The title of this says it all, and the fact it is directed by prolific Spanish Director Jess Franco lets the audience know exactly what it is in for. Soledad Miranda's mesmerising Countess Nadine Carody is a powerfully erotic force of nature, and she has set her sights on American Linda (Ewa Strömberg). Catching Linda's attention during an erotic dance display at a local club, she then haunts her through dreams. It is a convincing dream-like entrapment, made more so by the beautiful and well-directed Turkish locations. Of all the Jess Franco films I've seen, this is his most effectively directed – there is less reliance on endless zooms in and out of the action than usual, and the legendary psychedelic music score, especially with its occasional weirdly distorted vocals, adds to the delirious atmosphere.Swirling red lined stairways, sun drenched castles and ornate buildings are all filmed beautifully, and yet as always with Franco, the storyline meanders into the inconsequential. Only when Dennis Price's Doctor Seward has a stand-off with Carody is a real kind of tension invoked (Price, who was nearing the end of his life by this time, looks healthier than he does in other films he made during this period).Whilst this never descends into an endless parade of soft-core 'action' like 'Female Vampire (1973)' and there is actually an element of supernatural horror here, things tend to drag, especially in the middle portion of the film. And yet ultimately, this is my favourite Franco film (so far). The wraith-like presence of the sensuous Miranda combined with the more tangible acting chops of people like Dennis Price lends a definite nobility to the trance-like, vaguely erotic horror.

A West German/Spanish co-production set in Turkey starring a cast from all over Europe and directed by sleazy exploitation legend Jess Franco: it's no wonder that Vampyros Lesbos is a bit all over the place at times, with a disjointed narrative and the director's haphazard visual trademarks—rapid zooms, out of focus close-ups and random imagery—very much in evidence.But whereas Franco's 'distinctive' style has frequently had me struggling to stay awake in the past, in this instance it proves surprisingly beguiling—an irresistibly bizarre, hypnotic, exotic, erotic slice of 70s psychedelia, its zonked-out art-house ambiance heightened by an incredibly trippy score, a remarkably effective fusion of prog rock, sitar, jazz flute, organ and incomprehensible Satanic vocals.Of course, it doesn't hurt much either that the film's two female stars—Soledad Miranda and Ewa Strömberg—are absolutely ravishing and frequently disrobe to indulge in a spot of soft-core Sapphic love-making. Should you tire of the bonkers surreal nature of the film, the quality T&A should see you comfortably though to the end.

"The Queen of the Night will bear you up on her dark wings."I guess you can look at "Vampyros lesbos" as director Jesús Franco's 70's modern variation on Bram Stoker's Dracula using Soledad Miranda as the seductive female lesbian vampire who took lessons from her master(..that being Count Dracula)in capturing victims through a form of hypnotic lust, invading women through their dreams. You could say that Ewa Strömberg's Linda, an agent whose firm, Simpson & Simpson, is handling Dracula's will which would entitle that his inheritance of the Kadidados islands(..and everything on it) be left to her, is Mina, the object for which Carody desires to "initiate into her inner circle." Andrés Monales, as Linda's lover Omar, would be the Jonathan Harker, the one who stands between Carody and her paramour. There really isn't a strong candidate for Van Helsing..it seems like Dennis Price, as scientist Dr. Alwin Seward, who runs a clinic and studies vampirism, would be, but he harbours a desire to be a vampire himself so he could obtain supernatural powers. Within Seward's clinic is Agra(Heidrun Kussin), who is the Renfield of the film, except instead of madness, she's more overcome by a state of constant orgasm, wantonly desiring to return to Carody, locked up in Seward's clinic. Her husband is Memmet(..portrayed by the director in one of his typically bizarre roles), who works at a hotel which charters a small boat to ferry people to Carody's island. Memmet is actually a psychotic torturer(..who likes to sucker females into the hotel wine cellar where he binds them before the nasty business) whose madness derives from the fact that Carody "changed" his wife into a lunatic only yearning for her touch. Paul Muller is given, frankly, a thankless role as Linda's psychiatrist who believes her rantings of being haunted by fantasies of Carody is merely bad sex. Carody's relationship to Dracula, subtly mentioned here and there in the film, comes from an incident near a castle she lived overcome by depravity and violence. Men were ravaging the village women, attempting to rape her(..this also provides the emphasis on why she hates men), dragging her from her castle..Dracula killing the man on top of her, subsequently "adopting" Carody into his family. Carody mentions how she was the woman who made his life worth living and that he always desired her body, taking just enough blood he needed to survive finally turning her into a vampire. The Turkish locations are definitely highlighted in this film as Franco's camera embraces various aspects of his setting. But, the pleasure for me is Soledad Miranda. The many ways Franco shoots her, the character is all hers. Of her short few lead roles, I think this, "She Killed in Ecstasy" & "Eugenie de Sade" each display her hold on the viewer. Whether it be her very unusual stage act where she dresses a "human mannequin" for an audience before biting her assistant's neck, the way her face is lit, or the abstract camera angles;it seems Franco wants you to see her as a very special creature, not meant for our world. Whether she's naked, in a bikini, or wearing lingerie on stage, Miranda is a showcase for our viewing pleasure. She's a dark-eyed goddess to me, a portrait on celluloid. I would definitely say Miranda's iconic accessory for this particular film is her red scarf. It's around her neck almost always. José Martínez Blanco is Carody's henchman Morpho, with dead eyes which stare right through you. The score only heightens the otherworldly nature Franco's direction brings to this fantasy. It's a vampire film, but I felt it embraces the erotic side rather than the violence often elaborated in Dracula adaptations. Sure, Carody's bites, but I think this is more about her seduction and entrapment over female victims she desires than the relishing bite on the jugular for flowing blood. I think the ultimate nourishment for a vampire like Carody is capturing the heart and soul of her victim, not their lifeforce.

I am attracted to vampire movies. They are my favorite type of horror. Adding lesbian to the title is a sure attraction, but there was very little of either lesbian action or vampirism in this Franco film.Now, Jesus Franco may not be familiar to everyone. Possibly because he had over 50 aliases. He directed over 180 films, wrote just about the same amount, acted in almost 100, and composed and edited many. You would think someone so prolific would be better known. With all that work, he only won one award, and that was for a short.This is considered by aficionados to be one of his more famous works. It is pure B sexploitation and of interest only to those who want to watch every vampire film, or every lesbian film, or every Euro trash film; in other words, a completion fanatic.Sure, Ewa Strömberg, Soledad Miranda, and Heidrun Kussin were worth looking at. Miranda is considered the Queen of the European Vampire Flicks, and displays full frontal in just about all her films. Her untimely death before the release of her most famous films certainly adds to the legend.