Lesbian Vampire Killers
Written by Darrren King
FILM IN PREVIEW
With film and television currently sucking the blood out of the vampire genre, the plot of Lesbian Vampire Killers is refreshingly and unashamedly goofy: a couple of English
layabouts who find themselves fighting an ancient vampire curse.
As far as movie titles go though, it's one that will either grab you or repel you like a vicar's crucifix. For Milan-born actress Silvia Colloca it did the latter. “They sent me the script and because of the title I didn't read it - it doesn't really translate very well in Italian,” says Colloca. “So I ignored it. And then a few weeks later my agent called me and said, 'Did you read it? They really want to meet you.' And then I did and I realised that it was a comedy!”
In the movie, Colloca plays Carmilla, the Vampire Queen, a character that actually dates back 25 years before Bram Stoker's creation, homoerotic undertones and all. “There's something obviously tempting and exciting about being so powerful,” she says. “It was quite amazing just to go through the hair and make-up process every day. It took about four hours. As an actress you'd like to think that it's all about you and your work, but I think in this case it was pretty much clear that once I was ready in hair and make-up that was pretty much half of my job already done and now I just to go on set, show my fangs, do a bit of hissing and growling. That was pretty much it and it was so great.”
For Colloca, the role was the culmination of a lifelong obsession with big screen vampires. She claims to have seen every Dracula movie ever made and even donned the fangs herself as Verona, Dracula's first bride, in ‘Van Helsing’. She even ended up marrying the guy who played Dracula, Australian actor Richard Roxburgh. “I suppose there's something fascinating and attractive about someone who sneaks up on you when you are completely fragile and unarmed at night,” she says. “The fact that they're so dark, mysterious and probably lonely, but they want you, is a big turn-on.”
Of course, ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’ offers something different to all those other films: lots of self-awareness and plenty of laughs. “It's pretty much what it says on the box,” says Colloca. “There's lesbians and there's vampires and there's killers. It's so much fun - I would say just go watch it with a bunch of friends and let go.”
‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’ screens from May 21.
