Newlywed couple Gerald (Edward de Souza) and Marianne Harcourt (Jennifer Daniel) find themselves stranded in a remote little village in eastern Europe , Bavaria , Germany , when their car runs out of petrol . Forced to stay near a weird fortress and in a semi-derelict inn where they are greeted with suspicion, they are subsequently invited in by its charmingly evil owner Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman) and his two grown children. Later on , he head of the local aristocratic family offers his assistance with dire and unexpected consequences . Fortunately , hubby runs afoul of Dr Ravan, managing to escape , being helped by the mysterious knowledgeable Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans) . Giant devil Bats...summoned from the caves of Hell to destroy the lust of the Vampires!Shocking! - Horrifying! - Macabre!
The vivid plot is the usual in the vampire movies , a honeymooning marriage stranded near a strange villa while receiving a surprise invitation to diner at the nearby castle where live vampires undergoing the ordinary bites on the necks . A properly creepy terror movie fully of thrills , chills , suspense and frightening happenings , particularly when takes place the impressive unleashing horde of bats to rout the bloodsuckers , though developed in mediocre special effects . This is a Hammer Productions movie though not part of Dracula series , this is also one of their most interesting of the period . The Hammer pictures were decried at the time for being too bloody , but compared to the terror films of the 2000s , they are practically G-rated. Well produced by Anthony Hinds who used the pseudonym John Elder fot his screenplay . Gorgeous and brillant cinematography by Alan Hume, providing some skillfully colour camerawork . Thrilling and terrifying musical score by James Bernard , Hammer's regular .
The motion picture was compellingly directed by Don Sharp who makes of it pretty eerie and chilly . He became a director in the mid-1950s and turned out some low- and medium-budget musicals , such as the Tommy Steele vehicle It's All Happening (1963) . In the mid-1960s he was hired by horror specialist Hammer Films and turned out some well-received horror movies , including this Kiss of the vampire (1963), his first for Hammer . He worked on a few films as second-unit director , before returning to directing again, and turned out a string of thrillers (39 steps , Hennessy , Our Man in Marrakesh , Callan , Brides of Fumanchu , Return of Fumanchu) and made all kinds of genres , such as Adventures (Four Feathers , Devil-ship pirates, Jules Verne's Rocket to the moon), terror (What Waits Below , Psychomania ,Taste of Excitement , Rasputin, Dark Places, Return of the fly) , Wartime (Bear Island) and comedies (Two guys abroad , It's All Happening ) . Towards the end of his career he worked in television on mini-series or popular TV series (Act of Will , Hammer House of Horror , Avengers , Tusitala , QED) . Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average .
The vivid plot is the usual in the vampire movies , a honeymooning marriage stranded near a strange villa while receiving a surprise invitation to diner at the nearby castle where live vampires undergoing the ordinary bites on the necks . A properly creepy terror movie fully of thrills , chills , suspense and frightening happenings , particularly when takes place the impressive unleashing horde of bats to rout the bloodsuckers , though developed in mediocre special effects . This is a Hammer Productions movie though not part of Dracula series , this is also one of their most interesting of the period . The Hammer pictures were decried at the time for being too bloody , but compared to the terror films of the 2000s , they are practically G-rated. Well produced by Anthony Hinds who used the pseudonym John Elder fot his screenplay . Gorgeous and brillant cinematography by Alan Hume, providing some skillfully colour camerawork . Thrilling and terrifying musical score by James Bernard , Hammer's regular .
The motion picture was compellingly directed by Don Sharp who makes of it pretty eerie and chilly . He became a director in the mid-1950s and turned out some low- and medium-budget musicals , such as the Tommy Steele vehicle It's All Happening (1963) . In the mid-1960s he was hired by horror specialist Hammer Films and turned out some well-received horror movies , including this Kiss of the vampire (1963), his first for Hammer . He worked on a few films as second-unit director , before returning to directing again, and turned out a string of thrillers (39 steps , Hennessy , Our Man in Marrakesh , Callan , Brides of Fumanchu , Return of Fumanchu) and made all kinds of genres , such as Adventures (Four Feathers , Devil-ship pirates, Jules Verne's Rocket to the moon), terror (What Waits Below , Psychomania ,Taste of Excitement , Rasputin, Dark Places, Return of the fly) , Wartime (Bear Island) and comedies (Two guys abroad , It's All Happening ) . Towards the end of his career he worked in television on mini-series or popular TV series (Act of Will , Hammer House of Horror , Avengers , Tusitala , QED) . Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average .