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As Sete Vampiras
The Seven Vampires
Brazil 1986
produced by Antonio Avilez, Ivan Cardoso, Flávio Holanda, Cláudio Klabin, Mauro Taubman for Embrafilme, Skylight, Super 8 Producoes Cinematográficas
directed by Ivan Cardoso
starring Nicole Puzzi, Nuno Leal Maia, Andrea Beltrao, Simone Carvalho, Leo Jaime, Ariel Coelho, Colé Santana, Zezé Macedo, Ivon Cury, Bene Nunes, Wilson Grey, Felipe Falcao, Susan Matos, Danielle Daumerie, Alvamar Taddei, Dedina Bernardelli, Pedro Cardoso, Lucélia Sandos, Carlo Mossy, John Herbert, Tania Boscoli
story by Ivan Cardoso, Rubens Francisco Luchetti, screenplay by Rubens Francisco Luchetti, music by Leo Jaime, Bene Nunez
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Botanist Fred Rossi (Ariel Coelho) receives a strange plant from Africa
- a flesh-eating plant it seems, and once bitten, one turns into ...
something. There is an antidote but it only works if applied in regular
doses. Of course, Rossi is bitten, and when his wife Silvia (Nicole Puzzi)
returns home, she only finds his dead body - but is bitten herself, but
manages to take the antidote just in time. However, that experience
changes her ... A few months later, the city is terrorized by murders
eventually dubbed the Vampire Murders. At the same time, Silvia,
who has lived like a recluse in the meantime, returns to the limelight and
puts on a nightclub act, The Seven Vampire Girls, at Rogerio's
(John Herbert) nightclub. The act is a sensational success, and she and
Rogerio soon become inseperable - but then she learns he has an affair
with one of the act's dancers, Ivete (Simone Carvalho) ... and that night,
Rogerio becomes the Vampire's latest victim. Ivete fears for her wife,
so he hires bumbling private detective Marlou (Nuno Leal Maia) ... but he
can't save her from being killed. This hurts Marlou's professional pride
though, so he gets his secretary Maria (Andrea Beltrao) a job at the
nightclub, and soon enough, they got a lead on the vampire ... but
bumbling police inspector Pacheco (Colé Santana) soon gets a line on
them, which before long leads to utter chaos - but after much to and fro,
Marlou and Maria find themselves at the mercy of the Vampire - whom until
now everybody has suspected to be Silvia -, who is all of a sudden shot
... by Silvia. The Vampire actually turns out to be Silvia's husband
Rossi, who wasn't quite dead after all, only horribly mutilated, but he
could only survive on human blood. But when he dies, he shows remorse, and
once she has shot him, Silvia dies, too, because he's the only one who
could provide her with the antidote. And everybody else on scene breaks
out in tears ... Quite frankly, this film isn't too well
written: Characters seem to pop into and out of the story rather at random
and often lack proper set-up or motivation, the narrative buildup is
somewhat lacking, and everything seems unnecessarily convoluted
considering the film's clichéed story ... and yet, the film is wonderful,
an amazingly insightful hommage to pulps, comicbooks and horror films
(especially Eurohorrors) from past decades, with almost no chliché left
untouched and all put together in such a loving and non-deprecating way
that a fan of the films, books and comicstrips of old can't help but fall
in love with this one. Beautiful!
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