The Vampire Lovers

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The Vampire Lovers
Vampire lovers231.jpg
American Theatrical release poster
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Screenplay by Tudor Gates
Based on Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Adaptation byHarry Fine
Tudor Gates
Michael Style
Produced byMichael Style
Harry Fine
Starring Ingrid Pitt
George Cole
Kate O'Mara
Peter Cushing
Dawn Addams
Douglas Wilmer
Cinematography Moray Grant
Edited by James Needs
Music by Harry Robertson
Production
companies
Distributed by MGM-EMI Distributors (U.K.)
American International Pictures (U.S.)
Release date
4 October 1970
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£165,227 [1]

The Vampire Lovers is a 1970 British Gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, George Cole, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams, Douglas Wilmer and Jon Finch. It was produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is based on the 1872 Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla and is the first film in the Karnstein Trilogy, the other two films being Lust for a Vampire (1971) and Twins of Evil (1971). The three films were somewhat daring for the time in explicitly depicting lesbian themes.

Contents

Plot

In Styria, 1794, a female vampire in a diaphanous gown materialises from a misty graveyard and kills a man she lures out of a tavern. While going back to her grave, she finds her shroud missing. She is thus forced to face Baron Hartog, a vampire hunter who was stalking her in order to avenge the death of his sister. He decapitates her.

Decades later, Austrian General Spielsdorf is throwing a ball in his estate to celebrate the birthday of his niece, Laura. A countess, who has recently moved into the general's neighbouring property, is in attendance with her daughter Marcilla. After talking with a mysterious man in black, the countess tells the general she has to go visit a sick relative and asks him to care for Marcilla in her absence. Despite Marcilla's strange demeanour, Laura befriends her. Marcilla seems to be sexually attracted to her new friend. Laura starts experiencing violent nightmares where she is attacked by a giant cat, then dies of a gradual anemia. On her breasts, two puncture wounds are discovered. Marcilla disappears, and General Spielsdorf leaves to find Baron Hartog.

Drive-in advertisement from 1970 Belair Drive-in Ad - 24 November 1970, Fontana, CA.jpg
Drive-in advertisement from 1970

Marcilla, now going by the alias "Carmilla", is reunited with the countess. They stage a carriage breakdown near the residence of Mr. Morton, a wealthy Englishman living in Styria and a friend of the general's. Once again, the countess manipulates Mr. Morton into offering hospitality to her alleged relative (this time introduced as her niece). Carmilla later attempts to seduce Morton's daughter Emma, who resists her more romantic overtures. Emma also falls ill and starts suffering from nightmares of the giant cat, while her breasts show the same wounds as Laura. After Emma's father has to go to Vienna on a business trip, Emma's governess, Mademoiselle Perrodot, is seduced by Carmilla and becomes her accomplice after sleeping with her. Meanwhile, Carmilla has started feeding on people from the nearby village, causing several mysterious deaths where the corpses are drained of all blood.

Morton's butler, Renton, learns about local vampire superstitions and enlists the help of the doctor who had already treated Laura. They use garlic flowers and crucifixes to ward Emma, who is now dying. Carmilla kills the doctor on the road. She then seduces and subjugates Renton, who was under the impression the only real vampire was Mademoiselle Perrodot. With Renton under her control, Carmilla manages to have the wards removed. Knowing she has been found out, she dispatches Renton, with the intention of retreating into her grave and taking Emma with her as her lover.

Morton, who was called home by Renton, meets General Spielsdorf and Baron Hartog, who were on their way to the ruins of Karnstein Castle, along with Laura's fiancé Carl. Hartog reveals the Karnsteins were a family of vampires from the 16th century. In his youth, he managed to destroy nearly all of them, starting with the female vampire who had killed his sister. However, he could not find the grave of Mircalla Karnstein. Looking at her portrait in the castle hall, Spielsdorf and Morton realise she is the same girl they separately know as Marcilla and Carmilla. Carl makes haste and rides back to Morton's to rescue Emma.

As Mircalla prepares to leave with Emma, Mademoiselle Perrodot begs to be taken with her. Mircalla kills and drains her instead. Carl arrives and chases Mircalla away using a poignard as a cross. Mircalla dematerialises and flees to Karnstein Castle, where the Baron and the others await for her return. Once located in her resting coffin, General Spielsdorf drives a stake into Carmilla's heart and cuts off her head, thus avenging his daughter's death. Emma is freed of the vampire's sickness and influence. Meanwhile, the image of Mircalla in her portrait on the wall turns into a fanged skeleton.

A mysterious man in black watches all these events unfold from a distance, occasionally laughing with contempt.

