Stranded in the countryside after his car breaks down, Nicola (Garko) finds temporary shelter with a nearby rural family.

Pretty young Belli even cozies up with Nicola, but it's not long before the wayward traveler begins to suspect there's evil lurking in the woods outside...and it's about to find its way inside.

Based on Aleksei Tolstoy's 1847 novelette "Wunderlak" (as was a segment in Mario Bava's Black Sabbath (1963), this Italian-Spanish co-production is slow going at first.

But it builds up some steam in the latter half. The climax in the woods has a few nice touches as the hungry vampire family besieges poor Nicola trapped in his auto.

The flashback/frame device is bolstered by the cool turnabout ending too.

Italian: La Notte dei diavoli.