I've never been much on the classic "Frankenstein Meets the Werewolf" type movies, and therefore, I resisted Hammer Films. But one night I agreed to watch The Vampire Lovers. It was a choice born of desperation. Either that, or something like The Screaming Skull. Imagine my pleased surprise when it turned out that The Vampire Lovers was a genuinely entertaining film.
As we watched the film, I remembered how much I hated Sundays when I was young. Everyone of a certain age who was enslaved to network television knows how shitty Sunday TV is for kids. Sundays were for televised sports (and Kung Fu). But...occasionally, I'd luck out and come across some gem like Sinbad the Sailor or Godzilla or...70s vampire movies! I loved the costumes, the "period" ladies with their back-combed hair, thick eyeliner, fake eyelashes, the thinly veiled sexual innuendo, the heavy handed atmosphere, and of course the vampires. To this day, vampires are my favorite monsters. Because of those movies. Which turned out to be Hammer Films!
It's funny how we take for granted certain screen cliches that are done today as a joke, but at some point in film history were meant in earnest. For example: in Vampire Lovers, the butler visits the local pub. Peasant types all around are carousing, swilling beer, pinching the barmaids. A musician is treating the guests to Oktoberfest style accordion music. During a conversation with the owner, the butler mentions the word "vampire" and suddenly all conversation halts with a
SCREECH of the accordion! And that's a valid source of enjoyment while watching this movie. It's the best kind of camp: the earnest B movie. Forget all the "tongue in cheek" movies today that are so sly and referential. This is the real stuff. Watch actors "ride" horses in front of a screen as their hair blows artfully in the "wind"...see fog machines gone wild...hear ladies compete for the Scream Queen title! It's all here in abundance.
From what I understand, the story for The Vampire Lovers (1970) was taken from Carmilla, a vampire story that predates Dracula. It's been remade many times. Ah yes - but how many of them had such great Breck Girl hair? Carmilla (Ingrid Pitt) is a sexy young woman left in the care of the Morton residence who develops a "friendship" with the younger, vivacious Emma (Madeline Smith). At least, I assume that we're supposed to interpret her psychotic bug-eyed giggles as signs of vivaciousness. Carmilla's intention to prey on Emma until her death is marred by her growing attachment to Emma. In the end, of course, the damsel in distress is saved by a team of do-good men who protect Emma with garlic and crosses while they search for Carmilla's grave and stake her. This is all pretty standard for a vampire flick. But what's not standard is the distinct lesbian bent to the story. Apparently, film censors wanted the more overt scenes removed but Hammer insisted that the lesbianism was not a modern addition, but from the original source material, a novel called Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Right on!
More trivia: the character of Lucy in Bram Stoker's Dracula was modeled after that of Emma from Carmilla. Seeing Francis Ford Coppola's film version, one can readily agree with that. Both are redheaded, ditzy, and both are just a little willing to sample a few Shrub Scout cookies. Also, The Vampire Lovers is the first (and best) of Hammer's Karnstein Trilogy. The other two are Lust for a Vampire (1971) and Twins of Evil (1972).
[Editor's note: Maude began this review on 6/16/07 - thanks for finishing it!!!]
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