A local milkmaid, Brigita, goes to a nearby waterfall to get some water for the cows. On her way back she is attacked by a vampire. Not long after that she dies. She is the third mysterious death this year. The deaths seem to always happen the nights when there is a full moon. The locals believe that Brigita was killed by a vampire. The town doctor dismisses the suggestion. Brigita is buried in the local cemetery.
Brigita’s father works for the Professor (Pier Ugo Gragnani). Currently he is playing host to a small troupe of ballerinas. One of them, Francesca (Tina Gloriani) is the girlfriend of the Professor’s nephew Luca (Isarco Ravaioli). Her best friend is another ballerina, Luisa (Helene Remy). Luisa is the girlfriend of the troupe’s leader Giorgio (Gino Turini). The troupe is practicing for their next performance.
Taking a break, the troupe has a picnic. When a storm comes up everyone heads back to the villa. Luisa and Francesca are missing so Luca goes out looking for them. He eventually finds them but they get turned around and end up on the other side of the forest. Nearby is an old abandoned castle. Luca decides to take shelter there until the storm passes.
They are surprised to find that the castle is not empty. Contessa Alda (Maria Luisa Rolando) and her servant Herman (Walter Brandi) live there. The Contessa says she started the rumor about the castle being abandoned to prevent people from snooping. While they were having tea Luisa wanders off and is bitten by a vampire. Luisa is then recruited to deliver Francesca to the vampire while the Countess tries to seduce Luca.
“The Vampire and the Ballerina” AKA “L'amante del vampire” was released in 1960 and was directed by Renalto Polselli. It is an Italian horror movie. The movie is often referred to as part of a quasi-trilogy with “The Playgirls and the Vampire” 1960 and “The Vampire of the Opera” 1964. Some even call it part of a quadrilogy along with “Slaughter of the Vampires” 1962. All of them are Italian horror films produced during Italy's vampire movie craze.
The movie has some really good cinematography, but bad almost everything else. Many of the Italian horror films during this period combined sexploitation with horror and gothic elements. The ballet numbers the girls do are more in the jazz dance style then the realm of ballet. It is similar to the concept of “The Playgirls and the Vampire” but it wasn’t as interesting. The acting is stiff and the plot is minimal. More attention was paid to cleavage than to acting. There are some really nice visuals as far as the gothic elements but there isn’t much else to keep your attention, unless you like sexy women gyrating. Then you’ll love it.
The special effect to disintegrate the vampire’s face was done by molding an adhesive rubber mask over plaster with a layer of ash in between.
The exterior shots are of Castello Orsini-Odescalchi in Lazio, Italy. Some of the interior shots are from Palazzo Borghese, Artena, Italy.