The Karnstein Trilogy
The Karnstein Trilogy, a series of vampire films, was produced by Hammer Films. They are notable at the time for their (for the time) daring lesbian storylines. All three films were scripted by Tudor Gates. They are related by vampires of the noble Karnstein family, and their seat Castle Karnstein near the town of Karnstein in Styria, Austria. The trilogy *''The Vampire Lovers'' (1970), set in 1790 Styria, starred Polish-born Ingrid Pitt as lesbian vampire Countess Mircalla Karnstein (born 1522, died 1546). The film was based on the famous 1872 novella "Carmilla" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu; the name Mircalla being an anagram of Carmilla, which is an alias Mircalla uses throughout the story. *''Lust for a Vampire'' (1971), featured Danish actress Yutte Stensgaard as Mircalla's descendant Carmilla (born 1688, died 1710). Set in 1830 (it's suggested the Karnsteins reappear every 40 years), Carmilla adopts the name of her ancestor to seduce and murder her way through an exclusive girls' sch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vampire Films
Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel ''Dracula'', with over 170 versions to date. Running a distant second are adaptations of the 1872 novel ''Carmilla'' by Sheridan Le Fanu. By 2005, the Dracula character had been the subject of more films than any other fictional character except Sherlock Holmes. As folklore, vampires are defined by their need to feed on blood and on their manipulative nature; this theme has been held in common throughout the many adaptations. Although vampires are usually associated with the horror (and sometimes the zombie genre), vampire films may also fall into the drama, action, science fiction, romance, comedy, or fantasy genres, amongst others. History Early cinematic vampires in other ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mary Collinson
Mary Collinson (22 July 1952 – 23 November 2021) was a Maltese-British model and actress. She was chosen as ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month in October 1970, together with her twin sister Madeleine Collinson. They were the first identical twin Playmate sisters. The Collinson twins first arrived in Britain in April 1969, and prior to their appearance in ''Playboy'' one of the first people to use them was the glamour photographer/film maker Harrison Marks who cast them as saucy maids in his short film ''Halfway Inn''. The film, made for the 8mm market, was shot sometime between their British arrival, and July 1970, when a still from the film was used in a Marks advertisement that ran in that month's issue of ''Continental Film Review'' magazine. Her sister was quoted in ''The Playmate Book'' saying that Mary had two daughters and lived in Milan with an "Italian gentleman", whom she had been with for more than 20 years. Collinson died from bronchopneumonia in Milan, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mike Raven
Austin Churton Fairman (15 November 1924 – 4 April 1997), who used the name Churton Fairman but was more widely known under the pseudonym Mike Raven in the 1960s and early 1970s, was a British radio disc jockey, actor, sculptor, sheep farmer, writer, TV presenter and producer, ballet dancer, flamenco guitarist and photographer. Early life and career Churton Fairman was born in London, the son of actors Austin Fairman (1892–1964) and Hilda Moore (c.1886–1929). His mother died in the United States when he was a child, after catching an infection from him, and he was brought up by three aunts, who sent him to Aldenham School.Obituary by Leigh Hatts '' The Independent
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Michael Brennan (actor)
Michael Brennan (25 September 1912 – 29 June 1982) was an English film and television actor. Born in London, Brennan was married to actress Mary Hignett. He appeared in such films as ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', ''Ivanhoe'', '' Thunderball'', '' Tom Jones'', ''The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders'' and ''Doomwatch''. On television, he made guest appearances on '' All Creatures Great and Small'' (which featured his wife) and ''Dixon of Dock Green''. Partial filmography *'' "Pimpernel" Smith'' (1941) - Camp Guard with Lantern (uncredited) *''They Made Me a Fugitive'' (1947) - Jim *'' Captain Boycott'' (1947) - Jim O'Rourke (uncredited) *'' Brighton Rock'' (1947) - Crabbe (uncredited) *''Blanche Fury'' (1948) - Farmer *''Escape'' (1948) - Truck Driver (uncredited) *'' My Brother's Keeper'' (1948) - Police Constable at Roadblock (uncredited) *''Noose'' (1948) - Ropey (uncredited) *'' Brass Monkey'' (1948) - Wilks *''Cardboard Cavalier'' (1949) - Brother Barebones *''For Them T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Charles Farrell
Charles David Farrell (August 9, 1900 – May 6, 1990) was an American film actor of the 1920s silent era and into the 1930s, and later a television actor. Farrell is probably best recalled for his onscreen romances with actress Janet Gaynor in more than a dozen films, including '' 7th Heaven'', '' Street Angel'', and '' Lucky Star.'' Later in life, he starred on TV in the 1950s sitcoms ''My Little Margie'' and played himself in ''The Charles Farrell Show''. He was active in business and civic affairs in Palm Springs, California, serving for a time as mayor. Biography Career Born in Walpole, Massachusetts, he began his career in Hollywood as a bit player for Paramount Pictures. Farrell did extra work for films ranging from ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' with Lon Chaney, Sr., Cecil B. DeMille's ''The Ten Commandments'', and '' The Cheat'' with Pola Negri. Farrell continued to work throughout the next few years in relatively minor roles without much success until he was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Julian Holloway
