, even if the film is "eh" the costumes are still superb. I am not clear on why Dr. Nietzsche's name is apparently pronounced "Nitch" rather than "Neetch-uh", though.

"The Slaughter of the Vampires" is an ambiguously titled (are the vampires doing the slaying here or being killed off themselves?) Italian horror outing from 1962. A fairly paint-by-numbers affair, though filmed in B&W, the film reunites stars Walter Brandi and Alfredo Rizzo from the earlier "Playgirls and the Vampire." Here, Brandi plays Wolfgang, a nobleman in an unnamed country whose new wife, Louise, played by the luscious Graziella Granata, is being preyed on by a vampire so generic that we never even learn his name; call him The Vampire. As portrayed by Dieter Eppler, this neck nosher is so very compelling that poor Louise gives in to his charms almost immediately, soon becoming a most, uh, toothsome vampiress herself. Good thing that Wolfgang has been given the address of a most van Helsing-like doctor in nearby Vienna.... Offering absolutely nothing new to the vampire mythos and no new spins on this hoary staple of the horror genre, "Slaughter" yet has enough pleasurable aspects to merit it a mild recommendation. For one, Eppler is pretty darn impressive as the undead seducer, and when he speaks, his words are like pure poetry. The film has been given some interesting directorial touches and camera angles by Roberto Mauri, actually does have atmosphere to spare, and builds to an exciting conclusion. Perhaps best of all, a piano-dominated, dreamy and evocative score has been provided by Aldo Piga that effectively brings an air of otherworldliness to the entire affair. The picture really isn't that bad; just completely unoriginal and wholly derivative. Anybody out there know the Italian expression for "been there, done that"?

One would imagine that this film came out of those pocket books so popular with the ladies. It is a Gothic romance from start to finish with sumptuous sets, heaving bosoms and formal attire.Graziella Granata is absolutely gorgeous even in black and white, and she falls into the vampire's (Dieter Eppler) trap immediately. Here husband (Walter Brandi) is absolutely clueless at what is happening right under his nose.Don't worry, the fearless doctor knows what he is dealing with and chases the vampire and his minions to extinction - or , based on current HBO programming - to Louisiana.

I first watched this film on TV in the late 60's, early 70's. At that time i thought that it was a pretty good film. Recently, i purchased it on DVD and have, somewhat, changed my mind. The atmosphere, castle and surrounding settings are very good, however, the acting could be better. The opening sequence is great, however, the movie goes downhill from there. Graziella Granata, is drop dead gorgeous and Walter Brandi, her husband/male lead is OK. My main problem is with Dieter Eppler, the Vampire. He is way too stiff and his makeup is overdone. He,i assume, does his best with what he has to work with but looks like an extra in a stage play, who just comes in and out. The music is fine and the film, overall, is worth watching. I just feel that it could have been so much better. John R. Tracy