Cast

Production

The film was a co-production between Hammer and American International Pictures, who were interested in a vampire movie with more explicit sexual content to take advantage of a more relaxed censorship environment. It was decided to adapt Carmilla. [2] Harry Fine and Michael Style were the two producers. They formed a company, Fantale, along with writer Tudor Gates. [3]

Harry Fine's wife knew Nat Cohen who introduced them to James Carreras. Fine suggested they film Carmilla. Tudor Gates said Carreras was enthusiastic and he sold it "instantly" to AIP based on the poster. [4]

Before production, the script of The Vampire Lovers was sent to the chief censor John Trevelyan, who warned the studio about depictions of lesbianism, pointing out that a previous lesbian film, The Killing of Sister George , had had five minutes excised by his office. In response, Hammer replied that the lesbianism was not of their doing, but was present in the original story by Le Fanu. Trevelyan backed down as a result. [5]

Production of The Vampire Lovers began at Elstree Studios on 19 January 1970 and used locations in the grounds of Moor Park Mansion, Hertfordshire (standing in for Styria, Central Europe). Produced on a relatively low budget of £165,227, [6] it was the final Hammer film to be financed with American money—most of the later films were backed by Rank or EMI. Gates thought AIP gave Hammer $400,000 so "Jimmy had change left over". He said Fantale, his company with Fine and Styles, had a 25% profit stake (which was very lucrative.) [7]

While filming the scene in which Carmilla attacks Madame Perrodot, Ingrid Pitt's fangs kept falling out of her mouth and dropping into Kate O'Mara's cleavage, prompting gales of uncontrollable laughter from both actresses. Finally, Pitt grabbed some chewing gum from the mouth of one of the crew members and used it to secure her fangs. [8] [ self-published source ]

Critical reception

The Vampire Lovers has received mixed reception from critics. Variety 's review of the film was mixed, claiming the story was not great and it had "fairly flat dialog", but the script had "all the needed ingredients". [9] A. H. Weiler of The New York Times called it "a departure from the hackneyed bloody norm... professionally directed, opulently staged and sexy to boot". [10] The Monthly Film Bulletin declared, "Rather below par, even by recent Hammer standards, this involves the customary heavy breathing, lusty fangs and tolerably luxurious sets, with the innovation of an exposed nipple or two to support the lesbian angle." [11]

Dave Kehr wrote a favourable retrospective review for Chicago Reader , writing that the film "resulted from the last significant surge of creative energy at Britain's Hammer Films, which thereafter descended into abject self-parody". [12] Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a passing grade of two-and-a-half, calling it a "rather erotic Hammer chiller". [13]

Allmovie wrote, "This Hammer Films production isn't their finest moment but its easy to understand why it has become an enduring cult favorite with horror fans: The Vampire Lovers pushes the "bloodshed & bosoms" formula of the Hammer hits to its limit". [14] On review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 76%, based on 20 reviews. [15]

Home media

The Vampire Lovers was released on 26 August 2003 on DVD by MGM Home Video (Fox Video) as a double-sided Midnite Movies Double Feature DVD consisting of both The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula (1971). [16] Scream Factory released the film on Blu-ray on 30 April 2013 [17] and a "Collector's Edition" was released with a new 4K scan of the original camera negative on 21 December 2021. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Carmilla</i> 1872 novel by Sheridan Le Fanu

Carmilla is an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 25 years. First published as a serial in The Dark Blue (1871–72), the story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla, later revealed to be Mircalla, Countess Karnstein. The character is a prototypical example of the lesbian vampire, expressing romantic desires toward the protagonist. The story is often anthologised, and has been adapted many times in film and other media.

Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classic horror characters such as Baron Victor Frankenstein, Count Dracula, and the Mummy, which Hammer reintroduced to audiences by filming them in vivid colour for the first time. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, as well as, in later years, television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate O'Mara</span> English actress (1939–2014)

Kate O'Mara was an English film, stage and television actress, and writer. O'Mara made her stage debut in a 1963 production of The Merchant of Venice. Her other stage roles included Elvira in Blithe Spirit (1974), Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (1982), Cleopatra in Antony & Cleopatra (1982), Goneril in King Lear (1987) and Marlene Dietrich in Lunch with Marlene (2008).

Dr Terrible's House of Horrible is a satirical British comedy horror anthology series created by Graham Duff, who co-wrote the series with Steve Coogan. BBC Two broadcast the series in 2001. The title parodies Amicus Productions' anthology film Dr Terror's House of Horrors (1965). Coogan presents each episode as Dr. Terrible, and plays various roles throughout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingrid Pitt</span> Polish-British actress (1937–2010)

Ingrid Pitt was a Polish-British actress and writer, best known for her work in horror films of the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampire film</span> Film genre

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesbian vampire</span> Literary trope

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The Karnstein Trilogy is a series of vampire films produced by Hammer Films. They are notable at the time for their daring lesbian storylines. All three films were scripted by Tudor Gates. They are related by vampires of the noble Karnstein family, and their seat Castle Karnstein near the town of Karnstein in Styria, Austria.

<i>Countess Dracula</i> 1971 British horror film by Peter Sasdy

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Yutte Stensgaard is a Danish actress born in Thisted, Jutland, Denmark, best known for her starring role in Hammer's Lust for a Vampire (1971).

<i>Lust for a Vampire</i> 1971 British film by Jimmy Sangster

Lust for a Vampire, also known as Love for a Vampire or To Love a Vampire, is a 1971 British Hammer Horror film directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Ralph Bates, Barbara Jefford, Suzanna Leigh, Michael Johnson, and Yutte Stensgaard. It was given an R rating in the United States for some violence, gore, strong adult content and nudity. It is the second film in the Karnstein Trilogy, loosely based on the 1872 Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla. It was preceded by The Vampire Lovers (1970) and followed by Twins of Evil (1971). The three films do not form a chronological development, but use the Karnstein family as the source of the vampiric threat and were somewhat daring for the time in explicitly depicting lesbian themes.

