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(aka "Fangs of the Living Dead" or "The Vampire's Niece" or "Malenka, the Vampire")

Directed by Amando de Ossorio
Spain / Italy 1969

 

Beautiful fashion model Sylvia Morel (Anita Ekberg) receives news that she has inherited a castle from her uncle. Her curiosity leads her to journey to a remote village to see her new house. Once there, she learns of her family’s history and soon falls under the spell of her uncle. He wants her to become the new matriarch of the family … a clan of vampires! This chilling tale of bloodsuckers was directed by Spanish horror director Amando de Ossorio (The Lorely’s Grasp, Night of the Sorcerers, Night Of The Seagulls).

***

This low-budget Spanish-Italian co-production was the handiwork of cult filmmaker Amando De Ossorio, best known for his series of Knights Templar zombie films which began with La Noche del Terror Ciego (1971). Faded '50s bombshell Anita Ekberg stars as Silvia, a young woman who travels to the family castle which she will soon inherit. When she arrives, she meets her uncle (Julian Ugarte), who gives her some rather disheartening news. Many years before, a nun named Malenka was burned as a witch in the town square and swore to return for revenge. Silvia looks just like Malenka, and the villagers are terrified that the witch's spirit has been reincarnated in her. Soon, villagers start dying, and Silvia is so sure that she is possessed that she breaks off her engagement, convinced that she is destined to kill her beloved (Gianni Medici). Naturally, as the title already gives away, the blood-drinking attacks are part of a plot by Ugarte to drive Silvia mad and steal her inheritance.

Posters

Theatrical Release: July 23rd, 1969

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Review: Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:
Distribution Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:34:14.357         
Video

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 29,819,740,519 bytes

Feature: 27,869,626,368 bytes

Video Bitrate: 31.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio Spanish 1630 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1630 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DUB:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1752 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1752 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

Commentary:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1638 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1638 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Shout! Factory

 

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 29,819,740,519 bytes

Feature: 27,869,626,368 bytes

Video Bitrate: 31.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• NEW Audio Commentary by Troy Howarth
 • Theatrical Trailer (2:51)

• Spanish Title Sequence (3:13)

• Alt Ending (2:54)


 Blu-ray Release Date: March 6th, 2018
 Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 12

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Shout! Factory bring the Spanish horror Fangs of the Living Dead to a new Blu-ray edition. It's on a dual-layered Blu-ray in 1080P with a high bitrate. It is well in advance of the many VHS and DVD incarnations that have floated around. It looks quite fetching, comparatively, in this higher resolution with bright colors and a heaviness. It is in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and has only a few scratches (see sample below) and occasional speckles. The image is notably soft and waxy. I don't discount digitization but it is fairly consistent and I suspect its more a function of the original production appearance.

NOTE: This appears to be the uncut version.  

NOTE: We have added 24 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

The film is presented with 2.0 channel 24-bit DTS-HD Master audio tracks in both the original Spanish or an English DUB. Effects exist but are fairly transparent and don't export much depth. Composer Carlo Savina did the score - he is known for Lisa and the Devil, Hudson River Massacre, and conducting Nino Rota's score for Fellini's I Clowns, Juliet of the Spirits and Amarcord. There is an odd haunting opening and closing theme sung by Julia Ray that sounds a bit hollow. There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Shout! Factory add an audio commentary by Troy Howarth - who is the perfect individual to discuss details of this Amando de Ossorio-directed film and he traces roots of the performers and cast while also delving deeper into the film's expression as a parody in the latter half. I thought he was great and there are also a theatrical trailer, the Spanish title sequence and an unusual alternate ending.

I kinda liked Fangs of the Living Dead. Yeah. This is another wayward Spanish-produced horror that has some impressive cleavage on exceptionally sexy gals (Anita Ekberg, Diana Lorys, Rosanna Yanni and Adriana Santucci) - one who has imposing fangs! The commentary adds a lot and I see a bona-fide comparison to Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers (in turn a parody of Hammer.) The Blu-ray has value for fans of this genre. Plenty to enjoy here.

Gary Tooze

 

Menus / Extras

 

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Scratch Visible
 
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Box Cover

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BONUS Captures:
Distribution Shout! Factory - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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