User Reviews

If the past Hammer films seem bloody but chaste to you, by 1970 these films made the leap to the Karnestein Trilogy, replete nudity, sex and lesbianism. Offshoots - outright rip-offs is too mean - of the story of Carmilla, blame American-International Pictures, who wanted more explicit content to take advantage of the relaxed morals of the time.

We start in Styria, where a gorgeous blonde in just a nightgown (Kristen Lindholm, who is in all three of the trilogy) shows up in a graveyard where she's decapitated by Baron Hartog (Douglas Wilmer, Nayland Smith in the British Fu Manchu movies), a vampire destroying man out to kill every bloodsucker for what they did to his sister.

Years later, Marcilla (Ingrid Pitt!) comes to stay in the home of distant relative General Spielsdor (Peter Cushing). She soon causes nightmares for his niece Laura (Pippa Steel, who sadly died from cancer way too young at 44) and a gradual illness that claims her life.

Now known as Carmilla, Pitt continues seducing women like Madeline Smith from Theatre of Blood and sucking blood directly from their hearts. She's helped by Governess Mademoiselle Perrodot (Kate O'Mara, who played Joan Collins' sister on Dynasty, which is casting I approve of) and kills everyone who suspects them as an unexplained man in black watches.

Finally, the General and Baron trap her in her castle and lop off her head, because all this murder - and probably the fact that she was stealing so many wives - is too much for them to take. That's when they learn that her true name is Countess Mircalla Karnstein and the portrait on the wall is no longer a gorgeous woman, but a fanged skull.

Look for vampire actor Ferdy Mayne as a doctor. He played Count von Krolock in The Fearless Vampire Killers, Dracula in Freddie Francis' The Vampire Happening and, of course, God in Night Train to Terror.

This film - that dares you to taste the deadly passion of the blood-nymphs - was directed by Roy Ward Baker, who Scars of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde, Asylum, The Vault of Horror and The Monster Club.

"Vampire Lovers" obviously broke some new territory in terms of eroticism and lesbian story elements, and I would say that it was very well acted (especially by Pittman), quite steamy in spots...and that the director and screenwriter deserved a lot of credit for trying something new.

But, and this is a big but, after the gruesome and compelling opening scene, the movie slowed to a crawl.The screenplay just sat there, for long, long minutes, building atmosphere but not having anything overly interesting actually happen.

And then there was a flurry of activity, and then...the same situation and setup repeated, almost note for note, for ANOTHER 20 minutes. Only this time Peter Cushing was out of the story. Even going through the motions in a character he's played many times, Cushing managed to light up a scene whenever he was on camera. With him gone the remaining cast, although filled with hardworking journeyman actors, simply couldn't keep things focused.

Well, there was the whole lesbian vampire/"viper in the bosom" thing unfolding, but I'm way past the point in my life where boobs get me excited.

And then in the last 15 minutes, every thing happened at once; Cushing and the rest of the "men heroes" charged to the rescue, and all was set right with the world. The payoff was...ALMOST...worth the wait.

It sounds as if I thought the movie sucked. I don't. There are lots of things right with the movie. Pittman's character seemed to be capable of some complex, bittersweet emotions and wasn't just a simple predator, and I liked that. A vampire movie that didn't overuse the Dracula character was a nice change of pace - it's as if this was actually a Dracula "side story" that fleshed out part of the Hammer canon, and I liked that, too.

But for me, the movie dragged in too many spots for too long to really be considered one the first rank of Hammer films. Just my opinion, for what it's worth.

Excellent production values highlight this slow-moving Gothic horror yarn from Hammer in which all of the action is confined to the beginning and end of the movie. The middle part consists of lots of atmosphere building sequences which can feel laboured and do drag a little life from the film. It's the slow-paced nature of the tale which stops it from being a total Hammer classic, although it's still very good. It reminds me of Hammer's Dracula, which is also a slow moving tale as both films dwell on victims gradually falling weaker as they're preyed on by the vampire menace.

On the plus side, the film contains lots of the same ethereal atmosphere (with scenes of nightdress-clad beauties wandering through mist-enshrouded countryside at night) as the films of French auteur Jean Rollin, and is very suspenseful and thrilling when it needs to be. It's just a shame that so much time is taken up with non-action as most of the leading men leave the film for the middle duration and the resulting women seduce and are victimised by each other. What we're left with are numerous scenes of Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith being naked which do get a little repetitive despite the premise.

