Nobody seems to remember this highly eccentric Finland-made documentary from 1995, an early effort by filmmaker Mika Ripatti (HOLLYWOOD OUT-TAKES). (VAMPIRA: ABOUT SEX, DEATH AND TAXES) The subject, as the title indicates, is the Finnish horror movie hostess Maila Nurmi (1922-2008), a.k.a. Vampira, who in her early seventies provides a 61 minute discussion of her career.
The woman, seen in various outfits and locations, proves quite a spirited speaker. Nurmi begins her recounting with her teenage years in Astoria, OR, when she left her abusive father and relocated to NYC. There she found work as a vampire in a Broadway revue, which led to her being “discovered” by Hollywood, where she hobnobbed with Norma Jeane Mortenson, a.k.a. Marilyn Monroe.
Nurmi’s big break came in 1954, when she was summoned to ABC studios to become a TV host. Inspired by the Dragon Lady from TERRY AND THE PIRATES, the imagery of the B&D magazine BIZARRE and “all the vamps of time immemorial,” she created the character of Vampira (even going so far as to create a signature song with lyrics like, “A scar on the hand may be quite continental but demons are a ghoul’s best friend”). Stardom followed, and entrée into Hollywood’s inner sanctum (with Nurmi showing us around several of the locales in which she once thrived). She also struck up a platonic friendship with James Dean, whose 1955 death was blamed by gossip rags on Nurmi’s “black magic.”
Another big break (of a sort) came when she was offered a role in Ed Wood’s PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. Nurmi admits to finding the script stultifying, and playing her role mute because she couldn’t bear to say the dialogue she was given. Her most vivid memory of the experience was the premiere at (what is now called) the Fonda Theater in Hollywood, in the company of a “very raucous” audience.
Nurmi also discusses her fan base, which consists, she claims, primarily of goths. Some of these folk are apparently “a little extreme” in their devotion, with rape and necrophilia being among the dangerous kinks they sport.
Intercut with Nurmi’s recollections are a great deal of miscellaneous footage, some of it newly shot and some of it archival—none of which, unfortunately, is from Vampira’s TV broadcasts, as outside some stills (and a brief promotional video that wasn’t available when this film was made) they no longer exist. The lack of any live action documentation of its subject in her heyday hurts the film without question, with Ripatti attempting to replace it with footage of tarot card headings, a graveyard, a glimpse inside a slaughterhouse, a dominatrix abusing a bound man, a vintage James Dean interview, a terrified little girl (meant to represent Nurmi as a child), scenes from PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE and an altogether bizarre black and white comedy skit in which Nurmi is seen lounging outside her Hollywood residence and harassing passerby.
Balanced this film isn’t. Nurmi’s is the only voice we hear, and she doesn’t always seem reliable (describing herself as an “evangelist” and certain people as “carrying elements of the other side with them”). Of her more controversial exploits, such as the unsuccessful lawsuit she filed against Elvira and a child she birthed that was allegedly sired by Orson Welles, no information is provided. So no, this is not the definitive cinematic document about Vampira (that would be 2012’s VAMPIRA AND ME), standing as, at best, a mildly compelling curiosity.
Vital Statistics
VAMPIRA: ABOUT SEX, DEATH AND TAXES
Green Bird Oy
Director/Producer/Screenplay: Mika J. Ripatti
Cinematography: Timo Peltonen
Editing: Anne Lakanen
Cast: Maila Nurmi