For my dough, the Tennessee Williams influence is the most compelling aspect of BRIDES. The first third plays like Suddenly Last Summer in Badstein, with Baroness Meinster making like an Eastern Bloc Violet Venable as she procures fleshly treats for her naughty sonny boy. Talk about an infusion of fresh blood in the genre.

Once this portion of the plot is dispensed with, the movie becomes pretty much business as usual, albeit with a showier palette, bustier brides and the dopiest vampire demise this side of DRACULA,PRINCE OF DARKNESS.