When his castle is destroyed, Baron Roderico da Frankurten (Christopher Lee) has his coffin sent to the home of his only relative, his nephew Baron Osvaldo Lambertenghi (Renato Rascel). Unbeknownst to Roderico, Osvaldo was forced to sell his castle to pay off his debts. The new owner has since converted the castle into a hotel. The deposed Baron stays on at the castle as a bellhop.
Osvaldo receives a large trunk but is unaware that his uncle is inside. At midnight Roderico arises. Osvaldo and Roderico come face to face. Osvaldo is confused when Roderico runs out to satisfy his thirst for blood. Then he finds that the trunk contains a coffin. Inside the coffin is Roderico’s diary. The diary is in German, so Osvaldo takes it to one of the guests, Professor Stricker (Franco Scandurra) to be translated. Eventually Osvaldo comes to realize that his Uncle Roderico is a vampire. He presses the professor for information on how to kill a vampire.
In the meantime, Roderico is looking for a young woman whose blood he can drink. He accidentally sees a cross shaped shirt hanger and falls into a bush, temporarily losing his power. He doesn’t regain consciousness until just before sunrise. He quickly finds a coffin to sleep in. The coffin is in what used to be the crypt o the castle but has been turned into a hotel bar. Since Osvaldo knows the castle and is aware of the hidden casket, he decides to find Roderico and drive a stake through his heart.
Before he can dispatch Roderico, the vampire awakens. Knowing what Osvaldo is up to, he bites his nephew turning him into a vampire. This transfers the vampirism to Osvaldo. Now that Osvaldo is the last of the family vampires, Roderico can rest in peace. Osvaldo is now cursed and spends the night running around the castle biting every woman he can find.
“Uncle Was A Vampire” was released in 1959 and was directed by Steno. It is an Italian horror comedy.
Under normal circumstances the film would be funnier than it is. I think that the rather awkward dubbing takes a lot out of the movie. Lee, of course, is good and the reverberation added to his vampire voice, although it is most likely not Lee’s voice, adds a lot to his vampire aura. Even when Renato Rascel is vampirized his reverberated dubbed voice is better than the regular dubbed voice.
I’m not a fan of the movie. I didn’t find it all that funny or interesting and I think most of that was Renato Radcel. Still, I can see why others did like it. There are some subtle references to Lee’s “Dracula” film and some sexy women for those who like eye candy.
Pitting his 6’5” lithe frame against Rascel’s 5’2” chunky body adds an optical gag and makes Lee look almost as impressive as he was in “Dracula”. Part of the running gag of the film is Osvaldo’s unsexy demeanor.
In 1958 Christopher Lee did “Dracula” 1958 for Hammer Films. The movie was such a hit in Italy that Lee was hired to basically recreate his character for the Italian comedy. This was Lee’s first Italian made film.