I Vampiri

Italian horror godfather Mario Bava almost single-handedly ushered in a whole new genre with this moody mix of murder mystery and kinky horror. The prolific cinematographer made his (uncredited) directorial debut when Riccardo Freda stormed off the set with the picture only half finished, leaving Bava to rewrite the script and complete the picture in two days. It became the first Italian horror film since the silent era and a classic of the genre. The vampire of the title is not a literal bloodsucker of Dracula's lineage but a mad-scientist twist on the legend of Countess Bathory. In this modern take, the bodies of beautiful young women drained of blood leave the police baffled, while an ambitious journalist traces a chain of clues back to the familial castle of the ageing Duchess Du Grand and her beautiful niece (the elegant and sultry Gianna Maria Canale).