I saw the trailer for this flick a while ago and it didn't inspire me. In fact, I probably would have never seen this flick had it not been for a chap at work who knew of my horror movie fetish and asked me if I would like to borrow the copy that his "friend" gave him. He seemed a little embarrassed to own a lesbian vampire flick but I myself have no shame and took him up on his offer. I owe him a big thank you.

This is one of the few screen adaptations of the story of Erzebet Bathory, the legendary 'Countess Dracula' who bathed in the blood of virgins so that she could have eternal life and beauty. This version takes place in present-day Montreal and while Erzebet (who now goes by Elizabeth) still bathes in the blood of young women, she is no longer picky regarding their virginity. The first victim happens to be the wife of a vice cop named Raymond Pope (Conrad Pla) who quickly begins investigating when his wife doesn't come home. He is led to Elizabeth (Caroline Neron) and what follows is a series of mind games as she tries to elude Raymond while he closes in on the truth about his wife's disappearance. The story eventually leads to Venice and a party that reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut.

The first thing that took me about this film was the production design and locations. This remained a factor throughout as we get one impressive location after another. From the opening shots of the mansion that is Elizabeth's domain to the crazy looking apartment building where Raymond lives to the police chief's office, there is constant visual eye candy to keep you interested. In this sense, I was reminded a lot of some of the classic European genre films of the 70's such as those from Hammer, Rollin, and Jess Franco's She Killed In Ecstasy to name a few. It didn't hurt that the last third of the film was shot in Venice. There is also an amazing bathtub complete with sculptures of women and a lion's head banister that were particularly impressive pieces of set dressing. To make these locations look even better and to keep the story moving along at an even pace, the cinematography from Jamie Thompson was also very impressive. The camera seemed to always be moving which was instrumental in involving us in the action while the lighting made everything look good from the locations to the actors.

The director team of Wilhelm Liebenberg and Federico Sanchez seemingly came out of nowhere and delivering this lush and extremely well made independent film in the truest sense of the word as there appears to be no studio involvement in the production. How they did this is beyond me but I have to give them serious props for pulling this off. The obviously spent a lot of time planning and the hard work paid off. They also understand the importance of getting a good cast together and everybody involved were great in their roles especially kickboxer-turned-actor Pla, Neron, and Victoria Sanchez as Elizabeth's henchwoman. I really hope that we get to see more from this director team and I wish more independents would take the care and spend the time to deliver a film as good as this one. It proves that even without a lot of action, if the story and characters are intriguing you can still impress in the horror genre without tits and gore. Thanks for not copping out and thanks Rich for lending this to me. I owe you one. (Josh Pasnak, 2/3/06)

Directed By: Wilhelm Liebenberg, Federico Sanchez.
Written By: Wilhelm Liebenberg, Federico Sanchez.

Starring: Conrad Pla, Caroline Neron, Victoria Sanchez, Liane Balaban.