This is a rather amusing example of misleading advertising. The above image is of Mirabel Martin and Alexandra Bastedo in a particularly gory moment from Vicente Aranda's 1972 lesbian vampire film LA NOVIA ENSANGRETADA [THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE].
But the advert is for the Finnish video of Jess Franco's LA COMTESSE NOIRE (1973)! Even in the blood sucking version of this there's nothing remotely like the ultra violence of this scene. I guess an image of Lina Romay walking half clothed through the mist wasn't exploitable enough... An amusing example of vintage exploitation tactics and alternate versions.
Has anyone seen this version? If so, please report on the exact content and run time in the comment area. Thanks.
6 comments:
I've seen it, named as The Bare Breasted Countess / Verentahtima morsian (which means The Blood-Spattered Bride)! It runs 69 minutes and is mildly letterboxed.
Mark Raingrove
Thanks for the information on this version. That's the shortest runtime I've yet heard of. Is there any hardcore or is it the one with the bloodsucking sequences? And welcome to the blog.
This 69 minute version is the "horror version" without any hardcore. I have one old 'zine which compares this version with that released by Redemption on VHS as "Female Vampire". Even with running time of just 69 minutes and missing much on nudity, it still has some stuff that's not in "Female Vampire"! This 69 min edit is my favorite version and I really hope that someone would released it on DVD.
It's worth noting that the company that released Franco's film on VHS, Kamras Film, is the same that released Aranda's film theatrically. Aranda's film was never released on VHS while Franco's was film never released in theatres! Most people think that this misleading cover is just a honest mistake but who knows...
with running time of just 69 minutes and missing much on nudity, it still has some stuff that's not in "Female VampireThanks for the info on this and welcome to the blog. Do you know what scenes this has that's not in FV? Thanks
I managed to find the zine I was referring to. What follows is a overlook of differences as given by now long dead Finnish zine Gorehound (3/1994), translation to English mine:
"Redemption's VHS claims to run 94 min (actually 92) while Finnish version runs just 69 mins. However, this is not caused by cencorship, but these are two different movies edited from same footage. Redemption's version deals with sadomasochistic sexuality of a mute countess, played by Lina Romay: she sucks her victims dry from "below the waist" (...) no blood is shown in these scenes (...) of all versions, Female Vampire seems to be most comparable with Loves of Irina, if not that version 1:1 (...) Finnish VHS version doesn't even hint to oral sex, instead the countess sucks her victims dry from throat, her lips then stained in bright red (...) all sofcore sex has been cut out (...) in scenes where the countess sucks her victim's blood, they (the victims) are clothed (...) there are still prolonged scenes of nudity though, mostly of Romay's (...) when the countess visits the S/M female couple, the scene in the cellar ends before whipping of Romay begins (...) Finnish VHS is more tightly paced and bloodier."
The reviewer says that these two are the only versions he has personally seen so I would assume (not sure!) that the "new" scenes mentioned are the ones with bloodsucking. Can't do any comparisons myself, since Finnish VHS is the only one I still own. Hope this was helpful!
Thanks for the information from the zine. This sounds very much like the 1980s era EROTIKILL VHS from FORCE VIDEO, which is about 70 with bloodsucking scenes instead of the sex scenes.
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