Jess Franco’s vampire film genuinely doesn’t live up to the hype it’s garnered with horror and film buffs over the decades since its release. It’s a tedious and often dull affair that manages to numb the sexuality due to its incessant filler. The filler is ever present from the opening shots, and is used to pad the film’s run time, from performances in front of crowds, right down to dream sequences, much of it is used as a tactic to pad a thinly veiled “Dracula” remake.
For folks who want to avoid all the insider stuff you can usually find on the internet, “Diabolique” ventures to offer something different in the horror spectrum. There’s less focus on the Hollywood aspect of horror, and more on the more underground anti-establishment perspective that horror aficionados will definitely appreciate. This is the first time in a while I’ve read a magazine without skipping past a section I just didn’t want to waste time on. The centerpiece of the magazine is the wonderful history of the horror comedy.