Almudena León | It's Bloggin Evil!

“Vampyres” director Victor Matellano takes the time to answer a few questions about his latest film, working with José Ramón Larraz, and working with Marta Flich and Almudena León on difficult scenes!

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How did you become interested in José Ramón Larraz’s “Vampyres?” And what possessed you to write and helm a remake? How did you meet Larraz and was he initially on board and enthusiastic with the project? How was the dynamic between you two?

Larraz I met many years ago, in 1996. We were introduced by the actor Jack Taylor and we became friends. Larraz was a good conversationalist, very friendly and fun. At that time I only made short films and had just published a book. Over the years, whenever we saw each other we were talking about doing something together. After releasing “Wax” we planned to make a film together. Why not go back to “Vampyres”, we said. He thought he could make a new version with some changes and I liked very much to work on original material. We reviewed the history, worked up a new script and thought about directing it together. But his illness did not let him. A shame because the idea excited him. Although he came to shoot the teaser presented at the Festival of Sitges.

How much of a challenge was there to recreate, and to slightly modernize, the foreboding atmosphere in “Vampyres” that the original film embodied?

It was certainly a challenge. The idea was to generate new atmosphere. And update characters and situations. Although from the beginning I thought it was necessary to make a timeless atmosphere. If the characters don’t use a mobile phone it is perhaps not so easy to know what time the action takes place. Actually the story of the film is legendary: a group of young people (who would be our Hansel and Gretel) wind up in a forest that is the home of witches who threaten them, offer them sexual pleasures, and eventually devour them.

The original 1974 “Vampyres” is followed by a select niche of fans and has really kept out of the limelight of mainstream horror. Was funding difficult for this type of remake where audiences have probably never seen, or ever heard of, the original film?

One of the things we talked about, executive producer Angel Mora, Larraz and I, was that perhaps the first version was a cult film, but a film generally well-known among horror fans. For this reason we decided to make a new and commercial version. Perhaps investors were too crazy to follow our idea …

Usually, when many production companies are involved, creative differences sometimes cloud the director’s vision, a sort of too many cooks in the kitchen type scenario. Were there, if any, issues with the way “Vampyres” was being formulated and/or being handled from a writer-director/production point of view? Did you feel you had total creative control?

I had a lot of freedom to do “Vampyres”. Angel Mora, my executive producer, reviewed the script, but then gave me freedom to do things my way on the set and I always had Larraz previous ideas. Having several co-producing companies in this case has not been a problem for style or creativity in the film.

Your rendition of this story feels like a thoughtful tribute to José Ramón Larraz’s work and amongst the lost art of European horror. Was making “Vampyres” the direct result of having a pure love for this Larraz’s film and what kind of reaction we’re you anticipating when screening for audiences?

Well, “Vampyres” is a mixture of film tribute to a kind of cinema, and it’s own entertainment simultaneously. I always had (in my head) wanted to combine respect for the original film and its values, to make a divertimento of horror. Some might discover it as a result of loving gothic literature and cinema, but those who just have fun with blood and sex will also find it.

What kind of preparations (if you know) did Marta Flich and Almudena León (phenomenal casting by the way) tackle in order to portray Fran and Miriam? Were they comfortable with the extreme sexual nature and blood thirst required their roles?

Casting tests were tough and demanding. Actresses were needed with great determination, courage and strength. Marta and Almudena are very strong and at the same time very funny. They approached the filming of the toughest sequences with humor and much involvement. It is not easy to kiss while being showered with 75 liters of artificial blood above, or to demonstrate sufficient balance between perversion and sensuality. Both the sex scenes as torture are difficult to shoot if you do not have good actors. And they made it easy. The whole team got involved and made it easy. The atmosphere was total concentration.

“Vampyres” had an ending that was left wide open for potentially continuing the story. Do you think you, or Larraz, would pursue adding to the story, as a sort of sequel, if given the financial backing and you had a great script in hand?

I do not know … That version had an open end and this has that too. Perhaps because we are talking about two women (do not know if they are vampires, or cannibals, or psychopaths or ghosts …) who repeat the same ritual again and again as if they were spiders trapping flies. Who knows, maybe later, on occasion, we can return to this terrible story …

What projects are on the horizon that you can give ItsBlogginEvil.com the inside scoop?

I finished a few weeks ago a new movie, a very violent and bloody western entitled “Stop Over in Hell” which has Enzo G. Castellari in the cast. It has begun its journey through festivals with the Almeria Western Film Festival, the only one of its kind in Europe, where Clint Eastwood filmed “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. I hope that you soon may see it.

Thank you!

