As the film opens, Ewa Stromberg and her boyfriend are watching a club
performance by Soledad Miranda, who is undressing and transferring her clothes to a
naked woman acting like a mannequin. Ewa is spellbound, and has lurid
dreams about the woman, who is calling her psychically. Ewa, who works for a legal firm in Istanbul, travels to an
island to help with an estate problem, and falls under Soledad's
spell. As you may have guessed from the title, Soledad is a lesbian vampire, the sole
heir of Count Dracula. For some unexplained reason, she has chosen Ewa as her
successor.
This Jess Franco classic has been alternately called
The Heiress of Dracula, The Heritage of Dracula, Im Zeichen der
Vampire, Lesbian Vampires, Lesbian Vampires: The Heiress of Dracula,
Mal des Vampirs, Das, Schlechte Zeiten für, The Sign of the Vampire,
Signo del vampiro, El, The Strange Adventure of Jonathan Harker,
Vampiras, Las, The Vampire Women and Vampyros Lesbos: Die Erbin des
Dracula. It is one of a trilogy from Franco staring Soledad Miranda
and Ewa Stromberg. Shortly after finishing the third
one, Miranda died tragically in an auto accident on the way to sign a
major contract that would likely have earned her stardom.
If you are a Franco film, you know this one already. The film has a huge
cult following, as indicated by more than a thousand votes at IMDb, and deservedly so.
The film is a treat for the eyes. Franco is at his best here, using a
largely red and black palette, sparse but effective set decoration,
and effective symbols (scorpions, moths, etc.) to represent the
major characters.
If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to
read the
explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by
our definition, a
C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs
and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:
