Les Passions des vampires

Hammer Studios speeds up to the more sexually explicit times with Vampire Lovers, a sleek, beautifully filmed atmospheric filming of the vampire tale Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. This wonderfully done film combines the traditional vampire legend with the more permissive sexual standards of the 70's resulting in a sensual yet frightening version of this well crafted story. Ingrid Pitt is breathtakingly beautiful & sensual as the main character Carmilla. She is the human embodiment of a sexually charged feline, and Peter Cushing is appropriately sincere as her nemesis The General. This film singlehandedly established Ingrid Pitt as the reigning queen of vampirism in the 70's. Vampire Lovers is well worth the time for a viewing.

RELEASED IN 1970 and directed by Roy Ward Baker, "The Vampire Lovers" is a Hammer horror based on Irish novelist Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla," which was published in 1872 and predated Bram Stoker's "Dracula" by 25 years. The story concerns a family of vampires, the Karnsteins, who prey on people in Austria by finding an excuse to leave their daughter at a rich manor. She then proceeds to patiently seduce the nubile woman of the abode as she drinks the blood of local peasant lassies and whomever else.

The main antagonist, Carmilla/Marcilla Karnstein, is played by Ingrid Pitt, who's effective, but a little too long-in-the-tooth for the role. While she prefers to prey on wealthy nubile girls and there are overt Sapphic undertones, she's just as willing to suck the blood of dudes when it suits her diabolic purposes. Her pretense of passionate romantic love is just that as she's intrinsically evil and referred to as a "devil" elsewhere in the movie. Make no mistake, she's solely out to find and feed off victims.

While vampires are fantastical, Carmilla is figurative of evil women who purpose to seduce or convert people and destroy them. This IS real life and I've seen it happen several times. The tale isn't for immature audiences because it's too convoluted, dramatic, weighty and mature. I saw it 15 years ago and wasn't impressed but, seeing it again, I now grasp it and it's virtually revelatory.

The female cast is superb, rounded out by: Madeline Smith (Emma), Pippa Steel (Laura), Kate O'Mara (The Governess, aka Mme. Perrodot), Janet Key (Gretchin, the maid), Kirsten Lindholm (the blonde vampire in the opening; also shown later), Olga James (Village Girl), Joanna Shelley (Woodman's Daughter) and Dawn Addams (The Countess/Karnstein matriarch). There's a little bit of tasteful top nudity and Pitt is shown totally nude on two occasions in a classy manner. She's a beautiful woman, for sure, but she doesn't trip my trigger.

As far as the male cast goes, Peter Cushing has a side role and Jon Finch is on hand as the gallant hunk. There are others.

FYI: "The Vampire Lovers" is the first part of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy, which includes the quasi-sequel "Lust for a Vampire" (1971) and the prequel "Twins of Evil" (1971).

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 31 minutes and was shot in Hertfordshire, England.

GRADE: B+/B

Seeing the upper nudity in a Hammer film came as a small surprise, since all the other Hammer movies I had seen are the edited versions on American TV. Mind you, I'm NOT complaining about getting to view the breasts of Ingrid Pitt.

VAMPIRE LOVERS is pretty typical of Hammer's other erotic horror movies, and as such, is pretty good. It's not real scary despite a few sudden scenes, but generates enough atmosphere to be worthwhile. It was also strange to finally see Peter Cushing playing a vampire killer who's NOT Dr. Van Helsing.

As I understand it, there are other films in this series (all of which were based on the historically evil woman Carmella, rumored to have bathed in the blood of her victims because she thought it would keep her young), which might explain why at least one character (a villainous male vampire) is never destroyed. In fact, he's never really explained.

My only complaint is some of the young actresses, though pretty and willing to show some skin, all look alike. There faces are similar, as are their bodies. Minor complaint though.

As a million other people have noted, this is not only a solid entry in the long-running Hammer vampire cycle, but an interesting piece of film history as well. Just as the original Hammer Dracula pushed the boundaries of censorship and cinema by confronting audiences with the very first color vampire film, The Vampire Lovers brought Hammer into the even looser censorship standards of the 70s with lots of nudity, including nearly full frontal, and unflinching lesbianism. Lesbianism and all, the film is a somewhat faithful adaptation of Le Fanu's novella, Camilla. Surely, that content is the main reason Hammer adapted the story to begin with.

The cast is solid, and we are treated to the incomparable Peter Cushing in a secondary, though pivotal, role of an uncle grieving the loss of his niece from a mysterious illness. The pacing never bogs down, and there are some nifty shots of fog swirling through graveyards and around castle foundations.

Where would the horror field be if it weren't for the legendary Hammer Studios? With their constant creativity and new variations on the general topic of vampirism they delivered some of the most important genre-films ever. Roy Ward Baker's film the Vampire Lovers is one of the most essential movies Hammer ever released and it meant a landmark turning point for the sub-genre of bloodsuckers. Due to THIS film, vampirism afterwards always got immediately associated with eroticism and lust. The Vampire Lovers influenced notorious directors like Jess Franco (Vampyros Lesbos, Les Avaleuses) or Jean Rollin (Lips of Blood, The Living Dead Girl) who practically made an entire career out of lesbian vampire movies. But this is the real thing! A stunning screenplay, based on a classic tale by Sheridan Le Fanu, solid acting performances and an atmospheric – almost dreamlike – photography. Ingrid Pitt plays the best, most memorable role of her career as the gypsy vampire Carmilla. Her sensual character seduces attractive young girls at the homes of prominent men where she's at guest and turns them into weak, lifeless slaves. The worried men have to uncover the origin of this vampire wench in order to destroy her forever.

'The Vampire Lovers' offers a nearly perfect combination of atmosphere, beauty and tension. Mostly thanks to the female cast led by Ingrid Pitt, this is the most bewitching horror tale Hammer ever told. The ravishing naked bodies of Pitt, Madeline Smith (Theathre of Blood) and Kate O'Mara (Horror of Frankenstein) will give this film a spot in your memory forevermore. And that's not a sexist remark; it just needs to be said. Other than the charismatic female appearances, this production also depends a lot on the eerie set pieces and the nightmarishly dark images of graveyards, ruins and castles. Overall, a splendid horror film and a must see for all fans of Hammer, vampirism or gorgeous beauties.