A dense English forest surrounding a decaying manor house sets as the hunting playground for a pair of seductive female vampires, Fran and Miriam, who have reigned a disconcerting terror through the area’s local inhabitants. When Fran lures and imprisons a touristing male as her bloodletting sexual hostage, Miriam believes Fran is diverging into a dangerous game of simply playing with her food for too long. Miriam proves to be right when a trio of campers stumble upon the vampires’ manor lair, causing a fair amount of distraction when the three friends attempt to uncover the secrets of the area and the myths of the house that will expose the true and terrifying nature of the two vampires. A mistake the three may wish they never would have made.

“Vampyres” is a Victor Matellano 2015 rendition of the 1974 José Ramón Larraz directed abundantly sensual, over sadomasochistic vampire film of the same title but also known as “Vampyres: Daughters of Darkness.” Matellano’s remake faithfully follows the original storyline and with the assistance of Larraz himself tacked on as a credited writer, Matellano was able to keenly hone in on the ambient tone and the graphic slaughtering display the story necessarily requires to quench it’s own thirst for blood. Let’s also not forget the sex, the sex, and the sex that absolutely sinks it’s teeth into of most scenes. Long time has passed since the rebirth of an erotic creature of the night; a plague of mindless ferocity has been the modern vampire. From “Blade” to “The Strain” to one of the more recent reviews of an independent film in “Black Water Vampire,” a dark cloud of a deformed and mutated species of bloodsuckers have been more popular with the masses. Matellano’s “Vampyres” is a love song to the erotic European vampire that’s powerfully seductive, classically gothic, and simply pure blooded with two fantastic femme fatales.

Underneath the dark and ominous cloaks are the beautifully succulent Marta Flich and Almudena León as blood fiend lovers Fran and Miriam. Flich and León have a combined total of 5 feature length films between them, including “Vampyres,” but where the duo lack in experience, Flich and León thrive with their onscreen chemistry that delivers an piercing intensity with a dynamic blend of softcore porn and tantalizing terror as if they’re real life lovers with a real life knack for killing. León has previously worked with Victor Matellano under the Spanish director’s prior horror film, 2014’s “Wax,” and their relationship growth comes whole with the addition of Marta Flich, a buxom brunette willing to savor every moment and put forth every effort into some extremely difficult scenes. No two women can make gore sexier than Flich and León.

Vampires Fran and Mirian heavily overshadow the remaining characters consisting of actors such as Verónica Polo, Anothony Rotsa, Victor Vidal, Christian Stamm, and Fele Martinez who, as a whole, do a fine job performing in this rekindled niche of horror. To add a bit of flare and to help “Vampyres” stick out from above other remakes involving an slew of unknown faces, “Dracula A.D. 1972” and Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter’s” Caroline Munro and “Tombs of the Blind Dead’s” Lone Fleming have more than cameo appearances, providing familiar genre faces fans know and are attached to when riding along the reminiscing train from the era of which this film’s story is birthed. Munro and Fleming are also accompanied by other genre vets including “Zombie Lake’s” Antonio Mayans, Concrado San Martín from “The Awful Dr. Orlof,” and Hilda Fuchs and the late May Heatherly from 1980’s “Pieces.”

Visually, “Vampyres” dotes as cinematography worthiness in being a European inspired film from a Spanish production by not being flashy but rather grim and simple. Using elementary special effect techniques, “Matellano” doesn’t cheapen an already intentional trashy vampire schlock film with story stiffening CGI; instead, buckets of blood and practical effects elevate the aspiration toward the resemblance of a 1970’s inspired story complete with broken English performances. Set locations are purposefully vanilla, including a plain small bedroom with white sheets overtop a simple bed frame, a bleak forest inhabited with thin trees, and an isolated manor with middle life bones standing lifeless in the woods, and with key shots staged with vivid conventional colors, such as the bathtub scene that’s feels very clean even with the amount of blood used, and the cellar finale that’s very subtle in it’s background even if it’s the root motivation for the vampires.

“Vampyres” is one of the best remakes there is, there ever was, and there ever will be by staying faithful to the Larraz’s original film and Artsploitation Films should be basking in the fresh, warm blood of their latest and greatest release. José Ignacio Arrufat’s brooding score seizes to snare the soul from the well balanced Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround Sound mix laid over a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation. With a slight tilt toward a darker variation on the grayscale, the overall picture is clean and unhindered and even though stark colors don’t run throughout, the bland coloring provides richer qualities toward a excellent homage. One thing is for sure, blood red is the only vivid hue here. Bonus features include an Interview with Caroline Munro, a making of the “Vampyres,” and trailer reels of Artsploitation Films films. The modern masses can have their disease-ridden vampire genres for the very fact that director Victor Matellano’s “Vampyres” entices with an alluring butchery based on fundamental foundations of European horror values and endearment, resurrecting the erotic vampire once again!