Vampyres Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		2.5

Vampyres Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 1, 2019

Note: This edition of this film is available as part of Blood Hunger: The Films of José Larraz.

Arrow Video continues to mine the world of cult cinema, offering releases that few fans would probably have ever even hoped would be coming out in high definition, in handsomely packaged editions that also offer some really interesting supplements. That commendable tradition on the part of Arrow continues with a new three disc set devoted to the little remembered (at least to mainstream film aficionados) Spanish director José Ramón Larraz, an exploitation auteur whose representation on Blu-ray has been arguably pretty spotty, but is at least there. Previous Blu-ray releases of Larraz's work include Symptoms, a film of Larraz’s which perhaps unexpectedly was screened at the Cannes Festival and evidently was in competition for the Palme d’Or that year. (A number of entries in our database seem to suggest there may have been some releases of Larraz films by Code Red, though none of them seem to have been reviewed yet.) The only prior domestic Blu-ray release of a film included in this particular set appears to be Blue Underground's version of Vampyres, which was released close to a decade ago.

For anyone needing a recounting of Vampyres' plot, I refer you to my colleague Martin Liebman's Vampyres Blu-ray review of the previous Blu-ray release. You'll note I gave the film a bit of a higher score than Marty did, as I am apparently a bit more tolerant of its admittedly gonzo proclivities.

Vampyres Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Vampyres is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The booklet included with this release has the following information on the restoration:

Vampyres is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono audio.

The original 35mm camera negative element was scanned in 2K resolution on a 4K Scanity at R3Store Studios, London. Sections of a 35mm CRI element were also scanned OCN Digital Labs, CT. The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London. The original mono mix was remastered from the optical negative reels at OCN Labs, CT.

The original negative was made available for this project by Producer Brian Smedley-Aston. The CRI and audio elements were made available from Films Around the World.

Marty wasn't especially excited about the appearance of the Blue Underground release, and while there's absolutely no question that this Arrow version is a substantial upgrade, expectations still need to be tempered by a number of things that Marty mentioned in his review of the previous outing, including the low production budget, a rather dreary palette and a fairly heavy grain field which can mask fine detail levels in lower light situations. Based solely on screenshots, it looks to me like the Arrow version easily trumps the Blue Underground in overall palette saturation, and clarity also looks at least marginally improved. I found the blacks slightly anemic at times in this version, as Marty did in the Blue Underground version. While hampered by some of the limitations of the shoot, detail levels are generally excellent, at least with an understanding that the film tends to exploit soft focus and hazy framings a lot of the time, not to mention quite a bit of dimly lit material.

Vampyres Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I was actually surprised to see that the Blue Underground version sported a lossless 7.1 mix, and I'm frankly kind of curious to hear it, especially with regard to the wonderful music by Stelvio Cipriani, though you'll note that Marty didn't score the audio presentation particularly highly. This Arrow version offers only an LPCM Mono mix, which is admittedly the original theatrical presentation, surround buffs notwithstanding. While there's the typical boxiness of re-recorded dialogue here, with a kind of hollow, dry sound at times, there's no damage to speak of, and Cipriani's score sounds great. As Arrow often says about its Italian features, sync can appear to be loose at times.

Vampyres Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Cast and Crew Interviews

  A High Stakes Enterprise (1080p; 18:29) features producer Brian Smedley-Aston.

  
  

  "By This Sign, I'll Recognise You. . ." (1080p; 14:12) features actress Marianne Morris.

  
  

  Daughter of Dracula (1080p; 13:18) features actress Anulka.

  
  

  A Cut Throat Business (1080p; 18:30) features actor Brian Deacon.

  
  

  An Unhappy Camper (1080p; 12:04) features actress Sally Faulkner.

  
  

  Bloodletting on a Budget (1080p; 17:57) features makeup artist Colin Arthur.

  
  

  Requiem for a Vampyre (1080p; 3:49) features composer James Kenelm Clarke.

• Reimagining Vampyres (1080p; 21:57) is an interview with Victor Matellano, who knew and collaborated with Larraz, and who also made the 2015 remake of Vampyres.


• Archival Interview with Jose Larraz (1080p; 14:20) stems from the mid 1990s.


• 1997 Eurofest Q&A (1080p; 9:26) features Jose Larraz and Marianne Morris.


• Image Galleries

  Stills (1080p)

  
  

  Behind the Scenes (1080p)

  
  

  Promotional and Miscellaneous (1080p)

  
  

  "Lost" Caravan Sequence (1080p) is going to make some ardent fan's dreams come true.

• Trailers

  US Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:57)

  
  

  International Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:33)

• Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger

Vampyres Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While this Arrow release omits some interesting sounding elements of the Blue Underground release (including some supplements), the technical presentation here is superior. This is one of Larraz's better known films, and fans should appreciate Arrow's technical presentation as well as the enjoyable supplemental package.