Previously posted on blog and written by S. Kess
Fly with me, Lesbian Vampire!
Released in 1872, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella “Carmilla” is one of the classics of vampire literature even predating “Dracula” by 26 years and follows the sapphic adventures of Carmilla Karnstein. Ms. Karnstein is truly an old school bloodsucker.
“The Vampire Lovers” is a 1970’s horror film released by Hammer films and directed by Roy Ward Baker and follows the story of Carmilla (Ingrid Pitt) as she traipses across the Austrian countryside trying to get freaky sneaky with all the maidens fair. She ends up in Styria where Roger Morton (George Cole) wrecks her carriage and ends up letting her stay at his estate until it is fixed. Here Carmilla makes the moves on Morton’s daughter Emma (Madeline Smith) using her sexy ways to seduce and attempt to turn Emma into a vampire to be one of her consorts for all eternity.
The story is a simple one and sadly isn’t particularly engaging. Very little of it feels important. The story is mostly there to get from one nude scene to the next along with some tame lovemaking moments that are just light kissing with their tops off that fade to black quickly. In 1970 it probably felt like a big deal, but in 2020 it feels quaint.
It is a gorgeous movie to be certain. The indoor sets and locations are all beautiful and the outside mixes natural areas with some fun design work and voluminous fog everywhere creating a great atmosphere. The costuming works perfectly to create a strong vibe. The men all look a bit like a mix of old formal and military attire and the women have pretty gowns. Carmilla both wins and loses the costuming contest as Dracula always gets dapper pimp suits and she ends up in a sheer nightgown for most of the film. It works because Pitt is captivating, but she should get a killer outfit to match her blood-sucking brethren. The effects are pretty uninspired though. There are some dashes of red for blood and a mannequin head for a decapitation that looks terrible and not in a funny way. The action scenes lack any action: the best one is just rolling in the dirt for a few seconds and that is about it. The music is a mix of fantastic and boring with a liberal dose of delightful harpsichord throughout. They have Emma act as if she is six at times, sixteen at others. Which is a bit of a problem when she is also doing love scenes. Luckily, they back off the more childish aspects pretty quickly, but it was a weird vibe to have. Grand Admiral Tarkin himself Peter Cushing shows up, as he is wont to do in Hammer films, so that is fun.
“The Vampire Lovers” isn’t a bad movie, it is a boring one. It lacks any urgency or engaging content. The acting is very good with almost all of the actresses, in particular, being engaging and fully invested. The film has a lot of upsides but it never makes up for what it lacks in energy.
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