The Vampire Happening

The Vampire Happening
German film poster for The Vampire Happening
Directed by	Freddie Francis
Written by	August Rieger Karl-Heinz Hummel[3]
Produced by	Pier A. Caminnecci
Cinematography	Gerard Vandenberg[2]
Edited by	Alfred Srp[2]
Music by	Jerry van Rooyen[2]
Release date	June 4, 1971 (1971-06-04) (West Germany)[1]
Running time	102 minutes[2]
Country	West Germany[2]
Language	German[4]

The Vampire Happening (German: Gebissen wird nur nachts, lit. They only bite at night) is a 1971 West German comedy horror film directed by Freddie Francis.[4]

Plot

An American film actress has inherited a castle in Transylvania. But what she doesn't know is that her ancestor, Baroness Clarimonde Catani is a vampire who has awakening from her tomb to cause mayham.

Cast

• Pia Degermark as Betty Williams, Baroness Clarimonde Catani
• Thomas Hunter as Jens Larsen
• Yvor Murillo as Josef
• Ingrid van Bergen as Miss Niessen
• Joachim Kemmer as Martin
• Oskar Wegrostek as Abt
• Ferdy Mayne as Count Dracula
• Lyvia Bauer as Gabrielle
• Daria Damar as Kirsten
• Kay Williams
• Michael Janisch
• Toni Wagner
• Raoul Retzer

Production

In the early 1970s, Italian producer Pier A. Caminnecci was looking for a film for his wife Pia Degermark whose previous film Elvira Madigan (1967) was a critical and financial success.[3] Caminnecci set up an international production for her in West Germany directed by British director Freddie Francis and written by German screenwriters August Rieger and Karl-Heinz Hummel[3] The script features a sub-plot based on Theophile Gautier's short story "La Morte Amoureuse."[3]

Francis later stated:

I was aware from the start of the difficulties in shooting a horror parody. I really believed that I was working with normal people in the movie industry, and thought I could have made a decent film. With time, I became aware that the producer was an imbecile who treated the project like a home movie. He wanted to do the casting, make cameos in the film, and wanted his wife as an actress. It was a disaster which I can't say anything serious about.[5]

Reception

The film was not well received.[6] Allmovie gave the film one and a half stars out of five, stating that it is "not considered to be one of the crown jewels of the genre"[4] In his book Comedy-Horror Films:A Chronological History, author Bruce G. Hallenbeck referred to the film as "sort of a ripoff of Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers" and "doesn't come within lightyears of Polanski's vision".[7]

See also

• List of comedy films of the 1970s
• List of horror films of 1971
• List of German films: 1970s

References

1. "Gebissen wird nur nachts - das Happening der Vampire". filmportal.de. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
2. Browning & Picart 2010, p. 91.
3. Hallenbeck 2009, p. 92.
4. Fountain, Clarke. "Vampire Happening". Allmovie. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
5. Zatterin, M., "Carreras, Francis, Guest, Lester", Fantafestival, 1986.
6. Hallenbeck 2009, p. 93.
7. Hallenbeck 2009, pp. 92–3.

Works cited

• Browning, John Edgar; Picart, Caroline Joan (2010). Dracula in Visual Media:Film, Television, Comic Book and Electronic Game Appearances, 1921-2010. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786433650.
• Hallenbeck, Bruce G. (2009). Comedy-Horror Films:A Chronological History, 1914-2008. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786433322.

External links

• The Vampire Happening at IMDb