Film
The Velvet Vampire
Stephanie Rothmann • US 1971 • 80min
enOF • DCP
11.10.2024, 22:30
Cinematograph
• Film introduction: Julian Stockinger (Nachtblende Wien) • Only remaining tickets available at the box office on the evening. Or you can reserve by phone at Cinematograph (Tel. 0512560470-50) or Leokino (Tel. 0512560470); note opening times.
Tribute to Film Producer Roger Corman (†2024)
»Susan, have you ever noticed how man envy us? The pleasure we have, that only we can have. We can’t help it. Its just our nature, the way we are. And in their secret hearts they hate us for it. Because they can never know, what it’s like.«
At the Stoker Club, newlyweds Susan and Lee meet the mysterious Diane while looking at “scary but sexy” art. A flirtation quickly ensues and the two are invited to spend a weekend at Diane’s desert estate. Whether on a trip to a ghost town or eating raw liver at night, Diane never misses an opportunity to seduce the two. Faced with missing mechanics and stolen corpses, the couple become increasingly uneasy. But it already seems too late for them to leave. Stephanie Rothman ( The Working Girls , Night Visions 2022) transplants her vampire to the most unfavorable location for an undead woman - the Mojave Desert - and also breaks with other blood-drinking clichés. Underpinned by a hypnotic, psychedelic synth soundtrack and earthy desert blues, The Velvet Vampire surprises with astonishingly poetic images on a tight budget, and the wooden acting, which is downright knee-slapping, also contributes a lot to the dreamy atmosphere. But Rothman’s real achievement is that she once again turns the exploitation film feminist and shows female lust and desire independent of social conventions. (Judith Salner)
Vorfilm: Audition at Mystero (FIN 2024, 6min)
Director: Mariangela Pluchino; Music: Mimi Veter
Three actors competing for the role of a vampire in the stage of Mystero, a theatre specialised in the horror genre. The Director of the play surprises everyone with an unexpected twist.
in presence of Mariangela Pluchino
Trailer
© Shout! Factory
Director Stephanie Rothman Writer Maurice Jules, Charles S. Swartz, Stephanie Rothman Cinematography Daniel Lacambre Edit Stephen Judson, Barry Simon Cast Michael Blodgett, Sherry E. DeBoer, Celeste Yarnall Music Roger Dollarhide, Clancy B. Grass III Producer Roger Corman, Charles S. Swartz
Stephanie Rothman (*1936, New Jersey) is an American director, screenwriter and film producer. She was the first woman to receive the Directors Guild of America’s Student Filmmaking Award. In the 1960s and 1970s, she made several low-budget sexploitation films with a feminist slant, including IT’S A BIKINI WORLD (1967), THE STUDENT NURSES (1970) and THE WORKING GIRLS (1974).