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With the exception of Interview With the Vampire, it seems like the best vampire movies come out of Europe- Nosferatu and Vampyr from Germany, Let the Right One In from Sweden and the Hammer films from Britain. The Vampire Lovers is a Hammer horror film with a great deal of bite. It deals with the legendary lesbian vampire Carmilla, played in this version by Ingrid Pitt.
From the female vampire who is quickly beheaded in the movie's prologue, The Vampire Lovers is filled with beautiful women. Chief among them is Pitt, whose eyes look both seductive and deadly. Carmilla feasts on nubile young virgins Laura and Emma. There's some great nudity, including in the scene where Carmilla is in the bath and Emma tries on a dress. Carmilla puts on a towel, but only around her hips, leaving her breasts still exposed. Gratuitous nudity? Well, the scene with the two half-naked women playfully chasing each other around the bedroom has a point: the lesbian eroticism is unmistakable.
Beyond the erotic aspects of the film, The Vampire Lovers has what every vampire movie needs: good atmosphere with good sets and costumes, as well as mostly smooth dialogue and acting. At the same time, they had the good sense not to actually show the giant cat Carmilla morphs into; it probably would have made a terrible special effect. There are still questions, like if Carmilla's family was wiped out, where did the man in black and her "mother" come from? Probably just victims she made into vampires after the opening scene. My main regret is Carmilla dies at the end (gruesomely). Beyond that, I don't understand the problem people have with this film.
Happy Halloween.
score 8/10
gizmomogwai 27 October 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2695258/ |
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1-12-2019 05:57:48