The Vampire Lovers

It really wouldn't be the Halloween season around here without watching one Hammer film.

This more came about because I just read Carmilla, the vampire book before Dracula and this is actually a pretty damn good adaptation of that story all things considered and it's been a good few years since last I saw it. The story is kind of a mix of perspectives revolving around a young woman named Mircalla who houses with two aristocratic families when illness and death starts looming around the land, and oh wouldn't you know it mysterious blood stained marks start appearing near necks. They clearly read the source material and crafted the movie around it, this was a joint production between Hammer and AIP of Roger Corman fame, and was made during the Hammer horror's last leg in the 70s where they definitely were upping the violence and the sex. Moreso the sex here with a lot more than just ample cleavage on display and at least an undercurrent of lesbianism, though personally I feel both in the book and the film it's not really that deep and hey man you don't form romantic attachments to your food. But the violence still packs a punch with decapitations, throats ripped out, and that classic red blood we love so much. Ingrid Pitt is our star and I find her performance so interesting in this, cause she can play this cunniving seductress but there's flashes of this almost regret and dismay at her vampiric nature that you really never see in these types of movies. I know, she's absurdly beautiful and that's typically what people remark on but I feel she did very well with this material and did capture the spirit of the Carmilla from the book, and even I'll admit the voice...it does a lot for me more than I dare to admit. Moving swiftly on to our dear Peter, huzzah! Now this took me for a loop when I first watched this cause I fully believed Peter would be playing a somewhat close approximation of Van Helsing who slowly but surely pieces the puzzle together and starts sharpening those stakes, but he's more of a minor character after a certain point as a general who loses his niece to the bosom biting beast but gets his glory kill near the end, and there will never be a day where I don't take such happiness and enjoyment from his performances. Pippa Steele and Madeline Smith play our young flowering victims Laura and Emma respectively, and once again was thrown for a loop cause I thought Pippa would be our main girl throughout but they pull a Hitchcock on us and Madeline is the next mortal doomed to die, and nothing but credit where credit is due. They really do just breathe light and innocence and both have very good chemistry with Ingrid where they do toe this line of friends but maybe edging towards something more, and as always I have nothing but the utmost respect for them doing nude scenes. I couldn't do it, and from the tales I heard both the director and Ingrid were very polite and accomodating to ease their co-stars apprehension which is nice to hear. Also I just have to shoutout Kate O'Mara, my love my beautiful queen it may have been a small part but I loved every last second of it. Production wise it is exactly what you would expect from Hammer, period costuming, bleak towns, castles, fog filled graveyards, dense forests, proving even in an age where they had to up the ante to compete with other modern horror films of the time they never forgot their gothic roots. Nice camera placements and interesting shots from time to time, subtle but effective makeup, good use of color throughout, it's another rock solid film in their catalogue. I have no doubt it has it's fans even if it's not often spoken in the same breath as The Mummy, Dracula Has Risen From The Grave, or Curse Of Frankenstein but if you're any fan of Hammer or just horror films of the very late 60s or early 70s I think you'll dig it! I give it 3 stars, 7.5/10, and we're jumping ahead to the new millenium next time.