Vincent Price and Paul Naschy - The Perfect way to finish the first DVD of Undead: The Vampire Collection

Yesterday afternoon my three daughters and I enjoyed Scary Movie Sunday, while I continue to motor through Undead: The Vampire Collection. In all, I made it through two movies to finish one of the four disks off, The Bat (1959) and The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman. The first film of the day was Vincent Price and The Bat. I had seen it before, but it was a first for my daughters and they seemed to enjoy it as well. Although, I did find it a bit scary that my seven-year old wondered why this is on a Vampire box set (the same thing that I wondered).

Plot: Mystery writer Cornelia Van Gorder has rented a country house called "The Oaks", which not long ago had been the scene of some murders committed by a strange and violent criminal known as "The Bat". Meanwhile, the house's owner, bank president John Fleming, has recently embezzled one million dollars in securities, and has hidden the proceeds in the house, but he is killed before he can retrieve the money. Thus the lonely country house soon becomes the site of many mysterious and dangerous activities. The Bat is an interesting film. While it could never be mistaken for a classic, I have always found it enjoyable with a lot of unseen twists and turns. As always Price is tremendous and works well with the rest of the cast. In all, it is what it is , great entertainment on a rainy Sunday with the kids (especially after missing (Scary Movie Night Saturday)!

The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman

This evening as the girls were headed to bed, I watched The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman, a great way to close the evening. This is the first thime I have watched a Paul Naschy film since his death and it truly reminded me of how much he will be missed.

Plot: Elvira is traveling through the French countryside with her friend Genevieve, searching for the lost tomb of a medieval murderess and possible vampire, Countess Wandessa. They find a likely site in the castle of Waldemar Daninsky, who invites the women to stay as long as they like. As Waldemar shows Elvira the tomb that supposedly houses the countess, she accidentally causes the vampire to come back to life, hungrier than ever. Daninsky has a hidden secret of his own, but will it be enough to save the two girls from becoming Wandessa's next victims?

If you have not seen this film, shame on you! In my opinion, this is a true classic of the era and a perfect edition to any horror library (now is the ideal time with it falling on this box set). Yes, there are some very slow movie elements and flaws, this definitely has a very atmospheric feel and almost a eerie characteristic. The effects aren’t great, but they aren’t bad either and the cast does a great job feeding off of Naschy’s character. The story is good and kept my interest, especially the way it connected the silver cross to both the vampire and the werewolf’s demise. The idea to use a factual holiday Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis Night) as a backdrop to the story as the night when Satan rules the earth and Wandessa will have all her powers was also a nice twist In all, a very entertaining movie and the best on Disk Four of

Undead: The Vampire Collection.

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