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:

Carmilla is really queen of lesbian vampires!

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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

Peter Cushing was cast at a late stage.

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Goofs

When Ingrid Pitt is lying in the coffin at the end of the film, she is wearing a nightgown with smooth fabric on the chest and stomach. As she gets Staked, the fabric is pleated.

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Quotes

Baron Joachim von Hartog: They were all evil and remain evil after death.

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Connections

Referenced in 100 Greatest Sexy Moments (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Mazurka"
(uncredited)
Music by Léo Delibes
Arranged by Harry Robertson

User Reviews

A Hammer Classic

This film gets a lot of ribbing for the casual nudity that bedecks it. Not fair. This film is in many ways another Hammer classic with its good solid acting, its lush photography and costuming, and general sense of horror. It is based in part on Sheridan Le Fanu's classic female vampire story Carmilla about a young girl that befriends other young girls only to vampirize them. Ingrid Pitt plays the toothy(and toothsome) vampire wench in all her busty splendour. She is magnificent on the screen and oozes sex appeal. Yes, she goes topless as do her female co-stars....but although one sees that these scenes feel forced...they do not detract from the film(and for me they enhanced it greatly). The rest of the cast is good with Peter Cushing as a general in a small role and Harvey Hall as a servant standing out. The best part of the film for me is the eerie graveyard of the Castle Karnstein that we are introduced to in the prologue and again visited to in the epilogue. It really sets the mood of the story and was a pretty inspired rendition of the Carmilla tale.