During a trip to the countryside, architect Jahan (Mostafa Oskooyi)
meets lovely Goli (Mahindokht), and before you know it the two become a
couple, have sex ... and then Jahan leaves for Tehran again, without even
saying good-bye to Goli. Back in the city, Jahan soon starts an affair
with a married woman, Parvin (Homayoondokht), despite the fact that her
husband (Mohammad Kahnemout) is a friend and colleague of his. Then news
reaches him that Goli has died from grief, but has come back as a vampire.
He doesn't believe it of course until he meets her face to face, with her
flashing fangs at all. She promises to kill every woman Jahan will ever be
involved with, but in a way that the crimes can all be pinned on him
whenever she chooses. And once he's in jail, she promises to kill him. The
next day, Parvin has disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and Jahan
knows it might be pinned on him, so he figures on hiding out at a (female)
friend ... but finds Goli right in front of her house, promising to kill
her. Jahan makes a hasty flight, but right into the hands of the police,
who trow him into jail ... where Goli already waits for him to kill him -
but wait, could it be that it was all just a dream? A vintage
curiosity that is claimed to be Iran's first vampire movie, The Vampire
Woman might be obscure, but it's quite simply not a good film. Sure it
boasts some pretty solid, almost expressionist camerawork, and it features
a few atmospheric sequences, but the storyline is actually quite boring,
far-fetched, in-your-face and lazily told, the characters lack any real
depth, and a bit suspense outside of the finale would also have helped.
It's still ok to watch for historical reasons and as a piece of exotica
and obscurity, but it's in all hardly a satisfying movie.
|