The Vampire Lovers (1970)

Seductive vampire Carmilla Karnstein and her family target the beautiful and the rich in a remote area of late eighteenth-century Gemany.

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Writers:

Sheridan Le Fanu (story "Carmilla") (as J. Sheridan Le Fanu), Harry Fine (adaptation)

Stars:

Ingrid Pitt, Pippa Steel, Madeline Smith

Cast

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

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:

bathtub | female full frontal nudity | female pubic hair | female rear nudity | towel | 

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Taglines:

Beautiful temptress ...... or Bloodthirsty monster?

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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 Films, 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, only 10 months younger than Eaton, was eventually cast.

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Goofs

If this movie takes place in 1790, then how could there be a motor? The automobile was not invented until the mid-late 1880's.

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was cut by the BBFC to reduce the opening decapitation and shots of Carmilla kissing Emma's breasts, and the same print was featured on video releases. The 2002 ILC DVD saw the cuts fully waived though the print used was an edited US one which missed a brief full frontal shot of Carmilla in a bathtub scene. The 2006 Optimum DVD featured the fully uncut and complete print.

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Connections

Referenced in Fleshpot on 42nd Street (1973)

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Soundtracks

Ach du Liebe Augustin
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by Philip Martell

User Reviews

The last good Hammer movie?

Certainly a movie one would use the word "good" for rather than "great", but this movie does contain flashes of the unique attributes that made Hammer such a winner in the first place but which had been largely forgotten by the company in its rush to replicate the success of "One Million Years B.C." with cheap imitations. Ingrid Pitt is probably the film's greatest asset, along with the very well done sets and art design in general.

Pitt plays a vampire lesbian who uses various forms of deception to seduce the daughters of England's upper crust. She comes off great in the role of seductress and is just barely convincing enough as the "innocent" her character pretends to be.

Cushing makes only 2 brief appearances, not making much of an impression (but he's given very little to work with here in a role that just about anyone could have played).

Memorable, not as good as Hammer's best vampire film "Dracula" (aka "Horror of Dracula", US) but definately one of its better, if not its best, films of the 70s.