The Vampire Happening
| The Vampire Happening | |
|---|---|
 German film poster for The Vampire Happening | |
| Directed by | Freddie Francis |
| Written by | August Rieger Karl-Heinz Hummel[3] |
| Produced by | Pier A. Caminnecci |
| Cinematography | Gerard Vandenberg[2] |
| Edited by | Alfred Srp[2] |
| Music by | Jerry van Rooyen[2] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes[2] |
| Country | West Germany[2] |
| Language | German[4] |
The Vampire Happening (German: Gebissen wird nur nachts, lit. They only bite at night) is a 1971 West German comedy and horror film directed by Freddie Francis.[4]
Plot[]
An American actress inherits a castle in Transylvania. What she does not know is that her ancestor, the Baroness Catali, was in actuality a vampire countess, and emerges from her tomb to ravage the nearby village and Catholic seminary.
Cast[]
- Pia Degermark as Betty Williams, Clarimonde
- Thomas Hunter as Jens Larsen
- Yvor Murillo as Josef
- Ingrid van Bergen as Miss Niessen
- Joachim Kemmer as Martin
- Oskar Wegrostek as Abt
- Ferdy Mayne as Count Dracula
- Lyvia Bauer as Gabrielle
- Daria Damar as Kirsten
- Kay Williams
- Michael Janisch
- Toni Wagner
- Raoul Retzer
Production[]
In the early 1970s, Italian producer Pier A. Caminnecci was looking for a film for his wife Pia Degermark whose previous film Elvira Madigan (1967) was a critical and financial success.[3] Caminnecci set up an international production for her in West Germany directed by British director Freddie Francis and written by German screenwriters August Rieger and Karl-Heinz Hummel[3] The script features a sub-plot based on Theophile Gautier's short story "La Morte Amoureuse."[3]
Francis later stated: "I was aware from the start of the difficulties in shooting a horror parody. I really believed that I was working with normal people in the movie industry, and thought I could have made a decent film. With time, I became aware that the producer was an imbecile who treated the project like a home movie. He wanted to do the casting, make cameos in the film, and wanted his wife as an actress. It was a disaster which I can't say anything serious about."[5]
Reception[]
The film was not well received.[6] Allmovie gave the film one and a half stars out of five, stating that it is "not considered to be one of the crown jewels of the genre"[4] In his book Comedy-Horror Films:A Chronological History, author Bruce G. Hallenbeck referred to the film as "sort of a ripoff of Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers" and "doesn't come within lightyears of Polanski's vision"[7]
See also[]
- List of comedy films of the 1970s
- List of horror films of 1971
- List of German films: 1970s
References[]
- ^ "Gebissen wird nur nachts - das Happening der Vampire". filmportal.de. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Browning & Picart 2010, p. 91.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hallenbeck 2009, p. 92.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Fountain, Clarke. "Vampire Happening". Allmovie. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
- ^ Zatterin, M., "Carreras, Francis, Guest, Lester", Fantafestival, 1986.
- ^ Hallenbeck 2009, p. 93.
- ^ Hallenbeck 2009, pp. 92–3.
Works cited[]
- Browning, John Edgar; Picart, Caroline Joan (2010). Dracula in Visual Media:Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game Appearances, 1921-2010. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786433650.
- Hallenbeck, Bruce G. (2009). Comedy-Horror Films:A Chronological History, 1914-2008. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786433322.
External links[]
- 1971 films
- West German films
- German comedy horror films
- 1971 horror films
- 1970s comedy horror films
- German-language films
- Vampires in film
- Films directed by Freddie Francis
- Films based on short fiction
- Films set in castles
- 1971 comedy films