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Saturday

Victim swapping: The Vampire's Night Orgy (1973)


An isolated mountain village. During a funeral service, the coffin falls, cracking open, revealing a maggot and worm infested skeleton. The townspeople run in terror (Cause that’s what you do).

Cut to a small bus riding down the mountain road. Here we are introduced to a group of individuals on their way to a mansion to work. Three older men, Marcos (Manuel De Blas), Ernesto (Indio González) , and Godo (Luis Ciges), plus a younger tutor, Caesar. Alma, who is the sexy single of the group,  Raquel and her daughter, Violet. After being on the road for nearly two days they are a bit testy to say the least. Things change however when the bus driver dies of a heart attack at the wheel. They usher the young girl off the bus so they can cover the body and put it at the back of the bus (Cause that’s what you do). While getting a drink of water, the young girl meets a young boy but when she turns away, he disappears, like a virgin on prom night, just gone!

They get the dead bus driver situated and head back on the bus. In no mood for driving much further, they decide to stop at the next town Tonia, for the night and handle business with the driver and get some sleep.  They come across a hotel with a roaring fire and rooms ready. Enter our sleaze bag American Luis (Jack Taylor). He is lost in the village as well and once he gets a look at Alma (Dyanik Zurakowska) he’s down to stay lost. Everyone retires for the evening, except for Danny Trejo look alike Ernesto. He’s gonna hang out and drink alone.

Now we don’t know Luis is a sleaze bag until Alma goes to her room and readies for bed. Luis has discovered (?) a peephole and watches Alma undress in a creepy, heavy breathing kinda way. 


Meanwhile, Ernesto’s manly drinking binge is interrupted by strange noises outside. Irritated, he goes to investigate (Cause that’s what you do). He is attacked by the townspeople, who emerge from the darkness. 

The next day, the group comes downstairs only to find a town full of people. After breakfast, they try to leave, only to find that their bus isn’t working and Ernesto is acting strange. One of the town leaders, Boris, the Major (Jose Gardiola), informs them that they are welcome to stay for a few days at the expense of “The Countess”. Note: Should you ever find yourself in a position to meet a countess, RUN! It’s never good.



Vampire’s Night Orgy is a very different film. An entire village of vampires is cool, though, be warned, they act more like Ghouls. No matter. There are a lot of strange things in this film. Cannibalism, a strange ghost like kid, a hero who uses a peephole to spy on the heroine with the heaviest breathing you’ve ever heard
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The soundtrack is your typical synth-porn- pop from the era. A little odd and jarring when it blasts onto the screen, but oh well, you can’t have it all. Director Leon Klimovsky does a decent job with this film and I do enjoy it. However, since an uncut version is nearly impossible to find, it’s hard to see the real intension. 

The cast is fine, Jack Taylor as our hero is interesting if unconventional (Hey, he likes boobies. Good for him), Dyanik Zurakowska is alluring as Alma, the chambermaid to be. Everyone else really only exist to annoy you and die, kinda like a Friday the 13th film with the exception of Helga Line as the Countess who  is her usually sexy self. 

If you like good atmosphere then this film is for you. Not the most plot driven and let’s face it, not the sexiest vampire film to come out of the 70’s, but worth the 80 minutes it takes to watch. You’ll probably end up really enjoying this obscure little film, after all, it’s what we do.

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