The Vampire Happening

Starring:Pia Degermark, Thomas Hunter, Yvor Murillo, Ingrid van Bergen, Joachim Kemmer, Oskar Wegrostek, Ferdy Mayne, Lyvia Bauer, Daria Damar, Kay Williams (III), Michael Janisch, Toni Wagner, Raoul Retzer, Willfried KovÃ¡rnik, Bruno Frenzel, Reinhold Sobotta, Bernd Koschmidder, Bernd Noske
Director: Freddie Francis
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Sexy American movie star Betty Williams (Pia Degermark from Elvira Madigan) flies to Transylvania to get a gander at her ancestral castle. While touring the torture chamber (which inspires kinky fantasies) and the family vault, she inadvertently unleashes her randy grandmother, Clairamonda, an ancient vampire and a brunette double to blonde Betty. A clumsy wig-swapping, door-slamming farce ensues, with Betty seducing a local schoolteacher, Clairamonda feasting on local lascivious monks, and a climactic vampire orgy at a bloodsuckers' ball where Betty finds herself the only fresh plasma in the building. Less a hippie vampire tale than a sexploitation knockoff of Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers, this West German comedy features a spoofing performance from Ferdie Mayne, the vampire king from Polanski's film, as a groovy Dracula with an eye for female flesh. Former Hammer director and master cinematographer Freddie Francis shows little facility for comedy and exhibits none of his cinematographic skills in this crude but fitfully amusing farce. The leering performances make Benny Hill look subtle, the slapstick gags are undercut by indifferent execution, and the entire production lumbers under bad makeup and atrocious dubbing. Degermark, however, proves to be a good sport, giving a spirited performance while disrobing at almost every turn, and Mayne has a blast in an over-the-top turn as a deliciously decadent bloodsucker. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Strange but different, I suppose.......2007-06-06

This film is odd. I can't quite put my finger on it, but perhaps it suffers a little too much from its own kookiness and a particular strain of "Laugh-In" type of quirkiness, as well as other things reminiscent of that time. I did think it was visually interesting though, and it held my attention until the very end. Lots of nudity, swinging vampires, and other weirdness from the 70's abounds and is sure to please everyone; you can't help but laugh at some of the antics, even if you try.

Fangs for the Mammaries.......2006-05-09

A typical plot device has an American heiress arrive in Europe to look over an old castle she has inherited. The help is surprised when she arrives as she looks just like her grandmother who was supposedly a vampire. When trying to prove that vampires don't really exist, the new Countess accidently releases her vampire ancestor. Now with two look-alikes running around the confusion begins to build.

But with the vampire released, bodies begin to pile up. A monastery and a religious school offer up plenty of targets for the hungry vampire. Soon more vampires are running around. But attempts to eliminate the vampire seem to fail as no one can tell which is which. Eventually we get other vampires and even Count Dracula drops in for a visit. Soon it seems like the vampires are completely out of control but being a double does have its uses.

Slightly reminiscent of The Fearless Vampire Killers this film also uses a lot of humor and slapstick in its makeup. But unlike the Polanski film, these vampires are quite debauched. Living and undead seem to spend an awful lot of time running around topless. So much so that one wonders why this is not billed as some sort of nudie-cutie film. But whatever the reason, this film works. The blend of humor and horror is done just right. Both female leads are played by the same actress (the director's wife) so the deceptions work very well. I was expecting something a little less commendable but was pleasantly surprised. Check it out.

The Hip, Happening Vampires..........2004-12-23

Woo-hoo! Now, this is a classic! Yep, young, beautiful Betty Williams (Pia Degermark), international movie goddess has just returned to her ancestral home via Transylvania airlines. Upon arrival at the castle, Betty learns of the grim fate of her grandma, baroness Catali. It seems she was found in bed, naked, with two bitemarks on her neck. Luckily, granny is in the castle crypt, sealed in a coffin. Of course, she's a vampire, so the last few centuries have been VERY good to the old gal! The baroness (Pia Degermark again) gets up and starts hunting unsuspecting victims at the monastary next door. One particular monk ends up at the wrong end of her fangs and becomes one of the most annoying bloodsuckers ever filmed. He soon creeps (more like stumbles) into the nearby girl's school (on the other side of the castle) and feasts upon a sleeping, naked student. Soon, the vampires are all revved up and ready to party! Count Dracula himself shows up as guest of honor at the wild flesh-feast, where most of the babes are topless! Hot diggety! THE VAMPIRE HAPPENING is a goofy, inept monster comedy that has just enough nudity to (almost) make up for it's lack of a decent script. I recommend it as a triple feature with VAMPIRES NIGHT ORGY and INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (GRAVEYARD TRAMPS)...