<i>Twins of Evil</i> 1971 British horror film directed by John Hough

Twins of Evil is a 1971 British horror film directed by John Hough and starring Peter Cushing, with Damien Thomas and the real-life identical twins and former Playboy Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson.

<i>Hands of the Ripper</i> 1971 film

Hands of the Ripper is a 1971 British horror film, directed by Peter Sasdy for Hammer Film Productions. It was written by L. W. Davidson from a story by Edward Spencer Shew, and produced by Aida Young. The film was released in the U.S. as a double feature with Twins of Evil.

<i>Blood and Roses</i> 1960 film

Blood and Roses is a 1960 erotic horror film directed by Roger Vadim. It is based on the novella Carmilla (1872) by Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu, shifting the book's setting in 19th-century Styria to the film's 20th-century Italy.

<i>Beyond the Rave</i> 2008 British film

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<i>Lesbian Vampire Killers</i> 2009 film by Phil Claydon

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natasha Negovanlis</span> Canadian actress and writer

Natasha Negovanlis is a Canadian actress, writer, producer, and singer. She achieved international recognition for portraying Carmilla Karnstein in the web series Carmilla (2014–2016) and in the 2017 feature film based on the series.

<i>Carmilla</i> (web series) Canadian web series

Carmilla is a Canadian single-frame web series co-created by Jordan Hall, Steph Ouaknine, and Jay Bennett. The series stars Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis, and is loosely based on the novella of the same name by Sheridan Le Fanu. The series premiered on the Vervegirl YouTube channel on August 19, 2014. U by Kotex is the executive producer of the web series. The series takes place at the fictional Silas University in Styria, Austria, and is told through vlogs recorded by Laura, a first-year student. When Laura begins investigating the disappearance of her roommate, she is assigned a new roommate named Carmilla.

<i>The Unwanted</i> 2014 film by Bret Wood

The Unwanted is a 2014 American thriller film written and directed by Bret Wood. It is based on the novel Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu but was transposed from a Gothic tale set in Austria to a Southern Gothic setting. It stars Christen Orr in the title role, a woman who comes to a small town in the Southern US to investigate the mother she never knew. Along the way, she meets Laura and her father Troy, locals who may know something about her mother. It premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival on March 31, 2014, and Kino International released it on DVD on July 14, 2015.

<i>The Carmilla Movie</i> 2017 Canadian film

The Carmilla Movie is a 2017 Canadian comedy horror film directed by Spencer Maybee, based on the web series of the same name (2014–2016). Both the film and the web series were adapted from the 1872 gothic novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. The film received a limited release in Canada on October 26, 2017.

References

  1. ↑ Hearn, Marcus; Barnes, Alan (25 September 2007). The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films[The Hammer Story] (Limited ed.). Titan Books. p. 137. ISBN   978-1845761851. OCLC   493684031.
  2. ↑ The Flesh and the Fury: X-posing Twins of Evil (2012) documentary
  3. ↑ Swires, Steve (1992). "Fall of the House of Hammer". Fangoria. p. 55.
  4. ↑ "Tudor Gates Side 4". British Entertainment History Project. 2004.
  5. ↑ McKay, Sinclair (25 May 2007). A Thing of Unspeakable Horror: The History of Hammer Films[The History of Hammer Films]. Aurum Press Ltd. p. 118. ISBN   978-1845132491. OCLC   718433615.
  6. ↑ Mayer, Geoff (2004). Roy Ward Baker. Manchester University Press. p. 160. ISBN   0-7190-6354-X.
  7. ↑ "Tudor Gates Side 5". British Entertainment History Project. 2004.
  8. ↑ Gullo, Christopher (2004). In All Sincerity, Peter Cushing. Bloomington IN: XLIBRIS. p. 205. ISBN   978-1413456103.
  9. ↑ "The Vampire Lovers". Variety : 23. 16 September 1970.
  10. ↑ Adam Bernstein, "Roy Ward Baker, 93," The Washington Post , 7 October 2010, URL accessed 11 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Vampire Lovers". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 37 (441): 208. October 1970.
  12. ↑ Dave Kehr (26 October 1985). "The Vampire Lovers". chicagoreader.com . Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  13. ↑ Leonard Maltin, ed., Leonard Maltin's 2002 Movie & Video Guide. A Signet Book, 2001, p. 1478.
  14. ↑ Donald Guarisco. "The Vampire Lovers – Review". Allmovie . Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  15. ↑ "The Vampire Lovers". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  16. ↑ Bill Gibron. "Countess Dracula / The Vampire Lovers". DVD Verdict. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
  17. ↑ "The Vampire Lovers". Scream Factory . Retrieved 30 April 2013.
  18. ↑ "The Vampire Lovers [Collector's Edition] - Blu-ray :: Shout! Factory". www.shoutfactory.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.

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