I didn't realise how literal the title for director Creep Creepersin's Orgy of the Damned was when I sat down to watch this Gothic erotic vampire movie. I thought it would be an orgy of blood and violence, not an actual orgy! So, much of this wasn't my thing at all, this features a hell of a lot of nudity, and many pointless joyless sex scenes that felt like soft-porn. Scratch beneath the superficial surface and there is an actual story trying to get out, even if it was never that well explained.
Fosco (Domiziano Arcangeli who also wrote this) is the 300 year old head of a family of vampires who reside in a large mansion, and who partake in a never ending orgy, all in a bid to 'feel alive'. At a nightclub Fosco becomes captivated by Fauna (Naama Kates) and so invites her to his mansion, which she agrees to, bringing along her boyfriend Micah (Vincent Hoss-Desmarais) in the process. All is not well in the household, Fosco feels something essential is missing from his life, while his wife Sabina (Lorielle New) plots with their son Dimitri (Greg Maness) to take over control of the family.
You can never accuse this film for not living up to its title as that is an ongoing event in the background that often times drags in the main characters. Rather than be anything erotic though I found myself wondering just how boring it must be to live in a perpetual orgy, and with so many naked people I was pondering just where they would all keep their clothes so that they didn't lose them. For the first two thirds of Orgy there are a lot of sex scenes. The film opens on one; Fosco and Sabina with Dimitri watching, then later on there are loads slotted in, and most (but not all) felt unnecessary. I kind of understand the mindset the vampires have, and how this has affected the things going on. All of them seemed bisexual which I guess you would eventually become if you had that much time to kill. By the time the final third of the movie comes around most the cast have become suitably clothed, except for protagonist Fauna who does the opposite and starts walking around the mansion clothes less. The nudity is occasionally full frontal, but a lot of the time the characters are laying in such a way as to hide themselves somewhat.
With the most obvious aspect of the film out the way it is onto the story itself. Often characters spoke quite softly and so maybe I missed key points, but I often felt I was having to piece together what was going on rather than being told. There is a subplot going on about some sort of adjudicators named 'the unseen' (or something similar) who punish people who break the vampire rules. Then there is the love story between Fosco and Fauna that I couldn't really follow that well. Elsewhere there is another subplot about two women who sneak into the mansion and end up victims of the head butler (my favourite role, Randal Malone puts a lot of over the top energetic campy acting here that made him feel like he had stepped out of The Rocky Horror Picture Show). While this was all somewhat confusing and hard to follow I did appreciate how this mansion felt like its own surreal little kingdom, and that it was an either acclimatise or become the victim type situation.
I actually did like how head vampire Fosco was portrayed, even if he did remind me a lot of Vladislav from comedy horror What We Do in the Shadows. He had the whole 'tortured soul' part down well, and when he was dressed he looked the part with his huge collar. While I often struggled to make out what he was saying, that way of talking did fit the character, who was a bit of a wet blanket. While initially I did fear this was just soft porn wrapped up in a horror tinged bow there were enough moments that worked later on. From characters getting their necks bit open, to severed limbs, and showers of blood there was enough here to satisfy that part. The vampires themselves don't have fangs (except maybe one scene), and are able to control their victims with mind powers, but mostly they just lay around. I never really felt any threat for Fauna, though saying that there are two scenes of rape featuring here which were not nice. The more bizarre horror comes from the many dream sequences she finds herself in, the most weird being when someone climbs their way out the backside of a naked lady!
Orgy of the Damned really wasn't my cup of tea. I felt the story wasn't involving enough, especially early when there were far too many sex scenes rather than any kind of plot. By the second half the story does pick up a bit and leads to more scenes of violence. Despite this not being the type of film I would normally watch I can say at least it wasn't boring. If this does sound like something interesting to you by all means check it out, you may be surprised.
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