Spoiler Alert! First and foremost, this is a 'sequel' to the 'Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula', a 'straight-to-video' lesbian gropefest, created by Don Glut for Seduction Cinema. Except for a few fang shots and some lovely ladies turned vampire vixens, there was nothing else here but girl-on-girl pairings which I'm sure made many pubescent teenage boys (and a few pubescent older men) happy--in more ways than one. I couldn't count myself among the few.
With Frontline and Retromedia taking over distribution rights, one would think that Don Glut, the producer/director of the aforementioned, could make things a bit more 'horror'-fied, since he wouldn't be bound by Seduction Cinema's trademark "vampire girl meets regular girl,vampire girl seduces regular girl, vampire girl grabs/gropes girl like finicky shoppers going over cantaloupes in the produce department, vampire girl turns regular into vampire, more groping follows" formula. Plus, he has horror star Paul Naschy, whose done a fair number of good movies. In his comments, he says that the production values would be higher and the file would have a more 'Hammer-like' feel.
Not the case....
'Orgy of Blood', gives us the story of the vampiric Ruthven siblings, Byron and Diana, who have been chasing a comely lass named Roxanne Dumas,in a sibling rivalry attempt to make her one of their own. Naschy plays Father Jacinto, a priest who is down on his luck with God (and obviously the film industry, to accept working in this picture) who stops both of them from turning Roxanne into having a hemoglobin hankerin' and one overly sharp overbite. With faith restored, he asks to be allowed to walk the earth to insure that the Ruthvens evil never rises again. This takes place circa 1800's. Wanna bet the Ruthvens will be back with a vengeance? They are, and so is Roxanne, now in 'another life', in present day L.A. One thing to mention, the priest cursed Byron with a silver dagger, so that'd he never be able to taste the blood of innocents. Remember this...
And that's the story--what I've written--no really--you don't have to watch....FINE! I'll continue...
Anyway, Byron is resurrected, he misses Roxanne, he goes to get a 'bite' ,in the form of ex-prostitute-turned-stripper Lilith, he finds he cannot drink blood, the ghost of Father Jacinto utters his curse and urges Ruthven to do 'the stake thing', Ruthven discovers (via the Ruthvenian, the vampire bible--um, right) that he can drink blood filtered via another vampire, which causes him to resurrect his sister Diana (who was staked by Roxanne's brother--did I mention that), who turns out to be one depraved little sex monkey (but would probably do well on a FOX reality show),who goes out and begins giving girls the 'the big hickie', and so forth and so on...see? I told you the whole movie...I didn't?..You want to know more? Boy are you a glutton for punishment.
And so, Diana finds Roxanne, seduces/gropes/ad nauseum Roxanne, brings her back to the lair (Lilith is already there, with pretty overbite and all), turns Roxanne, which angers Byron, who stakes Lilith, and then stakes himself when Roxanne rises as one of the undead, and only has eyes for Diana. And then all the vampire girls live happily ever, stroking,caressing,kissing....there. Movie over. Don't have to watch.
My take? It was as bad as 'Erotic', though better lit in most scenes, had way too many unrelated scenes (the 'vampire dance' and the hot tub should have hit the cutting room floor, running), and the acting:
Diana - actually, Glori-Anne Gilbert was pretty good, though she needed a bit less oversexed vampiress and a bit more seductive, sinister vampire queen (Glori-Anne, rent Vampire Lovers, watch Ingrid Pitt,see how it's done)
Lord Byron - eh...
Lilith - Okay, the 'sister' was pretty and all, but she appeared to have all the acting skills of a seriously injured boxing turtle. Her look, though, would have made a great second 'predatory vampiress'. Both she and Diana could have gone on the prowl. Ole' Ruthven could've have been cured twice as fast.
Roxanne - quite good at looking vulnerable. That's it. Hey, you want vulnerable AND strong, go see Linda Hamilton in Terminator/T2.
Minor girls turned vamps - They were minor girls turned into vampires... That's it. Hey, Diana's attack scenes on them were so hokey, I started laughing...
Father Jacinto - Naschy. This could have been soooooooo much more... Alas and alack...