Why was this dubbed into English?.......2001-07-06

Beautiful sets, lights, props and music were marred by English dubbing. For Heaven's sake, I bought this because the title was in German, but when Amazon.com sent it to me, all of the German had been dubbed over, and there wasn't even any German in the subtitles. "Gebissen wird nur nachts," of course, means "Bites happen only at night" (one of those typical impersonal passive constructions that First Year German students run into) or "You only get bitten at night." Anyway, the four color printed cover that came on this DVD was pretty good, as English goes ("The Vampire Happening"), but it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't until I opened up the DVD that I found the slip of paper (with cute little cartoon bats flying around) with the original title - 'Gebissen wird nur nachts' - but where on earth did the German go? Why was this dubbed into English? Now, that said, this is not a total disappointment. It is what you would call 'soft-R' and not even 'soft-core.' A couple of scantily clad vampiresses are seen, and the plot was easy enough to follow. What I was struck with most with this film was the Disney-ish sound-track, a little more bouncy than "sound of music" but enough to remind me of the 1960's. If you are only into rap music, or rock, this soundtrack will probably strike you as rather lame. I think most of the value behind this DVD rests in what lessons it teaches the film student who looks at it from the perspective of how to put a movie together. It's a good enough movie if you can get past the English, which proceeds at odds with the movement of the lips of the actors. Sigh. Film collectors that want to follow the career of Pia Degermark might also find this movie valuable. But beware, ordering "Gebissen wird nachts" means getting "The Vampire Happening" when the DVD finally arrives in your mailbox. And there were no menu choices that you could click to turn on any German, not even German subtitling. I sure hope that ordering "Der Blaue Engel" or "Kleider Machen Leute" doesn't mean getting "The Blue Angel" or "Clothes Make the Man" when the DVD finally arrives in the mailbox.

Why was this dubbed into English?.......2001-07-06

Beautiful sets, lights, props and music were marred by English dubbing.... all of the German had been dubbed over, and there wasn't even any German in the subtitles. "Gebissen wird nur nachts," of course, means "Bites happen only at night" (one of those typical impersonal passive constructions that First Year German students run into. The English cover that came on this DVD was pretty good, as English goes ("The Vampire Happening"), but it wasn't what I expected. It wasn't until I opened up the DVD that I found the slip of paper with the original title - 'Gebissen wird nur nachts' - but where on earth did the German go? Why was this dubbed into English? Now, that said, this is not a total disappointment. It is what you would call 'soft-R' and not even 'soft-core.' A couple of scantily clad vampiresses are seen, and the plot was easy enough to follow. What I was struck with most with this film was the Disney-ish sound-track, a little more bouncy than "sound of music" but enough to remind me of the 1960's. If you are only into rap music, or rock, this soundtrack will probably strike you as rather lame. I think most of the value behind this DVD rests in what lessons it teaches the film student who looks at it from the perspective of how to put a movie together. It's a good enough movie if you can get past the English, which proceeds at odds with the movement of the lips of the actors. Sigh. Film collectors that want to follow the career of Pia Degermark might also find this movie valuable. But beware, ordering "Gebissen wird nachts" means getting "The Vampire Happening" when the DVD finally arrives in your mailbox. And there were no menu choices that you could click to turn on any German, not even German subtitling. I sure hope that ordering "Der Blaue Engel" or "Kleider Machen Leute" doesn't mean getting "The Blue Angel" or "Clothes Make the Man" when the DVD finally arrives in the mailbox.

Average customer rating:

Strange but different, I suppose
Fangs for the Mammaries
The Hip, Happening Vampires...
Why was this dubbed into English?
Why was this dubbed into English?

The Vampire Happening
Starring: Pia Degermark , Thomas Hunter , Yvor Murillo , Ingrid van Bergen , and Joachim Kemmer
Director: Freddie Francis
Manufacturer: Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305808058
Release Date: 2000-05-09

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Strange but different, I suppose.......2007-06-06

Fangs for the Mammaries.......2006-05-09

The Hip, Happening Vampires..........2004-12-23

Why was this dubbed into English?.......2001-07-06

Average customer rating:

Strange but different, I suppose
Fangs for the Mammaries
The Hip, Happening Vampires...
Why was this dubbed into English?
Why was this dubbed into English?

The Vampire Happening
Starring: Pia Degermark , Thomas Hunter , Yvor Murillo , Ingrid van Bergen , and Joachim Kemmer
Director: Freddie Francis
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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( V ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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