“The Velvet Vampire” aka “Cemetery Girls” (1971) / Z-View

The Velvet Vampire aka Cemetery Girls (1971)

Director:  Stephanie Rothman

Screenplay by:  Stephanie Rothman, Charles S. Swartz, Maurice Jules

Starring:  Michael Blodgett, Sherry E. DeBoer and Celeste Yarnall

Tagline:  She’s Waiting To Love You…To Death

The Overview:  Beware of spoilers…

Lee Ritter (Blodgett) and his wife Susan (Miles) meet and take a liking to a mysterious woman named Diane LeFanu (Yarnall).  When Diane asks them to spend a weekend at her remote desert home, they accept.  Only too late do they discover that Diane is a vampire!

The Velvet Vampire is a perfect example of low budget 70s horror films that often became the second or third films shown at drive-ins.  The movie features a small cast (of low-level stars), a remote location, women who bare their boobs and sex scenes spaced throughout the film. (Where you usually find the bare boobs.) There’s even a dune buggy scene in The Velvet Vampire!  Does it get any more “early 70s” than that?   Diane isn’t your traditional vampire – she goes out in the sun (but too much isn’t good for her).

Normally movies I make it through earn at least a 2 star rating.  I made it through The Velvet Vampire and (despite the bare boobies) it only earned a 1 of 5 star rating.