''Lust for a Vampire'', also known as ''Love for a Vampire'' or ''To Love a Vampire'' (the latter title was the one used on American television), is a 1971 British
Hammer Horror
Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic fiction, Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of thes ...
film directed by
Jimmy Sangster
James Henry Kinmel Sangster (2 December 1927 – 19 August 2011) was a British screenwriter and director, most famous for his work on the initial horror films made by the British company Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Films, including ''The Cur ...
, starring
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 bo ...
,
Barbara Jefford
Mary Barbara Jefford, OBE (26 July 1930 – 12 September 2020) was a British actress, best known for her theatrical performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Old Vic and the National Theatre and her role as Molly Bloom in the 1967 ...
,
Suzanna Leigh
Suzanna Leigh (born Sandra Eileen Anne Smith; 26 July 1945 – 11 December 2017) was a British actress, known for her film and television roles in the 1960s and 1970s.
Early life and education
Born Sandra Eileen Anne Smith on 26 July 1945, Leig ...
, Michael Johnson, and
Yutte Stensgaard
Yutte Stensgaard (born 14 May 1946) is a Danish actress born in Thisted, Jutland, Denmark, best known for her starring role in Hammer's '' Lust for a Vampire'' (1971).
Career
Born Jytte Stensgaard, she moved to the United Kingdom to improve her ...
. It was given an ''R'' rating in the United States for some violence, gore, strong adult content and nudity. It is the second film in
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 ...
, loosely based on the 1872
Sheridan Le Fanu novella ''
Carmilla
''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...
''. It was preceded by ''
The Vampire Lovers
''The Vampire Lovers'' is a 1970 British Gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, George Cole, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams and Jon Finch. It was produced by Hammer Film Productions. ...
'' (1970) and followed by ''
Twins of Evil
''Twins of Evil'' (also known as ''Twins of Dracula'') is a 1971 British horror film directed by John Hough and starring Peter Cushing, with Damien Thomas and the real-life identical twins and former ''Playboy'' Playmates Mary and Madeleine ...
'' (1971). The three films do not form a chronological development, but use the Karnstein family as the source of the vampiric threat and were somewhat daring for the time in explicitly depicting
lesbian themes.
Production of ''Lust for a Vampire'' began not long after the release of ''The Vampire Lovers''.
The film has a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
, although some Hammer Horror fans have accused it of being overly
camp
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
. Its most noted scene shows Yutte Stensgaard drenched in blood and partially covered by blood-soaked rags, although the filmed scene is not as explicit as that shown in a promotional still.
Other notable actors in the film are Harvey Hall (who has a different role in each film of this series),
David Healy and popular radio
DJ Mike Raven as Count Karnstein. Karnstein's voice, however, is dubbed by an uncredited
Valentine Dyall
Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...
.
Plot
The film is set in 1830, 40 years after the events of ''
The Vampire Lovers
''The Vampire Lovers'' is a 1970 British Gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, George Cole, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams and Jon Finch. It was produced by Hammer Film Productions. ...
''. In the deserted chapel at Castle Karnstein, Count and Countess Karnstein conduct a Satanic ceremony to resurrect the body of their daughter Carmilla. Richard LeStrange has come to the village to get background for his books about witches, vampires and black magic. Warned to beware of Castle Karnstein, he takes no heed. Immediately upon entering the castle, he is set upon by three women dressed in shrouds. They turn out to be students on an educational tour from Miss Simpson's fashionable finishing school. As LeStrange is being introduced to Miss Simpson and her students, a new student arrives, one Mircalla Herritzen. LeStrange falls in love immediately.
Later that evening, when LeStrange relates his adventure to the men at the village inn, one of the serving girls is found dead with two holes in her neck, and LeStrange is convinced that the Karnstein story is not mere superstition. When he chances to meet the recently-hired teacher of English literature on his way to Miss Simpson's school, he tricks him into going to Vienna and arranges to take his position at the school. Shortly thereafter, Mircalla's roommate Susan Pelley disappears. When the headmaster Giles Barton discovers the secret of Mircalla/Carmilla, he offers himself to her. Later that day, after Barton's body is found, LeStrange goes through his books and discovers what Barton had learned; that Mircalla Herritzen is Carmilla Karnstein. LeStrange confesses his love for her, and they make love whilst the song Strange Love plays.
