The Vampire Lovers (1970)

Seductive vampire Carmilla Karnstein and her family target the beautiful and the rich a remote area of late 18th century Gemany.

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Sheridan Le Fanu (story), Harry Fine (adaptation),

Stars:

Ingrid Pitt, George Cole, Kate O'Mara

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ingrid Pitt	...	Marcilla / Carmilla / Mircalla Karnstein
George Cole	...	Roger Morton
Kate O'Mara	...	The Governess (Mme. Perrodot)
Peter Cushing	...	General von Spielsdorf
Ferdy Mayne	...	Doctor
Douglas Wilmer	...	Baron Joachim von Hartog
Madeline Smith	...	Emma Morton
Dawn Addams	...	The Countess
Jon Finch	...	Carl Ebhardt
Pippa Steel	...	Laura (as Pippa Steele)
Kirsten Lindholm	...	1st Vampire (as Kirsten Betts)
Janet Key	...	Gretchin
Harvey Hall	...	Renton
John Forbes-Robertson	...	Man in Black
Charles Farrell	...	Landlord

Storyline

The Countess is called away to tend a sick friend and imposes on the General to accept her daughter Marcilla as a houseguest. Some of the villagers begin dying, however, and the General's daughter Laura soon gets weak and pale, but Marcilla is there to comfort her. The villagers begin whispering about vampires as Marcilla finds another family on which to impose herself. The pattern repeats as Emma gets ill, but the General cannot rest, and seeks the advice of Baron Hartog, who once dealt a decisive blow against a family of vampires. Well, almost.

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Plot Keywords:

vampire | general | daughter | villager | female vampire | 

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Taglines:

If you dare... taste the deadly passion of the BLOOD-NYMPHS

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English German

Release Date:

22 October 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vampyren - en erotisk mardröm

Filming Locations:

Associated British Picture Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP), Hammer Film Productions, Fantale Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Carreras rejected a suggestion that Bond girl Shirley Eaton play the lead on the grounds that she was too old. Ingrid Pitt, actually older than Eaton, was eventually cast.

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Goofs

The story is set in the late 1700s, but at the General's ball the orchestra plays a couple of pieces by Johann Strauss (1804 - 1849) and Delibes (1836-1891).

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Quotes

Marcilla: You mustn't let your imagination get the best of you.
Emma Morton: I'm sorry.
Marcilla: You sleep well now.
Emma Morton: I'll try.
Marcilla: Good.

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Connections

Referenced in The Perfect Scary Movie (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Voices of Spring"
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Strauß
Arranged by Harry Robertson

User Reviews

More British Vampire Erotica

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.