Julian Holloway (born 24 June 1944) is a British actor. He is the son of comedy actor and singer Stanley Holloway and former chorus dancer and actress Violet Lane. He is the father of author and former model Sophie Dahl. Early life Holloway was born in Watlington, Oxfordshire, England on 24 June 1944. He was educated at Ludgrove School, Harrow School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career In the 1962–63 television season of ''Our Man Higgins'', Holloway was cast in his first major acting role as Quentin in four episodes. He became a mainstay of the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' film franchise, appearing in eight films between 1967 and 1976, as well as one of the ''Carry On Christmas Specials, Carry On Christmas'' TV specials. In the 1970's British police drama ''The Sweeney,'' episode ''Big Spender,'' Holloway appeared as John Smith, the brains of an organized crime family who involve themselves with two dishonest employees of a car park company in an elaborate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Horst Janson (actor)
Horst Janson (born 4 October 1935) is a German actor. Career Horst Janson's career started with the film '' The Buddenbrooks'' in 1959. He also featured in Helmut Käutner’s '' A Glass of Water'' (''Das Glas Wasser'', 1960). He also appeared in films such as ' (''The Cry of the Wild Geese'', 1961), ''Das Riesenrad'' (1961), and Robert Siodmak’s ''Escape from East Berlin'' (1962). Among his English-language films are the Hammer Film production ''Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter'' (1974) and ''Murphy's War'' (1971, with Peter O'Toole and Philippe Noiret). He has appeared in many other feature films, including spaghetti westerns with Franco Nero, Eli Wallach and other international productions with Roger Moore, Tony Curtis, Anthony Perkins, Charles Bronson and Robert Wagner. On television, Janson appeared on the show ''Der Bastian'' (1973). Janson has appeared in numerous other works for both film and television. Some of the TV series he worked on were: '' Salto Mortale'' (1969 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ralph Bates
Ralph Bates (12 February 1940 – 27 March 1991) was an English film and television actor, known for his role in the British sitcom '' Dear John'' and the original ''Poldark''. Biography Bates was born in Bristol, England. His parents were both psychiatrists; his mother was French and he was a great-great-grandson of French scientist Louis Pasteur. He held dual-nationality and was bilingual, and was educated at Trinity College Dublin. He read French there, before winning a scholarship to Yale Drama School. The course completed, Bates returned to Ireland to make his stage debut in Shaw's '' You Never Can Tell'' at The Gate Theatre, Dublin, in 1963. A career in repertory theatre followed, and the young actor gained experience in productions ranging from ''Hedda Gabler'' to raucous comedies. Later, Bates carved a niche in the world of horror films and played important roles or the lead in several Hammer Horror productions, such as ''Taste the Blood of Dracula'', ''The Horror of F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition in his home country for his leading performances in the Hammer Productions horror films from the 1950s to 1970s, while earning international prominence as Grand Moff Tarkin in ''Star Wars'' (1977). Born in Kenley, Surrey, Cushing made his stage debut in 1935 and spent three years at a repertory theatre before moving to Hollywood to pursue a film career. After making his motion picture debut in the film '' The Man in the Iron Mask'' (1939), Cushing began to find modest success in American films before returning to England at the outbreak of the Second World War. Despite performing in a string of roles, including one as Osric in Laurence Olivier's film adaptation of ''Hamlet'' (1948), Cushing struggled greatly to find work during this peri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wanda Ventham
Wanda Ventham (born 5 August 1935) is an English actress with many roles on British television since beginning her career in the 1950s. She played Colonel Virginia Lake in the 1970s science-fiction television series ''UFO'' and had a recurring role as Cassandra Trotter's mother Pamela Parry in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' between 1989 and 1992. Her many other television appearances include ''The Sweeney'', '' The Avengers'', ''The Saint'', ''Doctor Who'', ''The Gentle Touch'', '' Heartbeat'' and ''Holby City'', and she appeared in two ''Carry On'' films. In April 2014, ''People'' magazine featured her in its "Most Beautiful People in the World" edition. Early life Ventham was born in Brighton on 5 August 1935, the daughter of Gladys Frances (née Holtham) and Frederick Howard Ventham.Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916–2005 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vampire Circus
''Vampire Circus'' is a 1972 British horror film directed by Robert Young and starring Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters and Anthony Higgins (billed as Anthony Corlan). It was written by Judson Kinberg, and produced by Wilbur Stark and Michael Carreras (who was uncredited) for Hammer Film Productions. The story concerns a travelling circus, the vampiric artists of which prey on the children of a 19th century Serbian village. It was filmed at Pinewood Studios. Plot One evening near the small Serbian village of Stetl early in the 19th century, schoolmaster Albert Müller witnesses his wife Anna taking a little girl, Jenny Schilt, into the castle of Count Mitterhaus, a reclusive nobleman rumoured to be a vampire responsible for the disappearances of other children. The rumours prove true, as Anna, who has become Mitterhaus' willing acolyte and mistress, gives Jenny to him to be drained of her blood. Men from the village, directed by Müller and including Jenny's father Mr. Sch ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited while they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century. Vampiric entities have been Vampire folklore by region, recorded in cultures around the world; the term ''vampire'' was popularized in Western Europe after reports of an 18th-century mass hysteria of a pre-existing folk belief in the Balkans and Eastern Europe that in some cases resulted in corpses being staked and people being accused of vampirism. Local variants in Eastern Europe were also known by different names, such as ''shtriga'' in Albanian mythology, Albania, ''vrykolakas'' in G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |