Devil Fish, Killer Crocodile, and The Great Alligator: Italian Film Takes a Bite out of Jaws

Just yesterday, June 20th, marked the 37th year since the release of Stephen Spielberg’s Jaws into the movie theaters, and so some might say I missed the anniversary. However, what I want to talk about is something that’s a bit off, or should I say took a bite off of, Jaws. Like so many trends in cinema, once the Italians got a hold of it, they took it to as many places as you could imagine. Today, I’m going to take a look at three of the many, many giant water based creature films that invaded Italian cinemas for two decades following Hollywood‘s most famous shark. Each is the effort of a different directors and features a different kind of creature, and with a wide margin of success and failure, all of them intended to imitate what the Spielberg had put on the screen. So join me as Sergio Martino, Lamberto Bava, and Fabrizio De Angelis take their shot at aquatic glory.

Graveyard Disturbance (1986): Lamburto Bava Cracks a High Life with the Low Dead

I was a teenager once. I did lots of stupid things. However, if you base what teens like to do on what their movie counterparts take part in, then its logical to think that there's a point in every one's life where hanging out in a graveyard sounds like an incredible idea. There are so many films that start out with that premise, but I don't think even in an adolescent state any amount of booze, loose women, or desire to prove myself non-chicken would get me to hang out in a cemetery all night. I'm not saying I would expect anything to happen, but there's no reason to tempt fate. Almost as scary as a night in a graveyard is the idea of horror on television. While there have been a number of successes like Masters of Horror and American Horror Story, often horror feels de-fanged on the tube like the series Fear Itself. So when I heard that today's cemetery themed film by Lamburto Bava had been made for an Italian TV series called "Brivido giallo" (literally translated as "Thrilling Yellow"), I wasn't sure what to expect. What I got was a mixture of Bava's Demons, Scooby Doo, and, sadly, much of the reserve you would expect from a television terror.

Dinner With A Vampire (1988): Steak Is Not on the Menu

There are many awkward kinds of dinners you could attend, dinner with the boss, the in-laws, or the ex that still wants to be friends to name a few. For me one of the more awkward dinner dates I could have would be Lamburto Bava, son of Mario and director of films like Demons (a film that makes my pal Rev. Phantom's Top 20 of All Time) and Delirium: Photo of Gioia. I’m afraid over our meal I would want to steer the conversation toward his father’s masterful films and away from his own résumé of lukewarm titles. That was before I sat down to take a look at tonight’s film about one strange evening‘s repast, 1988’s Dinner with a Vampire [Italian: A cena col vampiro]. Made as part of an Italian television series called Brivido Giallo (along with the films The Ogre, Graveyard Disturbance, and Until Death), the younger Bava finally gets it right for me and delivers a great mix of camp, horror, and black humor.

When Rita (Patrizia Pellegrino) finally lands an acting job, she couldn’t be more excited. She joins a group of actors who are taken to an ornate mansion in the hills. There they are shown a disturbing black and white vampire movie which ends just as their host, Jurek (George Hilton) arrives for dinner. During the meal, he reveals to the group that he is a vampire, and he has invited the actors there to kill him. If they can’t accomplish it before dawn, then Jurek will put the bite on the whole group. Finding that many of the myths and movie clichés about vampires aren’t true, they must figure out what his weakness might be.

I want to start talking about Dinner with a Vampire by talking about something I just couldn’t wedge into the synopsis no matter how hard I tried, the opening scene. As the film begins, a documentary crew is searching in a crypt and discovers an actual vampire, Jurek, who rises from his grave. Jurek’s first act when he comes back to life is to kill the cameraman, and perhaps this is how his “taste” for film began. From his belief that only a group of actors could kill him to the outfit he wears that looks like he came straight from central casting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film where the vampire has been affected by the portrayal of his own kind in movies, and the script, by Bava and Dardano Sacchetti (Hands of Steel, New York Ripper) based on a story by Luciano Martino (brother of Sergio), really stands out for doing its own thing.

While the script was chock full of campy black humor, it was not as filled with great character development. The group of actors that get invited to the mansion to kill the vampire never really grow beyond stock characters. That’s not saying that they aren’t memorable, Yvonne Scio especially sticks in my mind as Monica, the young dancer who has “never met a singer before”, and Patrizia Pellegrino looked a bit like if Sandra Bernhard and Ginger Lynn had a baby. The real standout in the supporting cast has to be Daniele Aldrovandi as Gilles, Jurek’s Marty Feldman look-alike servant. He limps around and dispatches wisecracks just as well as the original Mr. Feldman. It’s interesting to note that two years earlier Aldrovandi got his first crack at playing Feldman when he appeared as the actor in Fellini’s 1986 film Ginger and Fred.

The star of the show is of course George Hilton. I primarily know Mr. Hilton from his performances in films such as The Case of the Bloody Iris and All the Colors of the Dark so this was certainly a different kind of part to see him in. Hilton chews up the scenery every time he graces the screen, and I loved everything about his performance from the costuming and aristocratic manner to the outrageous “Transylvanian” style accent he slides in and out of at will. It’s a special bonus that his character was an interesting chap. I don’t see many films about vampire directors who are ready to give up on life (or unlife). Hilton does great double duty as the suave Lugosi-esque Jurek and a Max Schreck-ish look that he sports right out of the coffin. It’s an impressive performance that revels in high camp, and Hilton is quite surely what makes this film work.

One of the other things that really enhances the film was the setting. I don’t know what kind of Byzantine mansion they filmed in, but it was a gorgeous looking place. From the ceiling to the walls, the place was an over ornate spectacle to look at. As far as a TV production goes, it was incredibly well shot by cinematographer Gianfranco Transunto who would go on to work with Lamburto Bava’s 1989 film Black Sunday. The only thing it really lacks is a decent score. Composer Simon Boswell (Delirium: Photo of Gioia, Lord of Illusions) fails to give up anything memorable. Italian pop star Mario Tafliaferri fared somewhat better with a pair of New Wave sounding sounds that bookend the film.

Dinner with a Vampire is not a film for everyone. Some will be turned off by the low budget effects and campy, silly story. For me it was absolutely wonderful. I laughed throughout and enjoyed both Hilton and Aldrovandi performances immensely. So if you’re fan of horror/comedy or Lamburto Bava, then this should be on your must see list. I know I’m glad I saw it so Mr. Bava and I will have something to chat about over appetizers.

Bugg Rating