Attack of the Zombie Vampires (1971) is supposedly one of those classic British horror films. When someone asked me to review this film, I’d honestly never heard of it. I’ve seen countless of horror films: doomed straight to video hell, but I’ve never heard of this one. That immediately put me off  - how can a film be that bad miss out on being released on video? Think of the thousands of cheapie horrors released every year! Attack… had to be really, really crap!

The film is typically located in a creepy mansion. Two young women are suitably nubile, and as the film plays on, they wear less and less clothing. The building is near derelict, they take it upon themselves to wander around in the middle of the night, wearing the skimpiest of nightgowns! I don’t know how the poor actors managed it in the cold as you can see their breath - obviously they were a hardier lot than the wannabe celebrities of today!

I have to say, I was quite shocked at Dallas’ entrance. He plays the Baron Drooga, a powerful vampire with two things on his mind – sex and blood! I don’t know how the film got its original ‘X’ (in the UK) certificate as I’m sure Jensen and Dallas thought they were making one of their earlier flicks. Dallas has a powerful presence on the screen and I’m amazed I he hasn’t made any other films since Attack… he appears to have disappeared completely. For that, the film should be at least celebrated as Trent Dallas’ last film.

The film’s plot is pretty formulaic, but does have an unusual ending for that era. If you’re wondering what zombie vampires are: they have been bitten, but they haven’t ingested the vampire’s blood, hence they are zombie-like! I’m not sure what happens to someone if they get bitten by a zombie vampire and not a fully fledged one – I guess they become more zombie-like? Who cares, the film was quite a surprise – I enjoyed it and rooted for the bad guy!

Ted Bandiss

note: at time of writing, film still not available VHS or DVD.