Spider in the Web: The Vampyros lesbos Project

 The spider spinning his web for the unwary fly. The blood is the life, Mr. Renfield. 

--Count Dracula, Dracula (1931)

I had mentioned the other day that I thought the scene where Countess Carody talks about how she enjoys her wine was a cool moment to me, mostly because in how Franco decides to toy with the Dracula formula by recognizing the classic but also doing right the opposite with his film as a type of homage turned on its head. I like how it finishes. You get these scenes all the time. An unexpected drugging of the drink of the film’s heroine/hero/protagonist. The “villain” looks down at the fallen victim and amuses to this victory in deception. Soledad isn’t an actress who goes often for histrionics. Very subtle is her smile, and her gaze is deliberate and stare direct, with purpose. Her Countess looks down at Westinghouse, having watched her drift into unconsciousness, and is proud of her misdeed. Is Westinghouse the next meal…or something far more to the Countess? After her smile, the Countess takes a nice, long swig of her wine, only taking her eyes off of Westinghouse for a moment. This intimates a type of celebratory event: the spider caught in the web.