Christopher Lee parodies his performance in Hammer's Dracula by playing vampire Baron Roderico da Frankurten, uncle to cash-strapped Osvaldo Lambertenghi (Renato Rascel), who has just sold his ancestral castle to be turned into a hotel. Working as a bellhop at the hotel, Osvaldo receives a letter telling him that his Uncle Roderico is about to pay him a visit; what he doesn't realise is that his uncle is a vampire!
Uncle Was A Vampire consists of a series of silly scenes linked by the flimsiest of plots: Osvaldo discovers his uncle's true nature and must protect the love of his life, pretty gardener Lellina (Kai Fischer). During the course of the film, Osvaldo is also turned into a vampire and goes on a biting spree, chomping on the necks of all the attractive women in the hotel, which makes him irresistable to his victims.
I often struggle with humour from other parts of the world, the type of comedy popular in other countries not always travelling well. Euro-comedy tends to be very broad, and that is the case with Uncle Was a Vampire, with star Rascel gesticulating wildly and pulling silly expressions throughout; while this might have had them rolling in the aisles in Rome or Milan in the late-'50s, I found it all very tedious and not at all funny. Watching a great actor like Lee in embarrassingly bad dross such as this only serves to make the experience more painful.
2.5/10, rounded up to 3 for lovely Kai Fischer, plus additional eye-candy from several other babes, including Sylva Koscina (Hercules) and Susanne Loret (Atom Age Vampire).
Uncle Was A Vampire consists of a series of silly scenes linked by the flimsiest of plots: Osvaldo discovers his uncle's true nature and must protect the love of his life, pretty gardener Lellina (Kai Fischer). During the course of the film, Osvaldo is also turned into a vampire and goes on a biting spree, chomping on the necks of all the attractive women in the hotel, which makes him irresistable to his victims.
I often struggle with humour from other parts of the world, the type of comedy popular in other countries not always travelling well. Euro-comedy tends to be very broad, and that is the case with Uncle Was a Vampire, with star Rascel gesticulating wildly and pulling silly expressions throughout; while this might have had them rolling in the aisles in Rome or Milan in the late-'50s, I found it all very tedious and not at all funny. Watching a great actor like Lee in embarrassingly bad dross such as this only serves to make the experience more painful.
2.5/10, rounded up to 3 for lovely Kai Fischer, plus additional eye-candy from several other babes, including Sylva Koscina (Hercules) and Susanne Loret (Atom Age Vampire).