“Have you ever driven a dune buggy?” – Diana LeFanu
How has everyone been since the last article? In good fashion, I return with another interesting film. The Velvet Vampire (1971) just recently celebrated its 55th anniversary being released on June 16, 1971. This film first came to my attention from The Gory Picture Show by Louis Otero & Brandon Hardy. It’s available anywhere you listen to your podcasts. Can’t recommend the podcast enough for horror fans!
Directed by Stephanie Rothman, with a runtime of 80 minutes and released by the legendary New World Pictures, The Velvet Vampire brings you an off-the-wall vampire flick complete with dune buggies, desert hallucinations, erotic seduction, and, yes, a bloodthirsty woman of the night.
Lee and Susan Ritter are a married couple who meet the mysterious and alluring Diane LeFanu at an art gallery in Los Angeles. Diane soon invites the couple to spend a weekend at her secluded desert estate. What begins as an unusual getaway quickly becomes something far more sinister as Diane’s seductive nature begins to drive a wedge between the married couple. Lee finds himself increasingly drawn to their hostess, while Susan becomes suspicious of Diane and the strange events surrounding the estate.
As the weekend unfolds, Diane’s true nature slowly comes to light, but The Velvet Vampire can be pretty slow at times. Rothman focuses more on atmosphere, sexuality, dreams, and character relationships than traditional vampire action, so don’t expect a ton of blood or fangs. It can feel a little boring in stretches, but its strange, hazy desert atmosphere gives it a unique charm.
Since it’s still summertime, The Velvet Vampire also makes for a great Summerween watch. The hazy desert setting, dreamy visuals, and strange atmosphere give the film that perfect mix of summer heat and spooky season weirdness.
Although this is a shorter review, I wanted to bring up a couple of things you may find interesting. The film was originally known under titles including Through the Looking Glass and Blood Lover before settling on its final name. It was also produced through Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, with Corman serving as executive producer. Corman even pushed Stephanie Rothman to add a kill scene after a test screening, resulting in the memorable pitchfork death of a mechanic. And if you caught the name Diane LeFanu, that’s a fun little nod to Sheridan Le Fanu, the author of the classic vampire novella Carmilla.
And it has a very cool poster.
As always feel free to follow-
Letterboxd Review: https://boxd.it/f7JInL
Letterboxd Profile: https://boxd.it/5Chsj