Based on Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's novella Carmilla, this film kicked off Hammer's Karnstein Trilogy, which included Lust for a Vampire and Twins of Evil. It's also one of the most faithful adaptation of the novella, complete with Carmilla's victims dreaming of a giant cat. Seriously.
The film opens in 19th century Styria, as Baron Hortog (Douglas Wilmer, Octopussy, Jason and the Argonauts, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad) is hunting his sister, who has become a vampire. He's successful, however, you know he didn't complete the job, as the movie jumps several years ahead at the party of General Spielsdorf (Peter FREAKING Cushing). A Countess (Dawn Addams, The Vault of Horror), who is attending the party, must leave suddenly to aid a sick friend, and asks the general if she might leave her daughter Marcilla (Ingrid FREAKING Pitt) in his care. The general is happy to be of assistance, and Marcilla becomes friends with his daughter, Laura (Pippa Steel, AKA Pippa Steele, Lust for a Vampire). Villagers start dying, as well as Laura, while Marcilla disappears.
Oh, I should mention the appearance of a mysterious vampire on horseback (credited as Man in Black), who shows up briefly. Well, that's all I'm going to say about him, as he doesn't really do much.
Anyway, the Countess meets Roger Morton (George Cole, Fright, Mary Reilly) after he comes across her broken-down carriage. She has to depart at all haste, asks Morton to watch her daughter (now named Carmilla), who promptly befriends and seduces his daughter Emma (Madeline Smith, Theater of Blood, Live and Let Die, Taste the Blood of Dracula)...
Yeah, you know where this is going. Vampire mayhem ensues, the General and the Baron get involved and all race to stop Carmilla from taking Emma and continuing the cycle.
Just lie back and relax.
And just ignore my teeth in your neck.
As you might expect from Hammer at the time, the film looks gorgeous. The sets and locations look perfect and the costumes are terrific. Director Roy Ward Baker (Quatermass and the Pit, The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires) keeps the film aligned with the Gothic look of Hammer films at the time. But he's no Terence Fisher, so the movie just looks fine and little more.
Hammer co-produced the film with American International, who was looking for more explicit films to bring in the audience. And my, did Hammer deliver, with several scenes featuring graphic (for the time) nudity. In the book Hammer Glamour, Smith remembers being told by producer Michael Style that the scenes were intended for the Japanese version, which obviously wasn't the case. She also claims that, at the time, she was so naive that she didn't know what a lesbian was and had no idea what was happening as the giant cat spread across her while she was in bed.
Pitt is wonderful as the vampire seductress. She's able to convey the right mix of tenderness and predatory actions that makes you wonder if she was planning to spend an undead life with Emma. Her performance, and her willingness to disrobe, made her the perfect choice for Hammer's Countess Dracula, which was release the following year.
And, as one would expect, Cushing steals the show whenever he's on screen. Though his role is limited to the start and the climax of the film, one can't imagine this movie being as well remembered without his presence.
Don't worry, I'm a professional.
I've done this in countless other films.
Smith is perfect as the wide eyed innocent unaware of the vampire in her bedroom, but her performance seems due to her naivety than any actual acting skill (for a much better performance by Smith, check out Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell). The rest of the cast is fine, but are dealing with rather bland characters who exist only to move the plot along. It's no fault of theirs, as the script gives them very little to work with, but they do their best.
I mentioned the giant cat twice now, so let's talk about it. It works in Le Fanu's story, because he doesn't have to show it. The film does convey the idea of a cat covering Carmilla's victims, but the cinematic results look more like an oversized fur coat pulled over them. I assume Hammer used it as a way to avoid having Pitt crawling into her victim's bed and causing further issues with the censors. And Hammer knew they were pushing the limits, as British Board of Film Censors' John Trevelyan had issues with the script, shown to him before production started. Fortunately, he backed off when the studio informed him the lesbianism was present in the original work, so what could they do, and the filmmakers using the cat imagery to keep the censors at bay.
As for the lesbianism in the film, I'm sure you can find countless other sources delving into the subject in more scholarly details. But one thing I found interesting is, in the film, Carmilla has no problem killing men, but they tend to be one bite stands (okay, that was bad, I won't do it again). As for the women in the film, including Emma's governess Mademoiselle Perrodot (Kate O'Mara), Carmilla's attention lingers, seducing and slowly draining them of blood. And while Perrodot is dispatched quickly as the film reaches its climax, I found myself wishing the filmmakers took a bit more time with Emma and Carmilla before they attempted to flee the Baron's house. Such a moment could have cemented the sense I got that Carmilla is bringing Emma with her out of love, rather than lust or revenge, and made for a bit more tragic ending.
Of course, the men have to end Carmilla's undead existence and restore the proper order to society. But again, that's only implied, as the men around Emma seem to be oblivious to the developing relationship between the two. Still, as with Le Fanu's novella, the subtext is there, whether you want to see it or not.
I have dreams about this moment.
And no, it's not a nightmare.
The last film produced by Hammer with US backers, The Vampire Lovers is, in a way, the start of the fabled studio's decline. The studio tried to recapture their audience, which had grown tired of Gothic horror, by bringing Dracula into 1970s London, mixing vampires with kung fu action, and ample amounts of female nudity. But those plans failed and in 1979, Hammer closed down for almost three decades. And even now, the studio is struggling to find a way to entice audiences into the theaters.
But if you enjoy watching Hammer's glory days, you should add The Vampire Lovers to your collection. Scream Factory delivers a gorgeous wide-screen transfer on a disc packed with lots of great extras, including Pitt reading Carmilla and an interview with Smith. Worth a purchase, even if you double dip as I did!
Well, I guess we all know how Hammer tried to sell this film!
If you'd like to buy The Vampire Lovers for your collection, click on the link below and I'll get a few cents from your purchase. I'm sorry to say, at this time, only the multi-region version is available through Amazon, and it's more expensive than the Region 1 Blu-Ray. If you want to rent the film instead, visit the second link below.
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