A lesbian vampire couple waylay and abduct various passer-byes, both male and female, to hold them captive at their rural manor in the English countryside in order to kill and feed on them to satisfy their insatiable thirst for blood.If you think about lesbian vampires, you might think Hammer. Or maybe you tend to think more in the direction of Eurotrash, like Jess Franco or Jean Renoir. But you probably don't think of "Vampyres".I certainly was not familiar with this film, best thanks to the fine folks at Blue Underground, it is taken out of obscurity and presented to a new generation. Well, as much as anyone follows Blue, that is. Which you should be, because even though they're not as prolific as Scream! Factory, they pick out some real winners.

"Vampyres" comes down to a few memorably shot images that can't lift the film out of mediocrity due to it's essentially nonsensical story. As director Jose Ramon Larraz tells it, it's a story about a killer coming back to the scene of the crime. Nice, but.....What then do the couple have to do with the story, and for that matter, why don't they leave when the girl is terrified? If these are vampires, why can they be killed with guns? Well, sometimes a film can overcome it's nightmarish plot holes, but theproblem here is too much is padded by gore, soft core sex, and people walkingaround in search of something happening. I like this film a lot, if you are a horror fan you will probably enjoy it. Yetit can't be considered first rate.

If you're going to watch just one of these 'lesbian vampire' films, I recommend that you see Daughters of Darkness. But if you're going to see a few, you might stop here as well; just watch with one eye in Italian horror of the time - if the score doesn't clue you in - so you know what you're getting into.The novelty of these films, at least what was thought to be at the time, lies in swapping the formulaic traditions of the Hammer stage for feverish visions free to wander; often into sex. This is what we get here, a sensual dream about wanton desires, a bloodlust for sex and discovery. Like Jean Rollin used to do it, but with even less the touch of an adept surrealist.One strand of the plot is about beautiful women hitching rides from a countryside road to their secluded château in the woods nearby. The men all eagerly acquiesce to the seduction, to be part of the dream, because the promise of sex is implicit. Of course they are sooner or later drained by desire.The other part of the plot involves a couple who camp in the vicinity. The woman has seen the mysterious figures lurking in the woods, and again by nightfall, and so begins to imagine a story from these elements, a story involving the unspeakable horrors that from our end we get to see inside the house. But the man hasn't seen any of what she has. So he blithely goes fishing. She paints the ominous-looking house in an effort to represent, thus render finite, comprehensible.Of course by the end she ventures to investigate.

Murder, mystery, and a soft-core vampire lesbian scene, all in the first sixty seconds. Alright, I'm just going to say it right here and now, I'm giving this one a ten. Our story begins in a dark, eerie castle in England. Inside, two hot ladies are loving on each other, the party is soon spoiled, by a mysterious figure, who shoots them dead. Now, after the title, we get the idea that it's years later, and for whatever reason, the hot ladies, Fran and Miriam, are now hot vampyres, hot vampyres who hitch rides on the side of the country road, only to lure their victims back to their lair, in the castle, to be loved on, and of course, to be drained of all blood. We got sex scenes, bloody, erotic killings, Pleasant, country scenery, and some more sex scenes, I do believe this is my all-time favorite British Horror film. Vampyres is amazing on many different levels. Our two leading ladies, are portrayed brilliantly by Marianne Morris and Anulka Dziubinska, and the subtle score is positively haunting. In this film, the atmosphere rules, it really feels like you're witnessing a dream, at least on VHS it does, not so much on DVD. That roaring sound, along with the overcast sky is just captivating. Yet another fine example of a low-budget adding to the horror vibe. One of the many problems with todays horror is that they lay everything out for you, leaving nothing for the imagination, that is not the case with Vampyres, if anything, they leave out too much, several occurrences are never explained at all, which, would probably irritate most, but if looked at it the right way, should just keep you on your toes. Ultimately, Vampyres is just beautiful, grim horror for true fans of the genre, which also happens to include some really decent sex scenes. Especially recommended to those who prefer their horror dark and hot. Jess Franco never did anything half this good. 10/10