What are your opinion on Italian vampire films, guys? Any fans?
I haven't seen too many of these but I thought CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (1964) with Christopher Lee and Adriana Ambesi was very cool and atmospheric - even if a little short on actual vampire action.

I'll be seeing Polselli's THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA (1960) next and I'm quite looking forward to that, but what about the rest? There's also THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE (1960) and THE SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES (1962) - both starring Walter Brandi and the latter featuring Luigi Batzella in one of his acting roles! Both films are out on DVD but I haven't gotten around to picking up either up them. Perhaps I've been missing out. I generally like these old Italian black and white horror movies but I haven't seen as many of them as I'd like to. Do you have any other favorites to recommend?

Giulio Questi's period set gothic horror VAMPIRISMUS,a made-for- tv effort from 1982.

Not forgetting Riccardo Freda's I VAMPIRI of course. I have seen THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE which is silly fun - not seen the rest you mention. I don't think there was that many vampire movies to come out of Italy - which is strange considering it was such a popular fad world wide in the 1960s.

I absolutely loved Freda's brilliant I VAMPRI! Now, what was the deal with Bava being uncredited for with this again? I know he had something to do with the overall direction, but what's the full story on that again?

Thanks for the about VAMPIRISMUS, Stephen! I hadn't heard about this one before and I tend to more or less forget that the Italians actually made a few scattered vampire films after the 1960s. There's also Lamberto Bava's DINNER WITH A VAMPIRE (1988), which is a bit too toothless for my taste but it's fairly enjoyable if you're in the right frame of mind.

As for I VAMPIRI, I think it's a bit boring in places but it's a very good-looking film and has a great atmosphere. I know that Bava finished the film but I've always been under the impression that the majority of the film was made by Freda. Bava also finished CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959) for Freda. CALTIKI is another atmospheric b&w classic. It's really a rip-off of THE BLOB (1958) but much more classy. I actually like CALTIKI much better than I VAMPIRI. There's an Italian DVD out from NoShame that includes English audio and it's well worth investing in!

Anyway, I agree with Kit: it's strange that the Italians didn't make more vampire films. ATOM AGE VAMPIRE (1960) isn't really about vampires at all - it's more in the vein of those horror films where a mad professor is trying to preserve a woman's beauty à la EYES WITHOUT A FACE (and I VAMPIRI for that matter). Nice little film but none of the US budget DVD releases are fully uncut. The only other vampire flick I can think of is Polselli's THE VAMPIRE OF THE OPERA (1964), which is really elusive...

Now this could really do with a decent dvd release,seems the only version circulating at the moment is the Italian tv composite.

My favorite Italian vampire film is Roberto Mauri's SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES, Dieter Eppler's vampire is an overdressed seducer and Paolo Solvay makes a great vampire hunter.

I also like Paolo Solvay's own vampire film, THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT, shot by Joe D'Amato. I actually saw this at the drive-in in 1973 thinking it was a British or American film because of the Anglicized names on the credits. Solvay/Batzella was also the notorious Ivan Kathansky, who made THE BEAST IN HEAT and edited numerous porno films.