Let's be realistic.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The Vampire and the Ballerina (1960) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A small town has had three vampire attacks on the full moon and locals are terrified that something evil is stalking them. Not everything believes these myths and that includes a troupe of young dancers who end up staying at a castle but it doesn't take long for the vampire to come after them.THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA, or its original title L'AMANTE DEL VAMPIRO, is credited for being one of the earliest Italian horror films to mix sex and violence. The film today is quite tame in regards to both but it's easy to watch the film and see that it would have been an influence on several others that were to be released but at the same time there's no question that it's a flawed picture to say the least.I think the biggest problem with the film is the fact that there's really not too much that happens throughout its running time. There are very long stretches where we basically see the characters either talking or not doing a thing and this really makes for a slow film and one that you're going to need patience with. There are a couple other extended sequences with the girls doing their dances and this here is just as boring, although I'm sure people in 1960 enjoyed watching these beautiful ladies and their big breasts packed into these tight costumes.With that being said, there are some very good things scattered throughout the movie that makes it worth watching. As I said, the ladies are quite beautiful and easy to look at throughout the picture. There's also some nice atmosphere and especially the opening sequence, which gets the film off to a great start. Then there's the vampire himself who looks wonderful. I really liked the deformed monster look that they gave the vampire and it made the attacks all the more effective. There's also the ending, which I won't spoil but it's wonderful too.THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA isn't a masterpiece but it is an important film in Italian horror cinema. As I said, there are certainly some flaws with it but the picture is certainly worth watching.

This movie begins with a young woman named getting bitten by a vampire late at night in the forest. She is taken to a doctor's house where several young ladies are staying in preparation for an upcoming ballet. Since she seems to be okay she is taken back to the farm where she works but subsequently dies a little later and is buried. At least, all of the villagers believe she is dead. In any case, that same night a young man named "Luca" (Isarco Ravaioli) and two of the women by the names of "Luisa" (Helene Remy) and "Francesca" (Tina Gloriani) get lost in the forest and happen to come upon a castle which they take refuge in from an approaching thunderstorm. Not long afterward they are greeted by a woman named "Countess Alda" (Maria Luisa Rolando) who offers them some tea. When Countess Alda temporarily excuses herself, Luisa decides to look around the castle and it's at this time that she is bitten by the same vampire who attacked the young woman in the woods. From that point on Luisa is irresistibly drawn to the vampire by the name of "Herman" (Walter Brandi) and this endangers everyone who is close to Luisa. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that from what I understand this movie had some difficulty with the Italian censors due—strangely enough--to the graphic images exhibited during the death of the vampires and the special effects related to the mask worn by Herman. While it all seems rather tame in this day and age I suppose it goes with the territory back then. Be that as it may, although this film is definitely dated, it wasn't too bad as far as vampire films are concerned and because of that I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Despite its obvious shortcomings...this early 60's Italian horror film is compelling for reasons other than ranking high on the fright index. The Vampire and The Ballerina is frankly anything but horrifying for the most part. Although, the expressionistic black and white photography lends the film a surreal and hypnotic quality that can't be dismissed. This is NOT your classical vampire flick. Thank God. Having endured the relentless tedium of countless Hammer vampire horror films, I can be grateful for that fact alone. No, the performances are not stellar but given the cheesecake Euro-babe thrust of the movie, they didn't have to be. The convoluted storyline is something David Lynch would appreciate. And so is the fixation on visual imagery such as the storm winds whipping those mysterious trees repeatedly whenever there is a hint of menace. The effective contrasts of shadow and light throughout the film does create a certain surreal moodiness that renders the need to frighten meaningless. It was simply enough for this viewer to be swept away by a tide of tight black leotards and fishnet stockings. A fetishistic confession? Perhaps...although what red-blooded vampire could possibly resist the urge to pray on a troupe of jazz-dancing nymphets posing as ballerinas?

The plot is so routine it plays more like a late entry in the Eurohorror period of the 1960s than like the early entry it is. Clearly, few involved in the film took any serious care with the material, even throwing in some rather herky-jerky musical numbers, far from ballet. But the photography by Angelo Baistrocchi is both crisp and moody, attractively using the weathered castle locations. Clearly influenced by (HORROR OF) Dracula, still it's more in the Italian mode than Hammer horror. But it's weakened by mostly uninteresting characters and a lot of running about, often near a rocky stream. Still, the weird relationship between the two vampires is unusual: she's a contessa, he's her servant, but he made her a vampire--so as humans, she dominates him, while as vampires, he dominates her. This leads to an intense love-hate relationship climaxed by them turning on each other at the climax--while still loving one another.