Wow! Such a good movie.

Expected more

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

At a finishing school for girls in 1830 Austria, one of the students goes missing; the administration is in a quandary, not knowing that another beauty from the village was recently murdered and her virginal blood was used to reincarnate Carmilla, a female vampire of the devilish Karnstein family, who arrives at the school under the guise of a new student. Screenwriter Tudor Gates (again mining Joseph Sheridan Le Fanuand's novella "Carmilla" for inspiration) and producers Michael Style and Harry Fine all return from 1970's adequate Hammer horror "The Vampire Lovers", but results are tepid this time. With new restraints handed down by the British censors, the team has scaled back on the lesbian overtures predominant in their previous film. Worse, the bloodsucker action also seems toned down in favor of a corny star-crossed romance between the vampire-heroine and a handsome human, an author and Royal heir who falls hard for the blonde beauty (they have sex in a grassy field to the strains of a pop love ballad!). Under these conditions, crack horror director Jimmy Sangster (filling in at the eleventh hour for an ailing Terence Fisher) might be excused for his flaccid handling--and yet, amazingly, there is not one drop of suspense in this scenario. Sangster is probably responsible for the picture's strongest sequence, with smitten school co-founder Ralph Bates groveling at the feet of the new Carmilla/Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard), though this scene, too, finishes poorly. Strong-jawed Michael Johnson positively eats his heart out after making love with the girl and finding himself rebuffed the next day, while a police inspector is killed while sniffing around and nothing is mentioned of him again. The writer and producers tried their luck a third time later the same year with "Twins of Evil", the final chapter of the Karnstein Trilogy. * from ****

Arriving in a small countryside village, a novelist fascinated by the local legends begins working at the nearby boarding school finds the other students mysteriously disappearing after a new student arrives and ties it to the local legends forcing him to put an end to their plans.There's a couple of good moments in here, and some really troublesome parts as well. One of the big reasons is that the decision to retain the period Gothic setting is admirable for a late-period Hammer title. The eerie opening, when an abducted village woman is abducted and taken to the castle, has two vampires slice her throat and the blood drips all over a white shroud the covers a corpse in a coffin, not only gives this an impressionable opening but also provides the kind of occult Gothic ritual within the huge elaborate castle which is exceptionally enjoyable. Due to the main vampire running loose in the school under the guise of the students provides this one with some fine sequences that explore this fuller, from the troop going through the ruins of the castle to the scenes of them going off into the night meeting with the vampire unexpectedly biting them. That also means it doesn't miss one possible shot of nudity, especially in the first half hour of the film. The nudity is very tastefully done and isn't at all gratuitous, from the skinny-dipping sequence to the seduction of the other women and the immeasurable amount of topless groping between the girls that occurs here. These measures are done in conjunction with the Gothic flavor, as it adds leaps and bounds to the sensuality of the film featuring both the classy tone as well as the fine nudity. The other big factor for this one is the stellar Gothic ending, which is the grand siege at the castle towards the end has a lot of action with the grandstanding nature of the villagers and the battles with the servants and villagers leading into a series of fire-filled traps alongside the traditional burning-down-the-castle action and some stellar gore thrown in. These make it a pretty decent effort of the genre, but there are some really off moments here as well. The pace here is really the biggest factor since there are a lot of scenes that go on and just stretch out the film without really doing anything. The middle section of the film dealing with the staff and faculty of the school are just long, pointless talk scenes that don't really go nowhere as are the pointless interludes showing him teaching the students which aren't needed due to already knowing the secret identity. It constantly keeps going through those sequences where it feels like something's going to happen only for the conversation parts to continue and that makes it very aggravating. That also limits the action in the film, and other than the beginning and the end as there isn't much of that in the film. Beyond those two elements, the biggest factor against this is the utter cluelessness towards the identity as this one has her have to kill off several individuals who know her secret which obviously doesn't mean it's as well-hidden as it could be if it keeps getting out like it does. These are the main problems with the film.Today's Rating/R: Nudity, several sex scenes and Violence.

A quick sequel to THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, this was the second in the infamous Hammer Karnstein trilogy (the third being TWINS OF EVIL). As a result it contains all of the ingredients we are now used to seeing in Hammer's '70s films, such as extra gore, gratuitous female nudity, and a heavy dose of sex. Unfortunately, production of the film suffered when Peter Cushing - the original choice for teacher Barton - dropped out due to his wife's severe illness, and Terence Fisher also dropped out from directing due to an accident. As a result, the film is perhaps not as effective as it might have once been. However, I think a lot of the criticism of this film is unfair. It has everything you would expect from a vampire film - lots of blood, biting, and even torch-wielding villagers.The acting, however, can best be described as 'average'. The film lacks a central pivotal character such as Cushing or Lee to carry it. Ralph Bates is always value for money, although he despised the film, appearing in it as a favour; but he dies too soon. I would have preferred to see him as the male lead instead. Michael Johnson, the film's lead, was never heard of again. Mike Raven, a former DJ, looks sinister but tries too hard to be Chris Lee (incidentally, I'm sure I saw Lee's eyes appear in a close-up). Christopher Neame (Johnny Alucard in Dracula A.D. 1972) even has a small role as the peasant Hans. Yutte Stensgaard is certainly beautiful and makes for an effective, strangely hypnotic vampire, although her acting skills are limited to say the least.Although made on a low budget, I was impressed by the costumes (although clothes are hardly ever kept on) and the scenery, especially the castle and adjoining graveyard. Even some comedy aspects creep into the film (Mike Raven's catchphrase, "Heart attack" is one). The film is also atmospheric, although sadly this atmosphere is somewhat ruined by the inclusion of a pop song, 'Strange Love', which has to be a low point in the entire Hammer filmography. The film does its best to include a tragic love story, which is at least partially successful. Strangely, most of Mircalla's female victims scream when attacked, but her male victims - Ralph Bates in particular - seem to enjoy the experience. Must be something to do with hormones. One great scene has the vampire coach driver attack the angry villagers with a whip and - well, I won't spoil it for you. Let's just say it's a vintage Hammer moment. I also liked the final scene where a burning timber stakes one of the vampires in the blazing castle. LUST FOR A VAMPIRE is an average film with lots of different ingredients to keep it going; and a worthy addition to Hammer's vampire series, whatever the critics may say.

Set in nineteenth-century Europe a Finishing School for young ladies enrol a new girl named Mircalla who has some of the new students spellbound and also the new English teacher Richard Lestrange who just happens to be an well-renown author of horror books who takes on this position to be close to her. Incidents start occurring, and the town's folk blame the nearby castle ruins of Karnstein for the disappearances and deaths. "Lust for a Vampire" is one of Hammer's lesser know horror productions and you can probably see why when watching it. It's a solid, if unremarkable film. The tale is about the fatal reincarnated vampire beauty Carmilla (their second attempt of three - "Vampire Lovers" and "Twins of Evil"), seductively played by the hypnotic Yutte Stensgaard with also strong classy showings by Ralph Bates, Suzanna Leigh, Michael Johnson and Barbara Jefford. Director Jimmy Sangster puts plenty of emphasis erotic lesbianism, topless nudity and horrific imagery tied together by the tragic love between the central characters Mircalla and Richard. The script stays interesting in its mystery, infatuation and superstitious framework, although moments do have a chopped about feel to them. It's lushly produced and stylishly atmospheric in its picturesque set-pieces with precisely fluid camera-work. The colour red seems to be vibrantly presented in some gorgeously staged scenes. "There's evil in that castle. And there always will be".