“Please, make this throbbing stop!”
A seemingly forgotten slice of 1970s Eurosleaze, Vampire Ecstasy (1973), aka The Devil’s Plaything, or Veil of Blood, is jam-packed with nudity, sex, lesbianism, masturbation, blood sacrifices, incest, and other perversions too lengthy to list here. A Swedish-Switzerland-West German co-production, helmed by American softcore director Joseph W. Sarno, the film certainly doesn’t skimp on sex and nudity. The breasts on full display here are both plentiful and damn-near constant. I swear, the movie never goes more than two minutes without showing boobies.
First, a quick plot synopsis is in order. Some nubile young women visit a Central European castle, where horny descendants of a horny vampire baroness seek to sacrifice the unsuspecting babes to bring their vampire goddess back from the dead. Vampire Ecstasy basically ping pongs between sex scenes and satanic cult scenes, with some expository bits interspersed to remind us of the paper-thin plot.
Now back to the sexy bits. Writhing naked bodies and bouncing breasts abound, sexed up nymphos go down on penis-shaped candles, and one character spits out this poetic mouthful: “Other spells make you seize with unfulfilled desires, make your juices flow, hot and burning, while the fingers warmed in the fires of hell set your nipples afire and open your womb to the will of her priestesses.”
Speaking of a mouthful, the oversexed Helga, Marie Forså spends much of her screen time fellating a candle, screwing vigorously, pleasuring herself (which does not look simulated in the least), and breathlessly pleading, “Please, make this throbbing stop!” No surprise then that the Swedish sexpot’s brief acting career in the seventies was largely in service of hardcore films. Unfortunately, when she’s not writhing in orgasmic ecstasy, her acting leaves a bit to be desired. Thankfully though, she’s usually writhing in orgasmic ecstasy.
As Frau Wanda Krock, Nadia Henkowa plays the Germanic ice queen hostess of the estate who sheds her clothes and inhibitions as the leader of the sect of vampire-worshipping cultists who get naked together and suggestively caress and lick dick-candles down in the dungeon (for lesbians, they’re really into the phallus). She delivers her lines in mangled English, stands extremely close to everyone, and stares demonically at all times. It’s a fabulously camp performance that elevates the film to delightfully weird heights.
In summary, Vampire Ecstasy is not exactly a lost classic, but the more I’m thinking about it since watching revelry, the more I’m intrigued and fascinated by it. It reminds me of the vampire films that Jesus Franco and Jean Rollin were making around this time, especially in shots like the nightmarish, red-lit dungeon scene later in the film. So, while Vampire Ecstasy is in some ways a sexy softcore porno masquerading as a vampire film, it is also wonderfully atmospheric and deliciously strange. It’s a definite mood film, and one I would recommend to any fans of early seventies, erotic vampire cinema.
Vampire Ecstasy is currently streaming on Tubi.
The Starfire Lounge 
I’m not sure why, but this feels like a super Poor Man’s version of a Jess Franco or Jean Rollin film.
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This is an accurate assessment.
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