Miss Simpson, worried about the disappearance of a student and the death of her headmaster, decides not to call in the authorities or to notify Susan Pelley's father, particularly when Countess Herritzen's private physician agrees to certify Barton's death as a heart attack. However, dance teacher Jenny Playfair notifies both the police and Mr Pelley, all of whom arrive to investigate. The Karnsteins manage to kill the policeman who has just discovered Susan's body in the bottom of a well, but Mr Pelley arrives with a writ of exhumation and a pathologist to investigate his daughter's death. Susan's body is exhumed (it has just been conveniently buried by the Karnsteins), and talk gets around that she was the victim of a vampire. Together with the local priest, the villagers storm Castle Karnstein with the intent of burning it to the ground. LeStrange also makes his way to the castle, planning to save Mircalla. The villagers trap all three Karnsteins in the burning castle, where a timber falls from the ceiling and impales Mircalla/Carmilla. LeStrange is saved from the fire, with Count and Countess Karnstein remaining, safe in the knowledge that fire does not destroy them.
Cast
* Michael Johnson as Richard LeStrange
*
Yutte Stensgaard
Yutte Stensgaard (born 14 May 1946) is a Danish actress born in Thisted, Jutland, Denmark, best known for her starring role in Hammer's '' Lust for a Vampire'' (1971).
Career
Born Jytte Stensgaard, she moved to the United Kingdom to improve her ...
as Mircalla Herritzen/Carmilla Karnstein
*
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 bo ...
as Giles Barton
*
Barbara Jefford
Mary Barbara Jefford, OBE (26 July 1930 – 12 September 2020) was a British actress, best known for her theatrical performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Old Vic and the National Theatre and her role as Molly Bloom in the 1967 ...
as Countess Herritzen
*
Suzanna Leigh
Suzanna Leigh (born Sandra Eileen Anne Smith; 26 July 1945 – 11 December 2017) was a British actress, known for her film and television roles in the 1960s and 1970s.
Early life and education
Born Sandra Eileen Anne Smith on 26 July 1945, Leig ...
as Janet Playfair
*
Helen Christie
Helen Christie (22 October 1914 – 17 March 1995) was an Indian-born British stage, film and television actress. She was married to Patrick Crean.
Selected filmography
Film
* '' Up for the Cup'' (1950)
* '' Wide Boy'' (1952)
* '' Castle in ...
as Miss Simpson
*
Mike Raven as Count Karnstein
*
Harvey Hall
Harvey L. Hall (January 5, 1941 – May 19, 2018) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 25th mayor of Bakersfield, California. Hall was first elected in 2000, and re-elected in 2004, 2008 and 2012. He was one of the longe ...
as Inspector Heinrich
*
Michael Brennan as landlord
*
Pippa Steel
Pippa Steel (15 April 1948, Flensburg, Germany – 29 May 1992) was a British actress best known for her roles in two Hammer horror films: '' The Vampire Lovers'' (1970) and ''Lust for a Vampire'' (1971). Career
Her other films included '' Str ...
as Susan Pelley
*
Judy Matheson
Judy Matheson (27 August 1945) is a British actress notable for her appearances in several horror films in the 1970s. She also appeared in many other films and television series.
Career
After drama school, Matheson began her career in 1967 wi ...
as Amanda
*
David Healy as Raymond Pelley
*
Jonathan Cecil
Jonathan Hugh Gascoyne-Cecil (22 February 1939 – 22 September 2011), known as Jonathan Cecil, was an English theatre, film, and television actor.
Early life
Cecil was born in London, England, the son of Lord David Cecil and the grands ...
as Biggs
*
Erik Chitty
Erik Chitty (8 July 1907 in Dover, Kent – 22 July 1977 Brent, Middlesex), was an English stage, film and television actor.
Early life
Chitty was the son of a flour miller, Frederick Walter Chitty and his wife Ethel Elsie Assistance née Fra ...
as Professor Herz
*
Jack Melford
John Kenneth George Melford Smith (5 September 1899 – 22 October 1972) was a British stage, film and television actor.
