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Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula, The
WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?
Principal photography on The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula took 5 days. It shows. This is the kind of ultra-low-budget shot-on-video production that wants to be kinky and kitschy but in the end just makes you angry that you rented it.
Originally titled The Scarlet Countess, the movie begins in 1966 as a young auburn-haired woman (Brick Randall) is poised to become the next Janice Joplin. Instead, just as she's about to record her first album, Count Dracula (William Smith) happens by and turns her into a creature of the night. Flash forward 35 years: The scarlet countess longs to feel the sun on her face again, longs to see her reflection in a mirror. Renfield (Del Howison) informs her that the only way she can recapture her mortal self is to make love to (and suck the blood out of) three willing virgin females in one night. Make no mistake: This is the kind of setup that excites me as a film lover.
I'm aware that a movie like this has only one purpose: to titillate. That's fine. In fact, I admire movies that have such high aims. If a movie wants to titillate me, I say, "Go for it!" Not one scene in this movie titillated me. (What a great word "titillate" is.) Unfortunately, the women in The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula are strangely unappealing—despite their beauty. The inevitable lesbian love scenes are amazingly passionless, as if each actress is so concerned with how she's moving her naked body for the camera that she becomes rigid and awkward. There are about four lesbian encounters—one of them an almost enticing group romp—and all of them suffer from static shots of barely moving females under poor lighting.
On the plus side, Del Howison (owner and proprietor of a terrific bookstore called Dark Delicacies, which was used as a set in the film) plays a fun Renfield. Brick Randall is also fine—and easy on the eyes—as the scarlet countess.
HOW'S IT LOOK?
Seduction Cinema has delivered an unimpressive transfer of The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula. Although the box lists the film as fullframe, it appears to be a nonanamorphic transfer of an approximately 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Colors bleed all over the place and the picture is exceedingly soft.
Frustratingly, many scenes are dark, particularly the sex scenes. For example, a lesbian encounter in a motel room appeared to be well lit while the characters were dressed, but once the lesbian action began on the bed, the picture turned murky and inscrutable.
HOW'S IT SOUND?
The DVD's 2.0 track delivers an OK sound experience. There's certainly nothing here to get excited about, but at least you can hear the actors talking. The film has some mix problems, though. In a dance club sequence, the music has obviously been pumped in at the post-production stage at levels that are too low. In general, the disc has all the flaws (hissing, noise, dropouts, etc.) that you'd expect from a shot-on-video production.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
A commentary with director Donald Glut (whom you might remember from such books as the Empire Strikes Back novelization), producer Kevin Glover, and editor Dean McKendrick leads this disc's extras. They provide a lively conversation that is actually more entertaining than watching the primary soundtrack. They seem to be quite proud of the movie they've made—under the constraints of a 5-day work schedule and a severely limited budget.
The disc also includes a rather pointless selection of outtakes and bloopers, as well as a large group of kinky trailers. I admit to watching the Inga trailer a few times. That probably tells you more about myself than I should share.
WHAT'S LEFT TO SAY?
A shockingly sexless presentation—along with inexcusable lapses in logic, head-scratcher editing decisions, and lame shades of Anne Rice's Vampire Lestat character—turn The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula into the impossible: a lesbian-orgy-vampire flick that I wouldn't watch twice.
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