Short Film: the Augusta Street Ripper

Also called O Estripador da Rua Augusta, in the original Portuguese, this 2014 short film was directed by Geisla Fernandes and Felipe M. Guerra, and comes in around the 20 minute mark.

It stars retired Brazilian adult star Monica Mattos as the vampire of the piece and, at its heart, the film has a torture porn aspect.

It starts in an apartment and a man (Felipe M. Guerra) is chained down whilst a woman – the vampire – straddles him. At this point all things look consensual, until she reveals fangs and bites. We see her get a stake from an ornate box and as he turns and opens his eyes she strikes down with the stake and he explodes in a puff of dust. She is very careful to sweep his remains up and throw them away.

 a (rather tame) strip

The vampire walks Augusta Street and a newspaper headline informs us that prostitutes are being attacked and killed. A flash of memory suggests that the latest victim (Daniela Monteiro) was the vampire’s lover. However, needs must and all that and the vampire goes to a seedy strip joint where she performs a (rather tame) strip. She approaches one of the punters (Henrique Zanoni) and takes him home.

drugged vampire

She drinks some wine and almost immediately we see there is something wrong. She goes to attack the man, who jumps back exclaiming about her being a vampire, and then she collapses. He is the Augusta Street Ripper and he has drugged her drink. When she awakens she is chained up and naked. She tests the chains but he has dangled a cross and smeared the links in holy water so she can’t break free. She is everything he has dreamed of – a victim who he can’t go too far with, who will always heal and thus allow him to do more.

the ripper

He tests this out by shooting her in the head and then we get a protracted scene of her tortures – actually really effectively done with regards the effects. He feeds her bags of blood to help the regeneration. It takes 10 months, three weeks and 14 hours but he eventually becomes bored. He wants a woman he can kill and she in now superfluous. Of course, he doesn’t know everything about vampires…

This was fun – if a little cringe-making in the centre segment as the torture played out. I like the final twist in the short and it was good to hear the Damn Laser Vampires on the soundtrack. Worth trying to track down.

The imdb page is here.