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The PackageGRAVE
OF THE VAMPIRE played the drive-in circuit back in 1974 and, outside a minor
cult following, has been mostly forgotten (its only home video appearance was on
the now-defunct Unicorn Video label). It
joins the likes of DEATHDREAM (1972), ALICE, SWEET ALICE (1976) and MASSACRE AT
CENTRAL HIGH (1976) as a prime example of a seemingly unassuming drive-in
programmer that manages to overcome its limitations, budgetary and otherwise
(see also the low budget 1972 Spanish flick THE DRACULA SAGA, which utilizes,
effectively, one of GOTV's more intriguing motifs: a vampire baby!).
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The StoryThe
script is a hodgepodge affair, impossible to satisfactorily summarize.
Employing a number of different plot strands that never quite mesh, the
story's a mess, and yet it somehow works-though not initially (in defiance
of that old "if nothing happens in the first ten minutes, nothing's gonna
happen" credo). It starts out
inauspiciously, with a young couple making out in a graveyard(!) just when
Kroft, a centuries old vampire, is awakening from a crypt.
Kroft wastes no time in killing the man and raping the woman (the rape,
like many of the film's nastier moments, takes place largely offscreen in the
video version, although it may be more graphic in the original).
From there, the story takes another uninspiring turn as two stock
detectives institute a none-too-exciting search for Kroft; thankfully, this
particular plot strand doesn't last long, as Kroft offs 'em both and his
rape victim gives birth to a baby vamp who only drinks blood.
The story here undergoes yet another twist as the kid grows into a
good-guy vampire and goes in search of his father. It's here, about forty minutes into the film, that the main plot
strand kicks in, though there are still a number of twists in store.
Kroft's grown child finds himself in a college course taught by Kroft
himself. It seems the not-so-good professor hasn't lost his sexual
appetite, as he seduces and brutally murders several of his female students.
His reign of terror is threatened, however, when he foolishly allows a
colleague to conduct a séance that calls up the spirit of Kroft's slain wife,
who has not been resting in
peace! A bloodbath ensues, topped
off by an outrageous fight to the death between father and son.
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The DirectionCo-writer, director and editor John Hayes was one of the most prolific exploitation filmmakers of the seventies (whose best known film, apart from this one, is probably the 1977 Christopher Lee headliner END OF THE WORLD). He uses all the standard Z-movie tricks, from billowing smoke (or "mist") to obnoxiously overwrought music cues (so we'll grasp the full horror of the given situation) to the presence of drive-in mainstay William Smith (veteran of far too many exploiters to list here) in the main role. Hayes also, in the film's most effective moments, utilizes restraint and understatement in a way that would make Val Lewton proud. Such scenes are memorably contrasted with depictions of unflinching brutality, particularly in the finale, where the eerie ambiance of a séance gives way to one of the most relentless fight sequences in horror movie history. |
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 GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE Clover Films/Pyramid Entertainment, Inc. Director: John Hayes Producer: Daniel Cady Screenplay: David Chase, John Hayes (Based on a novel by David Chase) Cinematography: Paul Hipp Editor: John Hayes Cast: William Smith, Michael Pataki, Lyn peters, Diane Holden, Kitty Vallacher, Eric Mason, Margaret Fairchild |
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