The Vampire in Science Fiction Film and Literature by Paul Meehan

Author:Paul Meehan [Meehan, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2014-06-23T04:00:00+00:00

Dr. Albert Levin (Alberto Lupo), transformed into the Seddok creature, menaces Jeanette Moreneau (Susanne Loret) in Atom Age Vampire (1960).

While it’s not one of the better Italian forays into sci-fi horror, Atom Age Vampire is a fun romp, smoothly directed by Anton Julio Majano and produced by the master of Italian horror, Mario Bava. The mad scientist plot is clichéd and predictable, however, and sometimes veers into soap opera territory when explicating the dynamics of the love triangle represented by Jeanette, Monique and Dr. Leven. Set in an unspecified French city (probably Marseilles), director Majano uses outdoor locations to create a documentary look. In Italy the film was titled Seddok, l’erede di Satana, which translates as Seddok, Heir of Satan, which indicates that it originally had little or nothing to do with vampires until it became Atom Age Vampire in America. Some critics, however have pointed out that the removal of the vital essence of a woman to preserve and enhance the beauty of another echoes the real-world depredations of the “human vampire” Elizabeth Bathory (see Chapter One).

The European wave of techno-vamps continued with Tigon Studio’s Blood Beast Terror (1967), starring the venerable Hammer horror actor Peter Cushing. The story unfolds in a village in 19th century England, where entomologist Professor Mallinger (Robert Flemyng) studies rare moths and conducts queer experiments on his secluded estate, assisted by his sultry daughter, Clare (Wanda Ventham). A series of mysterious vampire murders in the vicinity of Mallinger’s manor have drawn the scrutiny of Police Inspector Quennell (Cushing), who sets out to investigate the enigmatic killings. A survivor of one of the assaults describes being attacked by a horrible winged creature with huge eyes. All of the victims are men, their bodies drained of blood and bearing strange wounds, and Quennell also discovers odd flakes of an unknown material at the murder scenes.

One day a professional insect collector named Britewell (William Wilde) arrives at the professor’s with some rare moth pupae he has brought back from Africa. Invited to stay with Mallinger for a few days, Clare soon casts seductive eyes upon the young man. She invites him outside to play a game of hide and seek on the estate grounds one night, where he is attacked by a large flying creature and winds up like the other victims. Investigating Britewell’s death leads Quennell to the professor’s mansion, where he discovers the remains of a number of other victims. Learning that Mallinger and Clare have suddenly departed for the professor’s second residence in the resort town of Upper Hyam, the inspector decides to follow his prime suspect incognito, and takes his daughter, Meg (Vanessa Howard), along as part of the ruse.

After they arrive at the inn in Upper Hyam, Meg takes up with a local lad, William (David Griffin), whose hobby is bug collecting. While chasing a Death’s-Head moth through the fields, they accidentally trespass onto Mallinger’s property and are warned off by an angry Clare. Soon afterward, Clare lures Meg into the professor’s

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