The Vampire Lovers

This is a very interesting combination of very faithful, and well-produced, and cleverly structured literary adaptation of an historic novella and exploitation. It’s a great combination. … This is a very well-made movie, but I think what makes it a classic and the version of “Carmilla” that we return to all the time is Ingrid Pitt.

If you are watching this film now for the first time within the context of Hammer movies you’re going to sense something that has not been presented in a Hammer vampire film, which is a very distinct supernatural flavour in the presentation of vampire as a ghostly ethereal being. This is something that is very distinct even from the variations on the vampire theme that Hammer presented with movies like The Kiss of the Vampire.

The Vampire Lovers gets off to a promising start with an especially atmospheric pre-credits sequence. An evanescent, shrouded figure emerges from a a mist-wreathed graveyard and turns out, magically, to be a dazzling blonde beauty in a diaphanous gown. As she embraces the apprehensive Baron Hartog, her exposed breast comes into contact with his crucifix, whereupon she bares shark-like teeth and Hartog smartly decapitates her with a single sweep of his sword. ... That provocative nipple/crucifix collision crystallises Hammer’s new approach in a single frame. The Vampire Lovers has as its protagonist a devouring bisexual seductress who sinks her fangs, not into the necks, but into the breasts of her female victims.