The film benefits from an extremely strong cast of British character actors. George Cole (taking a break from his usual comedy genre) stars as Roger Morton, whose beautiful daughter Emma (played by Madeline Smith, a regular young British beauty from the period) is seduced and preyed upon by the voluptuous Carmilla. Ingrid Pitt takes the lead in her first Hammer Horror appearance and makes for an unforgettably sexy vampiress, although she's romantic rather than scary. Kate O'Mara has a supporting role as a French governess although her role is limited and extraneous.

Genre fans will be pleased to hear that Peter Cushing also has a small role in the film, and it is he who gets to confront Ingrid Pitt in explicitly gory scenes at the end of the film which make up for the non-action preceding those scenes. Despite playing a much different character, you can't help but see a flash of Van Helsing as Cushing does his duty. Cushing's authoritative performance is a highlight of the film. Supporting actors include Ferdy Mayne as the unfortunate family doctor, Douglas Wilmer as Baron von Hartog, an expert vampire killer who beheads his own sister in a gruesome opening scene, Dawn Addams as the briefly-seen Countess (her character unexplained and mysterious) and a very young-looking Jon Finch as the handsome young male lead. The familiar faces of Pippa Steele (who, despite dying, returns in the sequel) and John Forbes-Robertson (as the sinister "Man in Black" he is no less laughable here than his camped-up turn as Dracula in LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES) appear in minor roles, while Harvey Hall puts in an excellent turn as the loyal manservant Renton.

The film's strength is in playing it all totally seriously, even the so-called "erotic sequences", with none of the tacky cheesiness which overwhelmed the sequel, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. The film concentrates on the sex rather than the horror aspects with plenty of lesbian tension and Pitt wandering around in a low-cut dress for the entire course of the film. The violence, on the other hand, is limited to a couple of decapitations and some splashes of blood - admittedly colourful. The music is lyrical yet understated, the costumes immaculate and the ladies quite simply gorgeous. THE VAMPIRE LOVERS is a watchable Hammer film which is a must-see for fans, yet by not including any of the trademark excitement or style that another director would have brought to the movie it just misses 'total classic' status. I'm surprised to admit it, but Roy Ward Baker's journeyman direction is merely perfunctory.

... and great example how fun their much-criticized 1970's output really is. Untypically classy for 1970's sexy-lesbian-vampiress-story, probably because it is made with Hammer's old-fashioned British restraint, this little film actually works brilliantly. It has lovely 19th century sets and scenery, completed with wonderful misty graveyards and Gothic castles, beautiful color photography and lot of lush, romantic atmosphere. Like Hammer's Hands of the ripper, this film has a pretty, somewhat tragic female monster in 19th century home - storyline I feel is very fascinating. Sheridan LeFanu's plot is followed pretty faithfully, but for example film's young and beautiful governess, hopelessly smitten with Carmilla who prefers heroine Emma, was fat middle-aged lady in the original story, without any sexual/romantic interest to vampire lady.

"The Vampire Lovers" is an original Hammer movie because it has a very much present lesbian undertone and storyline. But is the movie itself much good? Not always. It's a pretty uneven movie with some nice elements in it but overall it leaves too many loose ends and its story drags too much at some points, which all doesn't make this movie the most pleasant of the Hammer movies to watch.

The movie is fairly slow and never really finds the right pace. Even though the movie is just 91 minutes short, it feels much longer. There simply happens to little exciting or interesting enough in the story.

But main problem I had with this movie was that it lacked a real main character. There isn't really a 'hero' present in the movie and the movie keeps switching between different characters, which makes it uneasy for us the viewer to really feel for any of the characters. It also doesn't make the movie exactly a terribly exciting one to watch.

It was pretty nice to see Peter Cushing going Van Helsing-style again toward the ending of the movie but still his presence in the movie makes a pointless impression. Also a totally pointless impression made John Forbes-Robertson as the 'Man in Black'. The presence of his character and his purpose is never explained in the movie. I suppose that his character was supposed to be Count Dracula? We shall perhaps never know...

The movie does have some nice elements in it and some good movie-tricks and little story-twists at times, so the movie is not a complete bore or disaster to watch. The way of storytelling might perhaps be not the best but still the story is one of the things which makes this movie good and original enough to still watch it.

5/10

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