|
 |
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
“Are you acquainted with the field of genetic mutations?”
Atom Age Vampire
(Seddok, l’erede di Satana) (1960)
A disclaimer: First, there are no actual vampires in this film. Second, despite what the Italian title would have you believe, Satan is not involved, nor is his heir. Third, while Mario Bava supposedly produced it (the credits say Mario Fava), it seems unlikely that he had much creative input here (his well-regarded Black Sunday came out the same year). Instead of Satanic vampires, we have a film (directed by Anton Giulio Majano) that mixes a large helping of Eyes without a Face (1959) with a little Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, producing yawns.
Distressed by her break-up with her seafaring boyfriend Pierre (Sergio Fantoni), who disapproves of her job as a strip-tease artist (“Either me, or this so-called profession of yours!”), the lovely Jeanette Moreneau (Susanne Loret) has a disfiguring car accident. Told that she’ll never regain her beauty, she seeks an experimental cure with the intense Dr. Alberto Levin (Alberto Lupo). His Derma 28 formula (refined from the mutagenic Derma 25) seems to be a success, and as Jeanette heals Dr. Levin quickly develops an unhealthy infatuation with her, much to the jealousy of his devoted assistant Monique (Franca Parisi), who wants the Doctor for herself (And how can she fail, with lines like “Let’s just stay home together- with our records.”).
As one expects, the treatment starts to fail, and Dr. Levin takes it upon himself to perform the upkeep on Jeanette’s face by using glands harvested from young women. Which glands, we aren’t told. He uses Derma 25 to transform himself from Dr. Levin to Mr. Atom Age Vampire, a bushy-haired, glaring, pockmarked creature. His reasoning for doing so is hard to follow; presumably, it’s so he won’t be recognized while harvesting glands. We also learn that an escaped gorilla is prowling the streets, so maybe Dr. Levin hopes his crimes will be pinned on this unfortunate primate.
Jeanette is held captive by Dr. Levin, terrified of his moodiness. She longs to escape and reunite with Pierre (“I don’t care if I’m scarred for life! I know now he will love me anyway!”). Pierre has a change of heart when Jeanette vanishes, becoming concerned. Naturally, he expresses his concern by drinking heavily, hanging out with scantily clad dancers, and going on long sea voyages. Will Jeanette escape? Can Pierre find her? Will the police do anything besides slowing down the already glacial pace of this film with pointless scenes?
Atom Age Vampire was cut by roughly 20 minutes for U.S. release. Maybe it made more sense in the original version. For instance, there’s a scene where Jeanette is being prepared for her first treatment, and Dr. Levin goes down to the basement to fix the generator, then inexplicably takes a sledgehammer to a leaking section of wall, tunneling away. Then we cut back to the lab and he’s starting the treatment. Later he uses the hole to sneak out and do evil, but why he had the foresight to excavate when he did, we’ll never know. The film isn’t helped by haphazard dubbing, dialogue ranging from bland to silly, and a score by Armando Trovajoli that goes from sober to jazzy, sometimes at inappropriate moments. And then there’s the very blatant rip-off of plot details from Eyes without a Face.
The best part of Atom Age Vampire is the title sequence, with an animated bat turning into the ‘V’ of Vampire (and further confusing the vampire issue), and a bestial figure appearing and disappearing behind the credits. From that point on, the film is slow and boring. It does not flow; it limps and staggers to a predictable end.
Atom Age Vampire is in the public domain; anyone who pays to see it is wasting their money. Anyone who chooses to see it at all is wasting their time. No moonlight for this one.
© Plunket, 2008
