Zora la vampira

Recalling one of Italy’s most famous erotic comic strips, the real inspiration for Zora la vampira, by direct admission of the two directors, comes from much further afield: William Crain’s Blacula, a reimagined vampire horror film and a classic of the blaxploitation genre. At the beginning of the 2000s, the Manetti Bros. did have their first TV feature film under their belt, but they were still best known for their music videos.

Zora la vampira was part of a spontaneous film experiment of its time coined ‘hip hop cinema’, in which soundtracks with predominantly Italian rap took centre stage.

The ingenuity to transform a blaxploitation classic into a modern film injected with Roman youth culture ignited the interests of Carlo Verdone, producer and director championed by Sergio Leone, who not only financed the film but also played a role in it. The result is a film that tackles sensitive topics like immigration with a playful balance between humour and horror, recounting Count Dracula’s surreal journey from Transylvania to Rome, in search of the reincarnation of his lost love. 

–  Manlio Gomarasca