In conclusion, I give 'Countess Dracula's Orgy of Blood' and new title, 'Countess Dracula's Boring Gnash 'n' Bash'. If you want a hint of seduction/taste of lesbian horror, go Hammer. If you like watching girls feel each other like Play Doh, this is your movie.
With Frontline and Retromedia taking over distribution rights, one would think that Don Glut, the producer/director of the aforementioned, could make things a bit more 'horror'-fied, since he wouldn't be bound by Seduction Cinema's trademark "vampire girl meets regular girl,vampire girl seduces regular girl, vampire girl grabs/gropes girl like finicky shoppers going over cantaloupes in the produce department, vampire girl turns regular into vampire, more groping follows" formula. Plus, he has horror star Paul Naschy, whose done a fair number of good movies. In his comments, he says that the production values would be higher and the file would have a more 'Hammer-like' feel.
Not the case....
'Orgy of Blood', gives us the story of the vampiric Ruthven siblings, Byron and Diana, who have been chasing a comely lass named Roxanne Dumas,in a sibling rivalry attempt to make her one of their own. Naschy plays Father Jacinto, a priest who is down on his luck with God (and obviously the film industry, to accept working in this picture) who stops both of them from turning Roxanne into having a hemoglobin hankerin' and one overly sharp overbite. With faith restored, he asks to be allowed to walk the earth to insure that the Ruthvens evil never rises again. This takes place circa 1800's. Wanna bet the Ruthvens will be back with a vengeance? They are, and so is Roxanne, now in 'another life', in present day L.A. One thing to mention, the priest cursed Byron with a silver dagger, so that'd he never be able to taste the blood of innocents. Remember this...
And that's the story--what I've written--no really--you don't have to watch....FINE! I'll continue...
Anyway, Byron is resurrected, he misses Roxanne, he goes to get a 'bite' ,in the form of ex-prostitute-turned-stripper Lilith, he finds he cannot drink blood, the ghost of Father Jacinto utters his curse and urges Ruthven to do 'the stake thing', Ruthven discovers (via the Ruthvenian, the vampire bible--um, right) that he can drink blood filtered via another vampire, which causes him to resurrect his sister Diana (who was staked by Roxanne's brother--did I mention that), who turns out to be one depraved little sex monkey (but would probably do well on a FOX reality show),who goes out and begins giving girls the 'the big hickie', and so forth and so on...see? I told you the whole movie...I didn't?..You want to know more? Boy are you a glutton for punishment.
And so, Diana finds Roxanne, seduces/gropes/ad nauseum Roxanne, brings her back to the lair (Lilith is already there, with pretty overbite and all), turns Roxanne, which angers Byron, who stakes Lilith, and then stakes himself when Roxanne rises as one of the undead, and only has eyes for Diana. And then all the vampire girls live happily ever, stroking,caressing,kissing....there. Movie over. Don't have to watch.
My take? It was as bad as 'Erotic', though better lit in most scenes, had way too many unrelated scenes (the 'vampire dance' and the hot tub should have hit the cutting room floor, running), and the acting:
Diana - actually, Glori-Anne Gilbert was pretty good, though she needed a bit less oversexed vampiress and a bit more seductive, sinister vampire queen (Glori-Anne, rent Vampire Lovers, watch Ingrid Pitt,see how it's done)
Lord Byron - eh...
Lilith - Okay, the 'sister' was pretty and all, but she appeared to have all the acting skills of a seriously injured boxing turtle. Her look, though, would have made a great second 'predatory vampiress'. Both she and Diana could have gone on the prowl. Ole' Ruthven could've have been cured twice as fast.
Roxanne - quite good at looking vulnerable. That's it. Hey, you want vulnerable AND strong, go see Linda Hamilton in Terminator/T2.
Minor girls turned vamps - They were minor girls turned into vampires... That's it. Hey, Diana's attack scenes on them were so hokey, I started laughing...
Father Jacinto - Naschy. This could have been soooooooo much more... Alas and alack...
In conclusion, I give 'Countess Dracula's Orgy of Blood' and new title, 'Countess Dracula's Boring Gnash 'n' Bash'. If you want a hint of seduction/taste of lesbian horror, go Hammer. If you like watching girls feel each other like Play Doh, this is your movie.