Vampire Ecstasy / Sin You Sinners Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Vampire Ecstasy / Sin You Sinners Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 21, 2017

Joe Sarno's "Vampire Ecstasy" a.k.a. "The Devil's Plaything" (1973) and Anthony Farrar's "Sin You Sinners" (1963) arrive on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Media/Film Movement Classics. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; audio commentary with producer Chris Nebe; archival interviews with Joe Sarno; and more. The release also arrives with a 14-page illustrated booklet featuring critic Tim Lucas' essay "Under the Skin: Introducing Joseph W. Sarno". In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the two films. Region-Free.

Dangerous beauty

Joe Sarno’s Vampire Ecstasy very easily could have been directed by French helmer Jean Rollin. It blends gothic horror and erotica in a way that many of Rollin’s vampire films do and it actually manages to replicate some of the same dark atmosphere some of the same films have.

The narrative is loosely divided into two uneven sections. In the first, three young and very beautiful women travel to an old castle in rural Germany that once belonged to the legendary Baroness Varga to claim a large inheritance that will forever change their lives. After they are welcomed by the uncharacteristically cold hostess Wanda (Nadia Henkowa), however, their excitement is quickly replaced by an odd sense of uneasiness that they struggle to suppress. For a while the women do their best to ignore it but a series of bizarre noises confirm their suspicions that there is something in the castle that they should in fact worry about. Around the same time the elegant Dr. Julia Malenkow (Anke Syring) and her brother Peter (Nico Wolferstetter) are forced to seek shelter in the castle after their car breaks down in the middle of a terrible storm. Shortly after they are welcomed, they also hear some of the creepy noises and Julia decides to find out what causes them.

In the second section there are bits about the late Baroness Varga, who was supposedly an insatiable lesbian vampire, and her followers in the castle who have a secret plan for the guests. Some of the overlapping that occurs after the plan is revealed is quite effective and it is what basically gives the film its gothic vibe, but for the most part here the emphasis is on various prolonged lovemaking scenes that are easily forgettable.

The most obvious flaw of Vampire Ecstasy is its low-budget appearance. Indeed, it appears that everything that gives the film its identity was impacted by a restrictive arrangement of some sort -- it is felt in the acting, the rhythm of the story and ultimately the intended atmosphere. So the sense of spontaneity that these types of genre films require to be effective is essentially missing here. (The prolific Spanish director Jess Franco, for instance, was remarkably good at eliminating precisely this particular element from many of his low-budget films, which is why the majority of the ones that deal with similar subjects remain effective today).

On the other hand, the film’s unconventional willingness to go overboard with the erotic footage creates a few very interesting twists along the way (though admittedly this would hardly surprise people familiar with Sarno’s films because it is a regular occurrence in most of them). After a while Sarno essentially forces the main characters to remove their masks and engage in immoral games that flip the entire premise of the film upside down. It works, but the feeling that with a bigger budget this could have been a much better film never disappears.

In a new audio commentary recorded for this release, producer Chris Nebe confirms that the current version of the film that was restored in 2K is fully uncut. (It is difficult to know precisely why the film was cut in various territories because the erotic footage is not explicit or even risky, but in Europe local distributors apparently promoted numerous cut versions of the film).

***

Also included on this release is the more obscure Sin You Sinners about a stripper with some supernatural powers. It is a very low-budget film shot in black-and-white that will be of some interest mostly to hardcore fans of Sarno’s work. (It was directed by Anthony Farrar and scripted by Sarno).

Vampire Ecstasy / Sin You Sinners Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted 1080p transfers, Joe Sarno's Vampire Ecstasy and Sin You Sinners arrive on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Media/Film Movement Classics.

Vampire Ecstasy was recently restored in 2K by Film Media and generally looks quite wonderful in high-definition. I assume that the elements that were accessed during the restoration process were in good to very good condition because the visuals convey very pleasing depth and fluidity is excellent. There are a few segments (mostly darker indoor footage) where density fluctuates a bit, but there are no distracting anomalies caused by natural wear or mishandling of the elements. Colors are nicely saturated and there is a decent range of nuances, though I have to mention that during a the outdoor footage the highlights can appear slightly elevated. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections, the encoding could have been optimized to avoid some of the minor compression artifacts that occasionally sneak in.

Sin You Sinners was apparently assembled from various sources -- according to Film Media the best available for this film -- and the overall quality of the presentation is quite inconsistent. There are visible drops in terms of density and fluidity, some noticeable stability issues, and plenty of wear, fading and even damage marks. Fans of Sarno's work will appreciate the fact that the film is included on this release, but it has to be said that the technical presentation does not match the quality of the technical presentation of Vampire Sinners. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you mill be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical collection).

Vampire Ecstasy / Sin You Sinners Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The two films included on this release arrive with standard Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Optional English SDH subtitles are not included.

I don't know what type of remastering work was done, but the Dolby Digital 2.0 track for Vampire Ecstasy has some minor to moderate fluctuations in terms of depth and occasionally even clarity. It is quite possible that some deterioration had occurred at some point and it is now nearly impossible to address, but the fact remains that there are fluctuations throughout the entire film. While I did not find them distracting, I have to say that at times I had a difficult time understanding some of the exchanges because the accents can be quite thick. Naturally, I think that optional English SDH subtitles should have been included. The Dolby Digital 2.0 track for Sin You Sinners is of similar quality, though on it there are also some basic pops, cracks, and even minor hiss.

Vampire Ecstasy / Sin You Sinners Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - in this audio commentary, producer Chris Nebe discusses in great detail the rather unusual production history of Vampire Ecstasy (apparently, the film was distributed in different territories under a number of alternative titles), the socio-cultural climate in Germany at the time when the film was made, the period look and atmosphere of the film, Joe Sarno's choreography of the erotic sequences, various editing choices that were before the marketing campaign, etc.

• Joe Sarno - A Touch of Horror - in this archival interview, Joe Sarno explains how he fell in love with the horror genre and recalls how Vampire Ecstasy came to exist. The director also discusses the visual style of the film (with excellent comments about the lighting choices and their impact on the film's atmosphere). The interview was conducted in 2005. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Joe Sarno/Chris Nebe Interview - in this archival interview, dierctor Joe Sarno and producer Chris Nebe discuss their professional relationship and the filming of Vampire Ecstasy. The interview was conducted in 2004. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Trailer - original U.S. trailer for Vampire Ecstasy. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• German Trailer - original German trailer for Vampire Ecstasy. In German, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Trailer - original trailer for Sin You Sinners. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Booklet - 14-page illustrated booklet featuring critic Tim Lucas' essay "Under the Skin: Introducing Joseph W. Sarno".

Vampire Ecstasy / Sin You Sinners Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If I had to pick an American underground director whose body of work rivals that of the legendary Jess Franco, I would say that Joe Sarno is the only that comes relatively close. However, unlike Franco, who experimented with a variety of different genres, Sarno remained interested primarily in erotica, and eventually ended his career in the adult business (much like Joe D'Amato did in Italy). Film Media has started reconstructing and restoring a number of Sarno's most popular films and together with Film Movement Classics will bring them to Blu-ray. Vampire Ecstasy, which has been recently restored in 2K, will likely appeal to folks that have a soft spot for Jean Rollin's work as it blends rather well gothic horror and erotica. This recent release also contains Anthony Farrar's more obscure film Sin You Sinners, which was scripted by Sarno. RECOMMENDED.