Vampyros Lesbos – Severin Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: West Germany, 1971
Director: Jesús Franco
Writers: Jesús Franco, Jaime Chávarri
Cast: Ewa Strömberg, Soledad Miranda, Andrés Monales, Dennis Price, Paul Muller

Release Date: January 13th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 89 Minutes 17 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono German
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $49.95

"Eternally stunning Soledad Miranda stars as a vixen vampire who lures women to a Mediterranean island to satisfy her insatiable hunger for female flesh in that seductively corrupts the Dracula mythos forever." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "now scanned in 4K from the original camera negative."

Vampyros Lesbos comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 61.4 GB

Feature: 60.3 GB

The source looks exceptional, easily the best this film has ever looked on home media. Flesh tones look correct; colors look appropriately vibrant; image clarity, black levels, contrast, and compression are solid; and the image always looks organic.

Vampyros Lesbos comes on a 50 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 42.3 GB

Feature: 25.8 GB

This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in German with removable English subtitles. While there are always going to be limitations due to the low-budget attributes of this film, it is a solid track that exceeds expectations. Dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, ambient sounds are well represented, and the score sounds appropriately robust.

Extras:

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital mono German with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with Kat Ellinger, author of Daughters of Darkness, and an audio commentary with film professor Aaron AuBuchon and Oscarbate Film Collective's John Dickson and Will Morris.

Extras on the 4K UHD disc include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital mono German with removable English subtitles), an alternate German opening credits (1 minute 26 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with text in German with removable English subtitles), a brief clip titled Jess is Yoda (2 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles), a featurette titled Sublime Soledad (20 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with Jess Franco titled Vampyros Jesus (20 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles), a locations featurette titled In The Land Of Franco Part 2 (18 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles), an interview with Stephen Thrower author of Murderous Passions, Franco Volume 1: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús and Flowers of Perversion, Volume 2: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco (44 minutes 44 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Kat Ellinger, and an audio commentary with Aaron AuBuchon, John Dickson and Will Morris.

Other extras include a slipcover.

Summary:

Throughout Jess Franco’s career, he has had several key stages where he worked extensively with a producer, and in 1970, Jess Franco would end his collaboration with producer Harry Alan Towers with yet another adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Out of all of the producers that worked with Jess Franco over the years, none offered him a larger canvas to work with financially than Harry Alan Towers. Feeling confined by the films that Harry Alan Towers wanted to make, Jess Franco ended their collaboration. Initially, he embarked on a journey as an independent filmmaker, creating a series of three films before transitioning into the next stage of his development as a filmmaker, which involved another trio of films produced by Artur Brauner.

Content-wise, Vampyros Lesbos bears more than a striking resemblance to Jess Franco’s last film with Harry Alan Towers, Count Dracula, the main twist being that the protagonist role is switched from a man to a woman. Other influences that crop up during Franco’s gender bender Vampyros Lesbos include just a hint of the Marquis de Sade, which is another carryover from his Harry Alan Towers collaborations. And all of these moments of sadness revolve around the character that Jess Franco portrays in Vampyros Lesbos. Influences aside, it is clearly a film that signaled that its auteur had finally broken through creatively and that everything that came before this film was merely a warm-up for what was yet to come from him.

Although Vampyros Lesbos takes many of its cues from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, when it comes to the vibe of these films, this is where these two entities are on the polar opposite ends of the spectrum. Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula is known for its Gothic Romanticism, while Jess Franco’s Vampyros Lesbos is a manic fusion of Surrealism and Eroticism.

At this point in Jess Franco’s career, plot and dialog are not much more than a means to further what he was trying to say with his visuals, which have by this point become the focal point. This striptease scene featuring Soledad Miranda and a mannequin—or what seems to be a mannequin—stands out as one of the most iconic moments in Jess Franco's filmography. There is a fluidity to her movements that reinforces the sensuality of this scene. Another standout moment visually is a scene where Linda's character realizes that the only way she will be free of the Countess is if she kills her. Jess Franco expertly crafts this moment of emotional depth, ensuring it resonates with the audience by carefully escalating the tension until it reaches its peak.

When speaking about Vampyros Lesbos, one can’t overlook the importance of Soledad Miranda. Needless to say, the films that he made with Soledad Miranda, especially the ones where she is the lead actress, like she is in Vampyros Lesbos, could not have been made with another actress, since her undeniable presence is the main reason why they stand out amongst Jess Franco’s voluminous output as a filmmaker.

Besides Soledad Miranda’s tour de force, other notable performances come from Dennis Price (Twins of Evil) in the role of Dr. Alwin Seward (a Van Helsing-like persona) and Ewa Strömberg (She Killed in Ecstasy) in the role of Linda Westinghouse. The scenes where her character and the countess interact are exceptional. Also, she has a tremendous amount of chemistry with Soledad Miranda, and it really shines through during their more intimate moments.

Last but certainly not least is Jess Franco’s own performance in Vampyros Lesbos, and this time around he portrays a deranged husband whose wife has been seduced by the Countess. His opinion of women becomes increasingly negative, and he develops a sinister desire to inflict pain on them in a manner reminiscent of the Marquis de Sade. His character delivers the film’s most shocking moment in a scene where he captures and tortures the character Linda, who bears a resemblance to his wife.

Another wonderful asset that Vampyros Lesbos has is its jazz-infused score that Manfred Hübler and Sigi Schwab composed. The albums Psychedelic Dance Party and Sexadelic would serve as the soundtrack for these three Jess Franco films: She Killed in Ecstasy, The Devil Came from Akasava, and Vampyros Lesbos.

No matter how many times over the years that I have revisited Vampyros Lesbos, it is a film that has never lost any of its luster. And with each new viewing, my appreciation for the film continues to grow. Ultimately, Vampyros Lesbos is the ultimate Jess Franco film, and more than any other of his films, it captures the essence of his cinematic style.

10 years after their Blu-ray release, Severin Films gives Vampyros Lesbos an exceptional 4K UHD upgrade that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras; highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer