Bloodlust

... or MOSQUITO DER SHANDER, as this German Astro release puts it.

This is an effectively sleazy 'vampire' film. But this 'vampire' is similar to Romero's MARTIN - no fangs, no cape, no aversion to sunlight or garlic - instead, this paints a plausible account of an ordinary man's psychotic descent into .. well... bloodlust!

Actually Swiss in origin, it takes a harrowing true story of a sad loner severely traumatised by memories of an abusive childhood, and uses it as a springboard for numerous scenes of voyeurism and blood-sucking. Business as usual on the SGM site, then!

Werner Pocath does a good job in a thankless role as a deaf mute, whose thoughts and feelings are expressed facially rather than verbally. He lives in a cold world of isolation - the scenes where he cruises the City streets on his scooter are as lonely as those where he sits behind his desk in an office populated by the insensitive people who belittle or ignore him daily.

Haunted by images of his violent, drunken father, Pocath has withdrawn himself himself from the outside world. When not working at the local accountant's office, he retires to the tenement block that houses him and several strangers. Here he spends his time arranging his dolls lovingly, and occasionally visiting the ugliest prostitutes ever committed to celuloid (or should that read: cellulite?!).

Oh, and let's not forget his odd forays to the local mortuary where he's taken a liking to stealing mementos from fresh corpses - eyes, etc. There's some nice graphic eye-gouging scenes on display, and numerous moments of our lead man peircing jugulars with a pipette, sucking the blood lovingly down his throat.

A local girl catches the mute's eye, and flirts with him for a while from a distance. However, when she falls to her death after dancing on the rooftops of his block - always a bad idea - our antihero turns decidely homicidal.

It's testament to Pocath's performance, then, that we can still feel some sympathy towards him when he eventually preys on the living. There's a great prolonged scene of voyeurism as he spies on a young couple making out in a car ... before going in for the kill. But this happens so late into proceedings (and the end is such a "was that it?" let-down) that I'm not about to let anymore out of the bag.

The disc is a revelation. The only other Astro release I've seen is NIGHTMARE CONCERT, and the quality left a lot to be desired. Here we have an entertaining, often overlooked classic slice of 70's Eurosleaze on a very nice disc. Picture quality is superb (this is 26 years old, remember!) and is presented in 1.66:1. There was one brief moment of pixelation on screen, but it honestly doesn't bear moaning about - this was almost grain-free and artifacting was non-existent. The stereo soundtrack was less reliable, but when the central character's a mute, that's hardly a problem!!

Extras-wise, we get a theatrical trailer (very nice) and reproductions of the original Press Release Booklets - both in German & English text - and a nice stills gallery.

All in all, a great release of an under-appreciated film (on these shores, anyhow). Hopefully, DVD will resurrect interest in this film as it really is a cut above the rest.

The disc also contains the option to watch the film in German language, and has 9 chapters. It comes in a clear plastic keepcase packaging, and has a double-sided cover.

In summary: if you're looking for all the classic elements of a 70s Euroschlock movie (gore, isolation, obligatory lesbian scene - you know the drill), look no further. It's all here, and then some. And the picture quality will please you immensely. Buy it while you can!

Review by Stuart Willis