Mrs. Amworth (1978) User Reviews

A sleepless night for a ten year old

[a-w-oliver · 7/10 · 1 January 2003]

A vampire terrorizes a sleepy Sussex village.

SPOILERS ahead

The one and only time I saw this classic was when it was first screened back in '77. Although it's been over 25 years I can still vividly recall certain scenes. Specifically when our hero confronts the vampire (Mrs. Amworth) during an all night vigil over one of her victims. I can still recall him stumbling into the room to find her leaning over the bed and of her maniacal laugh once she was aware of his presence. Another moment includes the slamming of a window shutter on to the undead's arm and its subsequent fading away. But the best and most hair raising scene occurred within the village graveyard. Safely hidden the hero along with a learned friend (Urcombe) waits for the vampire to return to her grave. When the vampire finally comes it does so in slow motion and accompanied by a beating heart soundtrack. Very eerie and unsettling particularly at the end of the scene where the vampire howls and vanishes over the grave.

Curiously I seem to remember it being screened early in the evening and certainly before 9 o'clock - thus explaining as to why I was able to watch it!. Sadly to my knowledge there has never been a repeat screening.

Don't be fooled by the innocuous title - this is one of THE classic vampire stories and ranks equally alongside E.F.Benson other entry in the genre 'The Room in the Tower,

Great story telling

[begob · 7/10 · 13 December 2015]

A vivacious lady moves to a quaint Wiltshire village and enlivens the social set, but her arrival coincides with the outbreak of an inexplicable blood disease amongst the locals. Creepy or what?

The story telling has wonderful economy for such a short piece. In the first half every frame and sound adds crucial information for the viewer, so the ground is covered twice as quick as you'd expect from a full feature. And there's an impressive long take at a garden fete, with the lead actress moving from one interaction to another with great skill.

In the end the story is ordinary, so the second half relies on music and dodgy '70s effects to deliver the usual climax.

Vampiric old lady.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 8/10 · 19 May 2010]

"Mrs.Amworth" is an eerie vampire short movie set in a small British town with church and cemetery.Mrs.Amworth is an eccentric and sympathetic old lady with sudden bursts of unquestionably bizarre behaviour.Unfortunately the village is plagued by deadly epidemic.The truth is terrifying:Mrs.Amworth is a vampire,a modern lamia,who enjoys drinking blood of her victims.Alvin Rakoff's "Mrs.Amworth" is a spooky little horror short with genuinely eerie atmosphere of menace.This time the vampire is not some sexy and voluptuous beauty in the vein of Ingrid Pitt,but an old charming lady with an evil smile.8 out of 10.A must-see for fans of vampire genre and old folklore tales.

The Hoary Vampire Lover

[Oslo_Jargo · 7/10 · 24 November 2022]

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*Plot and ending analyzed*

A small village is experiencing a strange sickness related to blood. An older woman has visited the village. So does a young man, whose uncle is friends with another elderly man.

The elderly man has his own unusual theory about the cause of the illness. He also is a voracious reader of the occult.

Finding that the village experienced a similar plague in the distant past, he also discovers that the older woman was related to a witch in that time.

It turns out that she is a vampire and has been biting people in the village.

Mrs. Amworth resembles a Teleplay, and is garrulous, which will be uninteresting to some audience members.

I personally don't mind that at all, since I grew up in the time of plays and television programs which relied heavily on dialogue.

The acting is rather sufficient enough to carry all the narrative, since the budget is quite limited.

I still thought that the story of Mrs. Amworth was interesting enough to warrant a view.