Love for a Vampire

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source: Love for a Vampire

'Lust For A Vampire' is much weaker than Hammer's other two movies dealing with the evil Karnstein family of vampires, 'The Vampire Lovers' and 'Twins Of Evil'. Only a loose trilogy, while all are inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu's classic tale 'Camilla', it doesn't really matter what order you watch them in. This was a troubled shoot, with Peter Cushing being replaced by Ralph Bates, and director Terence Fisher being replaced by Jimmy Sangster, who was mainly a writer and assistant director for Hammer. One can't but help imagine how much better this would have been with Cushing and Fisher. As it is, it's flawed but still fun for vampire buffs. Michael Johnson is a pretty dull leading man, but Bates is very good, and Yutte Stensgaard is hot enough. There's also a few familiar faces from other Hammer movies in the supporting cast. If you are new to Hammer check out 'The Vampire Lovers', 'Plague Of The Zombies', 'Hands Of The Ripper', 'The Devil Rides Out' or 'Vampire Circus' for some of the best the studio had to offer. If you've seen those and 'Twins Of Evil' then 'Lust For A Vampire' is worth a look.

Good film, really enjoyed when I watch the DVD over the weekend though one thing did spoil it, vampires walking in the daylight! Now I'm sure I didn't miss anything, I was paying attention but Mircalla was a really honest to god vampire, yet mincing around in the sunshine as she did she'd have been a crispy critter in 2 seconds. Great movie, for all the usual Hammer reasons. I grew up watching the Hammer movies on TV in the 70's and despite the flaws in most of them they'll always be very dear to me. One might hope that with the advent of next gen DVD which will have more than enough capacity it would be nice to have all the Hammer horror movies on one disc. That, as they say would be cool!

Sequel to "The Vampire Lovers". Vampire Camilla from the first film is resurrected from the dead (played by Ingrid Pitt in the first film and here played by Yutte Stensgaard). She changes her name to Mircalla and attends a nearby finishing school full of nubile young girls and begins to put the bite on them. Pitt was supposed to recreate her role in this one but she (understandably) passed after reading the script. "Vampire Lovers" was an OK horror movie but this is just terrible. I had to watch it three times to get through it all--I fell asleep the first two times! The script is OK but the acting kills this one. Stensgaard was certainly a beautiful woman with a great body--but couldn't act at all. Her line readings were so wooden it was embarrassing to watch. In an interview the director of the film said he tried to get her to emote but she couldn't (or wouldn't). Everybody else is poor too--even the usually wonderful Ralph Bates! The seduction scenes and blood scenes are boring and the production values are pretty low. The WORST scene has to be when she bites Bates and a SONG (called "Strange Love") starts playing! This is one of the last films Hammer made and easily one of their worst. Watch "The Vampire Lovers" or "Twins of Evil" instead.

This must rank as one of the great wasted opportunities of the english gothic cinema. After the rich, erotic triumph that was "The Vampire Lovers" had cleaned up at the cinema, this sequel was put into immediate production, so immediately that Ingrid Pitt, so brilliant as vampiress Carmilla wasn't available to return to the role. Instead Yutte Stensgaard, a much lesser performer - at least on the basis of what she gets the chance to do here - filled the role, complete with woefully dubbed voice. The premise sounds ideal for an erotic horror film, with the brilliant lesbian vampiress set loose upon a finishing school for young ladies. But after a brief moonlit swimming scene, screenwriter Tudor Gates suddenly loses interest in the lesbian theme and poor Mircalla is made to fall simperingly in love with the male hero LeStrange. This not only denies us the rich lesbian eroticism of the first film, but makes Mircalla a much less radical figure. In "Vampire Lovers", she was a revolutionary force in the patriachal world of Hammer Horror: a woman who spurned men as unworthy of her or used them as the slobbering dogs she took them for. She was an honest to goodness lesbian heroine. Here she's just a lovesick, dull little straight bimbo who can't survive, even undead, without the chance to Stand by Her Man. One very much gets the sense of male film-makers clipping the wings of a heroine who they had designed as a mere sex-object in the first film but who, with Ingrid Pitt in the role, had broken free of their tyranny to take command of the whole film, to laugh their sex to scorn and make of herself a lesbian revolutionary, not some straight voyeur's plaything. Maybe that's why they didn't wait for Pitt to be available for the role. The film does have a few things in its favour: David Muir's photography is richly textured and Harry Robinson provides another excellent score (even the song "Strange Love" has been unfairly maligned. ) But it would not be until the next Hammer 'Karnstein' film that the

I have only seen this film on TV panned and scanned, I look forward to it's region 2 release on DVD. The negatives first~no Cushing, Lee, Ripper or Morell but a silly 'character' performance from Ralph Bates, the leading ladies' makeup changes from shot to shot and the delirious and hilarious performance of the Grande Dame who runs the girls finishing school~simpering and eye popping at the same time. Editing by Saint Vitas. A closeup of Mike Raven replaced by a closeup of the great man Christopher Lee C.B.E. The 1970 hair and makeup and the script in which every line of dialogue begins with the other character's name, eg "Mircalla, I love you"..."No Richard"..."Yes Mircalla" that sort of twaddle. Now the positive~ the main role goes to unknown 'Jason King' look-a-like Michael Johnson and he is really rather good, and as naturalistic as can be expected. Despite the marshmallow soft * of this late Hammer film it still has that lovely cosy Hammer gothic feel despite obvious painted backdrops for the castle. Mad camera shots framed by Barbara Jefford's bosom and good music. Good fun for late Hammer.

LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (Jimmy Sangster, 1971) was an adaptation of the legend of Carmilla the vampire from 1710 (here renamed "Mircalla"), where pagans at an English girls' finishing school must sacrifice a beautiful woman so Mircalla can inhabit her body and feed again. The film is full of gratuitous nudity, plays around with lesbianism, and is often cited as a sign of Hammer Films in decline. I saw this film in a class taught by critic Douglas Brode at Syracuse University, however, and was reminded that what I find great about B filmmaking is that as long as the filmmakers satisfy some mandate - in this case, gratuitous nudity, and the debut of a pop song ("Strange Love," as I recall) - they can make whatever movie they want. It also reminds me that for all of Hammer's greatness, it really was a B movie studio, beholden to the same mandates as every other. What Sangster and company here have done, IMO, is make a well-lit, well shot soft core * movie that nonetheless has a compelling and interesting story. If you're watching it for the T&A, the cast and the cinematography will oblige you, IMO, but I feel that it will also give you more than the average movie of this type will. I've always felt that Joss Whedon later took this concept - creating works that were, on their surface, simple, lowbrow entertainment, but then writing them well - and made a career out of it, and in my opinion, this was one of the first examples of how that can be done. I evaluate every film based on if I think it will give its intended audience what they want, and if, like Woody Allen, you don't usually like your filth this clean, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE will disappoint. If you're a nerd, however, who is tired of seeing vapid B movies that don't even TRY to tell a compelling story, this movie will impress. Not for everybody, IMO, but honestly my favorite Hammer Horror Film.

Hammer took a different direction with this piece of Gothic cinema and broke some rules. Vampires walking about in daylight? For all its good points the biggest let down is the lack of references to the original Sheridan Le Fanu on which this supposed to be based. Hammer took a different direction with this piece of Gothic cinema and broke some rules. Vampires walking about in daylight? For all its good points the biggest let down is the lack of references to the original Sheridan Le Fanu on which this supposed to be based. Its predecessor 'Vampire Lovers' contained more references but I was hoping for a full and proper transcription of the book into celluloid. Tudor Gates appears undecided which direction to take the script. Yutte Stensgaard was cast at the time as she was famous on UK TV as Bob Monkhouse's co star in a game show. There she was required to look pretty and not say much as she showed objects to the audience. Think of the 'The Price is Right' hostesses. She went on to make a couple of film s which were more credible dramas. I first knew of her via a short story on the web which had a couple of photos attached to it. You can see why everyone thinks she gorgeous. A painting that was around at the same time was by the story's writer: an actor called Stephen Armourae who has reappeared in connection with ESP research and I know he's done more of other horror actresses including one about Barbara Stelle called 'Catherine' and another AJF. There was a rumour about an interview between him and Yutte if anyone knows more? I like this Hammer film as there is something quirky about it. Raven trying to be Lee. The change of casting to Ralph Bates is refreshing and more convincing. I can't see Cushing playing that lusting role. Bates is more suited. Also the eroticism could have been more, I agree with Armourae's review on this point; he has been trying to get film made loosely based on these Hammer themes but with greater erotic content whilst remaining tasteful. Watch this film as for all its flaws its still classic of its time.

I've just seen this film yesterday and jamesraeburn2003's opinion reflected much of my impressions. However I would like to add few of my comments. First off, despite the silliness of Strange Love song, I found it to be creepy and was really right in the mood for the making love sequence. Don't get me wrong, they don't need to insert a song in there but I never felt that it harmed the film in any way. Next, Suzanna Leigh as Janet Playfair was great in her role. Her brash personality really steal the show (especially in the headmistress scene) whenever Steensgard is not around. Steensgard on the other hand did not "suck" as many people believed and even if her voice was dubbed (she was Danish in origin), she didn't have much line to say other than "I can't", "I love you" and those sort of sentences. It was her non-verbal performances that became the highlight. The scenes where she walks, moves, and stares took a great effort that made her memorable, second only to Christopher Lee. The only objection I have is the finale during the castle fire where Mircalla tried to prevent Lestrange from saving her. As she did so, Karnstein mentally influenced her to attack Lestrange. Lestrange threw her away and as she tried to attack again, she's killed by the falling block. That was my complaint because she died not as a woman who loved Lestrange (which she really did) but as a monster who wanted to kill him (outside her own will). I sympathized with her a lot and in her final scenes, they should have shown Mircalla crying to Jonathan as a last goodbye, confirming her love to him. My only other wish was to see more of Yutte Steensgard in other Hammer films but she quit soon after and moved to America because she was felt "unappreciated" by the industry. I do hope she made a good living whatever she's doing now. Okay that's it for my comment. This comes from a sentimental man who loved watching horror movies and tries to find a meaning behind every film. And Lust for a Vampire would make a great film to me provided that they extended the ending.