Biography
Melford was the younger brother of screenwriter and film director Austin Melford. On stage from the age of 12, ...
as bishop
*
Christopher Neame
Christopher Neame (born 12 September 1947, London) is an English actor now living in the United States.
UK career
Neame's UK film credits include appearances in two Hammer Horror films: '' Lust for a Vampire'' (1971) and ''Dracula AD 1972'' ...
as Hans
*
as peasant girl
*
Luan Peters
Luan Peters (18 June 1946 – 24 December 2017), also known as Karol Keyes, was an English actress and singer.
Biography
Born Carol Ann Hirsch, she made her stage debut in a pantomime aged four, then went on to win a drama scholarship at the ag ...
as Trudi
* Christopher Cunningham as coachman
*
Nick Brimble
Nicholas Brimble (born 22 July 1944) is an English actor whose long career has spanned theatre, television, film, and voice work.
Early life
Brimble was born in Bristol. His father was a schoolteacher who was also a keen amateur actor, an activ ...
as 1st villager
*
Sue Longhurst as schoolgirl
Production
Jimmy Sangster replaced
Terence Fisher
Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films.
He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, ...
as director at very short notice. Partially due to censorship restraints from the
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
, this film and the next one, ''Twins of Evil'', had increasingly less overt
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
elements in the story than did ''The Vampire Lovers''. Carmilla, for example, in this film falls in love with a man.
Ingrid Pitt
Ingrid Pitt (born Ingoushka Petrov; 21 November 193723 November 2010) was a Polish-British actress and writer best known for her work in horror films of the 1970s.
Early life
Ingoushka Petrov was born in Warsaw, Poland, one of two daughters ...
was offered the lead, but turned it down.
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 ...
was supposed to have appeared in the film, but bowed out to care for his sick wife. Cushing was replaced by
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 bo ...
, who described ''Lust for a Vampire'' as "one of the
worst films ever made".
Bates had earlier appeared in ''
Taste the Blood of Dracula
''Taste the Blood of Dracula'' is a 1970 British supernatural horror film produced by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Peter Sasdy from a script by Anthony Hinds, it is the fifth installment in Hammer's '' Dracula'' series, and the fourth ...
'' with
Madeline Smith
Madeline Smith (born 2 August 1949) is an English actress. After working as a model in the late 1960s, she went on to appear in many television series and stage productions, plus comedy and horror films, in the 1970s and 1980s.
She is perhaps ...
, who starred in the previous Karnstein film, ''
The Vampire Lovers
''The Vampire Lovers'' is a 1970 British Gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Ingrid Pitt, Peter Cushing, George Cole, Kate O'Mara, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams and Jon Finch. It was produced by Hammer Film Productions. ...
''. The song "Strange Love" was recorded for the film by Tracy, a teen singer from Wembley and produced as a 45" by
Bob Barratt
Denis Mervyn "Bob" Barratt (22 March 1938 – 30 January 2004) was an English record producer for EMI and founder of record-label Grasmere Records.
Barratt died of liver cancer on 30 January 2004, leaving his wife and three daughters.
Career
...
.
Critical reception
''The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films''
panned the film, calling it a "cynical and depressing exercise...", noting that "...one can only imagine what
Fisher
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elect ...
,
Cushing and
Bray's craftsmen might have made of Gates' reasonably literate draft." However, ''The Hammer Vampire: British Cult Cinema'' by
Bruce G Hallenbeck, says that "there is much to recommend it. I think it was a very good script," Tudor Gates told me (Hallenbeck), "I think, in a way, it was the better of the first two", with Hallenbeck noting that Gothic atmosphere is "ably evoked".
See also
*
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 adaptati ...
References
Sources
*
External links
*
Online review of DVDPromotional Photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lust For A Vampire
1971 horror films
1971 films
British LGBT-related films
Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios
British erotic films
Films set in 1830
Films set in Austria
Films based on horror novels
Films based on works by Sheridan Le Fanu
Hammer Film Productions horror films
1971 LGBT-related films
British vampire films
Gothic horror films
LGBT-related horror films
Films based on Irish novels
Films set in castles
Lesbian-related films
1970s historical horror films
British historical horror films
Films directed by Jimmy Sangster
1970s English-language films
1970s British films