Before turning his attention to the Blind Dead series, Armando de Ossorio wrote and directed this 1969 film about Sylvia (Anita Ekberg), a gorgeous model who inherits a castle from long-forgotten relatives, only to discover the family secret: her ancestors are centuries-old vampires!
Fangs of the Living Dead is the American cut of Malenka, The Vampire’s Niece, which contained an additional 20+ minutes (and, from what I’ve read, an alternate plotline that suggests the vampire curse is a hoax concocted by Sylvia’s uncle, played by Julian Ugarte).
While I wish I had seen Ossorio’s original version of the movie, Fangs of the Living Dead nonetheless features a handful of creepy moments (a nighttime sequence set in a graveyard is effective, as is the final showdown between Sylvia’s uncle and her fiance, portrayed by Gianni Medici), though I could have done without the comedy, which often felt out of place, and the ending scene with Max (a character played by Cesar Benet) was particularly woeful.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
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