Horror Classic 2 of 50: ATOM AGE VAMPIRE
Ah, the atomic age. It's the era in which personal jetpacks, plastic houses full of plastic furniture, and nuclear-powered electric toothbrushes became a reality. However, none of those things appear in today's classic horror movie, 1960's Atom Age Vampire, which was directed by Anton Giulo Majano and stars Alberto Lupo and Susanne Loret. Instead, it's an Italian film (original title: Seddok, l'erede di Satana) dubbed into English, about a mad scientist and his unrequited love, and there's not even a real vampire in it. No vampire?! That's like if Fried Green Tomatoes didn't feature any tomatoes, or if Seven Brides for Seven Brothers only had six brides for seven brothers!Synopsis
In a strange coincidence(?), this movie begins with the female lead running her car off the road, just like in the last movie I watched, but this one results in a fiery crash rather than submersion. After her accident, Jeanette (who seems to be some kind of dancer by trade) is horribly scarred, although it kinda just looks like there's Malt-o-Meal stuck to one cheek. In fact, when her hair hangs over it, you can't even tell. But rather than being grateful she survived, she's inconsolable, and she cries and whines and moans and wails about how TRAGIC her life is.
Just in time, potential salvation arrives in the form of Monique, who tells Jeanette that her employer can cure her with his "miraculous therapy," which restores cells and rebuilds them by using the power of radiation, or some such hobbledy-hoy. Of course Jeanette agrees to go for it, and she goes to Dr. Levin's lovely mad scientist estate, where Levin treats her with his amazing derma-28, which sounds like something you might order from an infomercial.
It works! And now Jeanette's face is clear so she can go to the homecoming dance, and now Levin has decided he's madly in love with her, and now Monique is wary of the whole thing as well as kinda jealous.
There's also one other minor problem: in order for Jeanette's cure to be permanent, she needs some injections from some parts of other ladies. So Dr. Levin does the most romantic thing possible to prove his love for her: Using his mastery of radiation, he transforms himself into a horrible monster by night so he can go out and kill women. (*swoon*) Naturally, he starts with Monique. But that kind of thing doesn't go unnoticed, even in Italy, and soon the cops are hot on his trail, as is Jeanette's dumb boyfriend Pierre. By the end of the proceedings not everyone who was alive at the beginning of the movie remains in that state.
Is It Scary?
No, not really. The monster is appropriately hideous, but not very expressive. And he's not even a vampire! Plus he doesn't show up until almost halfway through the movie. That's like if you had to sit through an hour of The DaVinci Code before Leonardo DaVinci showed up.
Lessons I Learned
- Don't drive your car off a cliff.
- After an evening of murder, don't forget to wipe the blood off your clothes before going to the movies.
- If the woman you love doesn't love you back, turning into a murderous beast doesn't help.
Dr. Levin looks a bit like Anderson Cooper... a deranged Italian Anderson Cooper.
In the opening credits, each cast member is listed only by name, until "Roberto Bertea in the role of Sacha." Does this billing mean Bertea was a distinguished veteran actor? If so, why did he take the thankless role of Levin's mute servant who gets pushed around a lot? Perhaps so he wouldn't have to memorize any lines.
After the treatment, Levin kisses Jeanette. Later he kisses Monique. At this point in the film, he has smooched exactly 50% of the people in the movie who aren't him.
I got a kick out of the scene where the police inspector goes to consult with Dr. Levin about the murders, never realizing that Levin is, in fact, the very one who has committed the crimes. That's some tasty dramatic irony.
None of the characters in this movie are very likeable.
Letter grade for Atom Age Vampire: C-
Next film in the DVD set: Creature from the Haunted Sea
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