Directed by: Roy Ward Baker
I'm not sure why I love these old vampire movies as much as I do, but I do know why I love the ones with lesbian vampires in them a little bit more than the rest of them... I'm a man after all! This is by far not the first movie with lesbian vampires in it, it's not even the first movie adaption of J. Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novella "Carmilla" (published 25 years before Dracula), but it's without a doubt my favorite adaption. And the reason is of course the über lovely Ingrid Pitt playing Carmilla/Marcilla/Mircalla... Holy hell, she's hotter than a sunny day in the Sahara desert!
This is the first movie in Hammer's "Karnstein trilogy" (although "Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter" also has a female vampire from the Karnstein family, so it should probably be added to those films) and without a doubt the best one. Not only because of Ingrid Pitt, but god damn, when you've seen her playing Carmilla you don't want anyone else taking over that role... This film was followed by "Lust for a Vampire" and "Twins of Evil" and with each movie the lesbian vampire stuff became less and less thanks due to the british film censors (fucking morons!). I'll go through them as well in the coming week, so expect more Hammer vampire "reviews" on this page a.s.a.p.
The film starts off in late 1700's Styria (part of Austria) and Baron Hartog's (Douglas Wilmer) hunt for the vampire family, the Karnsteins, that killed his sister. He manages to find the crypt of the vampires and starts to kill 'em off one by one. We only get to see the first killing, but are being told later in the movie about his manly work killing sleeping vampires... Then we jump forward a couple of decades to a ball held by General von Spielsdorf (Peter Cushing) where the mysterious Countess Karnstein and daughter arrives... When the countess is quickly called away (something about a dying friend), she asks if it's possible for her daughter, Marcilla (Ingrid Pitt), to stay with the general and his daughter, Laura (Pippa Steel), while she visits her friend.
Being the gentleman that he is the General of course invites Marcilla to stay with them for as long as she needs to... Hindsight is 50/50 I guess, but boy was that a big mistake... Marcilla and Laura quickly become close friends, but Laura also starts to feel ill. She becomes weaker and weaker by the day and paler and paler... She doesn't sleep much, and when she does she dreams of a big strange cat sitting on her, almost suffocating her. And strangely enough Marcilla is in the dreams as well. It doesn't take long before Laura is found dead in her bed, and when the doctor examines her body he finds two puncture marks on her breast... and all of a sudden Marcilla is gone.
Being the gentleman that he is the General of course invites Marcilla to stay with them for as long as she needs to... Hindsight is 50/50 I guess, but boy was that a big mistake... Marcilla and Laura quickly become close friends, but Laura also starts to feel ill. She becomes weaker and weaker by the day and paler and paler... She doesn't sleep much, and when she does she dreams of a big strange cat sitting on her, almost suffocating her. And strangely enough Marcilla is in the dreams as well. It doesn't take long before Laura is found dead in her bed, and when the doctor examines her body he finds two puncture marks on her breast... and all of a sudden Marcilla is gone.
Not long after these happenings Marcilla (now calling herself Carmilla) and her mother is at it again... This time faking a couch accident in front of a Mr. Morton (George Cole), the countess needs to get on with her journey, but poor little Carmilla is just too weak to travel... Could maybe Mr. Morton let her stay at his house? Yep, it all starts again and good thing Mr. Morton has a beautiful daughter, Emma (Madeline Smith), so Carmilla will have someone to spend her time with...
It doesn't take long before Emma starts to feel weaker and she does look a little paler by each day... and those dreams, a big cat sitting on her and why is Carmilla in those dreams???
Most people seem to consider the late 50's and early to mid 60's as Hammer's high point, but for me it has always been their movies from the late 60's and up until when they had to call it quits that are my favorites. Maybe it's because they added more gore and nudity (yes, I am that shallow and I don't need more than that to be happy) into the mix, but they did keep that gothic atmosphere even though it was probably getting out of date at the time. This flick is among my favorite Hammer flicks and it has it all, foggy cemeteries, hot lesbian vampires, some nice (albeit very much blink and you'll miss it) gore, quite a lot of nudity and the great Peter Cushing (in a small role, but still... it's Peter fucking Cushing!!!).
I mentioned it earlier, and I will mention it again... Ingrid Pitt is to die for in this flick, and it's nice to be able to hear her real voice (she was dubbed in Countess Dracula) which is as sultry as they come and she has the accent already to fit a vampire. She's not just sweet to rest your eyes upon, she does bring some menace into the movie as she does feel more than just a beautiful woman made up to be a vampire, she really feel like she could kill anyone that stands in her way as she possesses some serious strength in her portrayal of Carmilla (or Marcilla or Mircalla or whatever...). And I just can't be too unhappy with her scenes together with Madeline Smith where both end up undressed in a bed frolicking around... *sigh* ;-)
If you have even the slightest of interest in vampire movies this is a must see... so what are you waiting for?!?!
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