The Vampire lovers

Francisco · **Posted:** Fri May 09, 2008 1:39 pm

I recently bought, on MGM's Midnite Movies Double Feature label, Countess Dracula/The Vampire Lovers. While Countess Dracula is pretty standard early 1970s horror fare, The Vampire lovers was suprisingly good. A smart script, good direction and some inspired acting elevates this Peter Cushing/Ingrid Pitt vehicule above other. Worth checking out.

jim_caerleon · **Posted:** Sat May 24, 2008 4:28 am

...and don't forget the frequent female nudity as a factor in the film's success! The DVD you mention apparently has the film uncut in N. America for the first time. Ingrid Pitt and Madelaine Smith are gorgeous, and Pitt in particular delivers a magnetic performance. The source story, "Carmilla" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu is worth tracking down and reading. While considerably less explicit, it contains a lot of implicit sexuality.

Francisco · **Posted:** Sun May 25, 2008 6:10 pm

Yeah, I love the film, does have an edge to it, very sexy. Iâ€™ve read that Madeline Smith said in an interview that she stayed a virgin until about two months after the film was released theatrically. Puts her scenes on quite another level, doesnâ€™t it ?

xander · **Posted:** Tue May 27, 2008 10:34 pm

God i remember watching those early 70s Hammer Vampire movies when i was a young whipper snapper.

They used to have a horror double bill on BBC 2. Those were the days.

Twins of Evil was a favorite of mine.

jim_caerleon · **Posted:** Wed May 28, 2008 6:56 pm

xander wrote:

God i remember watching those early 70s Hammer Vampire movies when i was a young whipper snapper. They used to have a horror double bill on BBC 2. Those were the days. Twins of Evil was a favorite of mine.

Hell yes, I remember the horror double bill from BBC2 back in the late '70s. My first exposure to Val Lewton, Universal horrors, Amicus, and Hammer! Back in the day when VHS had yet to come on the scene, tv viewings were the only way to catch old movies. My mum and dad usually didn't let me stay up to watch the second feature though. But I did anyway once in a while, on a black and white portable tv in my bedroom. Good memories!

xander · **Posted:** Fri May 30, 2008 5:02 am

I remember movies like Zoltan,Hound of Dracula,and Hands of the Ripper...i can honestly say that without a diet of these movies so young,i wouldn't be here on a this forum talking to you now. They gave me a taste for the macabre. lol

jim_caerleon · **Posted:** Fri May 30, 2008 9:01 pm

xander wrote:

I remember movies like Zoltan,Hound of Dracula,and Hands of the Ripper...i can honestly say that without a diet of these movies so young,i wouldn't be here on a this forum talking to you now. They gave me a taste for the macabre. lol

Indeed. The BBC horror double bills were a crash course in classic (and not so classic) cinema horror. They seem to have made an impression on many a young mind; here's some web articles reminiscing about the double bills:

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/10/31/074519.php

http://cobwebbedroom.blogspot.com/2006/ ... bills.html

more_human_then_human · **Joined:** Fri Jun 06, 2008 4:36 am **Posts:** 48

Both are fun blood sucking romps. Any fan of vampires or just Hammer in general will love both these flicks.

Doug · **Joined:** Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:16 pm **Posts:** 18

Yeah The Vampire Lovers is a good film but i found the sequles to be not that great (stoped watching Twins Of Evil now that i think of it). Countess Dracula was ok but it was kind of boring to me.

Paradiddle · **Posted:** Thu Jun 25, 2009 12:12 am

xander wrote:

I remember movies like Zoltan,Hound of Dracula,and Hands of the Ripper...i can honestly say that without a diet of these movies so young,i wouldn't be here on a this forum talking to you now. They gave me a taste for the macabre. lol

Sounds very similar to the numerous late-night horror shows that local television stations here in the U.S. used to broadcast from the 1960s-1980s (e.g., Creature Features, Fright Night, Elvira's Movie Macabre). I was too young to catch most of those myself, but used to watch USA Saturday Nightmares every weekend during my early teenage years in the late 1980s. Good times, indeed! Speaking of early 70s Hammer vampire flicks, one of the films I distinctly remember watching one of those Saturday nights was Vampire Circus.

jim_caerleon · **Posted:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:51 pm

Paradiddle wrote:

Speaking of early 70s Hammer vampire flicks, one of the films I distinctly remember watching one of those Saturday nights was Vampire Circus.

Hell yeah! Vampire Circus is great, and criminally unavailable in R1. I have a VHS dub of the UK DVD, but I need a R1 release of this cult classic.

wiltaim · **Joined:** Mon May 29, 2006 3:17 pm **Posts:** 154

jim_caerleon wrote:

...and don't forget the frequent female nudity as a factor in the film's success! The DVD you mention apparently has the film uncut in N. America for the first time. Ingrid Pitt and Madelaine Smith are gorgeous, and Pitt in particular delivers a magnetic performance. The source story, "Carmilla" by J. Sheridan Le Fanu is worth tracking down and reading. While considerably less explicit, it contains a lot of implicit sexuality.

Carmilla is one the hand of books ( borrow my sisters copy )that read during my teen year.... on back The Vampire Lovers; everyone has their Jenny Agutter, Ms Pitt was mine

MaxRenn · **Posted:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:11 pm

jim_caerleon wrote:

Paradiddle wrote:

Speaking of early 70s Hammer vampire flicks, one of the films I distinctly remember watching one of those Saturday nights was Vampire Circus.

Hell yeah! Vampire Circus is great, and criminally unavailable in R1. I have a VHS dub of the UK DVD, but I need a R1 release of this cult classic.

Vampire Circus really terrorised me when I tried to watch it on TV as a kid, never made it past the opening sequence with the child alone in the woods. Fianlly watched it as an adult and it's a really good piece of work. There is an especially memorable and inventive vampire kill involving a crossbow in it.

Mr C · **Joined:** Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:05 pm **Posts:** 98

Loved TWINS OF EVIL (Cushing is great and those twins aren't bad either

), VAMPIE LOVERS and COUNTESS DRACULA. Picked up a copy of the OOP Carlton disc of VAMPIRE CIRCUS a few months back at a boot sale for a quid

God bless Hammer and their nightdress clad beauties

kel · **Joined:** Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:45 pm **Posts:** 864

I have this movie buried on a vhs tape (Laura is one of the other movies on it)
I tend to overlook it(forgot Cushing was in it). I have seen Twins of Evil a few times.
I recall a scene from it was shown playing on a tv set in another movie..in spanish..but cant remember where! I think it was Return of Count Yorga.

The Vampire lovers

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