Review Detail

9.6 4 10
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FanFix March 15, 2016 4974
(Updated: April 26, 2016)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
From the first post of INH5‘s thread, I was in. My collection has numerous lesbian vampire films, highlights include Jess Franco and Jean Rollin, on Laserdisc and DVD. Somehow I had missed this gem. And gem it was, despite a typically lame dubbed version which was the one I found. Using the original German language DVD, INH5 strove to repair the ending, utilize several deleted scenes and modify “vampire law” problems.

Note - Despite the protagonists, the V word is never used once in this film.

Video - MPEG 720 X 480p. Being a film about vampires, there are extended dark sequences. Midnight chases, techno clubs, tunnels ... The blacks were stable throughout. There was colour correcting for reinserted deleted scenes. Not noticeable. Also, effects were added which the viewer is likewise not going to discern unless they follow the editor’s commentary. One of the earliest cheats to look for is the transition from painting through iris to the jet. I could not spot INH5‘s fudge, though I watched it several times.

Audio - 6 Channel AC3 (German). 6 Channel AC3 (English). Subtitles - yes. Audio commentary - yes.
Range is fairly dynamic in this, and dialogue remains listenable. True, the English dub is not the best, yet applause for including an additional channel for those allergic to subtitles. Extra points for hiring English vocal speakers to dub the deleted scenes which were German only.

Narrative - The original ending is disappointing, and INH5 has strengthened that. Other aspects, such as how does a full fledged vampire recognize one with the capacity? A clever solution is presented which works. Now the plot itself remains chaotic at times. When you get right down to it, the story is ageless - killing time. Trying to find activities to fill the hours - the days - the decades - the centuries. To their credit, the ladies don’t bother with television, they mix with life. In certain ways, they are perhaps more alive than passive viewers.

Enjoyment - The film itself is quite entertaining. Those who have a problem with empowered females may disagree with that element.
γνωθι σεαυτόν.
This avoids the usual tropes and there is a freshness about this that eludes most genre films. There is a secondary storyline about cops tracking unrelated crime. These are smart cops and it is chance and carelessness that draws the threads together.
The audio commentary is highly recommended to any potential editor. INH5 had never attempted an edit before and he elaborates on difficulties, experiments, solutions. This would be inspirational for one thinking, “I can’t do this, it’s too difficult.”
Nice bonus features are also included in the DVD-9, such as a Making Of documentary, as well as how some of the visual effects were done. Interesting, and again, useful to prospective editors.
I can’t recommend this enough. An excellent outside-the-box movie - improved.
Or, more accurately - revamped.

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DVD
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