RELEASED IN 1970 and directed by Roy Ward Baker, "The Vampire Lovers" is a Hammer horror based on Irish novelist Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla," which was published in 1872 and predated Bram Stoker's "Dracula" by 25 years. The story concerns a family of vampires, the Karnsteins, who prey on people in Austria by finding an excuse to leave their daughter at a rich manor. She then proceeds to patiently seduce the nubile woman of the abode as she drinks the blood of local peasant lassies and whomever else.

The main antagonist, Carmilla/Marcilla Karnstein, is played by Ingrid Pitt, who's effective, but a little too long-in-the-tooth for the role. While she prefers to prey on wealthy nubile girls and there are overt Sapphic undertones, she's just as willing to suck the blood of dudes when it suits her diabolic purposes. Her pretense of passionate romantic love is just that as she's intrinsically evil and referred to as a "devil" elsewhere in the movie. Make no mistake, she's solely out to find and feed off victims.

While vampires are fantastical, Carmilla is figurative of evil women who purpose to seduce or convert people and destroy them. This IS real life and I've seen it happen several times. The tale isn't for immature audiences because it's too convoluted, dramatic, weighty and mature. I saw it 15 years ago and wasn't impressed but, seeing it again, I now grasp it and it's virtually revelatory.

The female cast is superb, rounded out by: Madeline Smith (Emma),Pippa Steel (Laura),Kate O'Mara (The Governess, aka Mme. Perrodot),Janet Key (Gretchin, the maid),Kirsten Lindholm (the blonde vampire in the opening; also shown later),Olga James (Village Girl),Joanna Shelley (Woodman's Daughter) and Dawn Addams (The Countess/Karnstein matriarch). There's a little bit of tasteful top nudity and Pitt is shown totally nude on two occasions in a classy manner. She's a beautiful woman, for sure, but she doesn't trip my trigger.

As far as the male cast goes, Peter Cushing has a side role and Jon Finch is on hand as the gallant hunk. There are others.

FYI: "The Vampire Lovers" is the first part of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy, which includes the quasi-sequel "Lust for a Vampire" (1971) and the prequel "Twins of Evil" (1971).

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour, 31 minutes and was shot in Hertfordshire, England.

GRADE: B+/B

Warning to parents--This is NOT typical of all the Hammer films in that this one has copious amounts of nudity. Just be forewarned before showing it to the kids or your Sunday school class!

By 1970, Hammer Films had made something like 1647 vampire movies--and most of them about Dracula. As a result, the films all tend to blend together and the viewer has a very strong case of "been there, done that" when they watch. Because of this sameness, the films lose something after you've seen a few. Amazingly, I have seen them all--as I apparently have a high tolerance for repetition. However, when I began watching THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, I was very happy to see that not only was Dracula NOT present, but that the lore of the vampires had changed a bit--and for the better.

The way these vampires take their victims is very odd in this film. A rich society lady excuses herself at parties and tells the host that she must go, as there's been a death in the family. She also asks if the host can look after her niece (or daughter) in her absence. The house guest, it turns out, is a lesbian vampire and slowly she seduces the lovely daughter of the host and eventually kills her. This pattern apparently has been repeated again and again and it sure is interesting to see them using this tag-team approach!

Now that I mentioned lesbians, let's diverge a bit. A year after THE VAMPIRE LOVERS came out, the famous film VAMPIROS LESBOS came out with a similar lesbian theme. However, VAMPIROS LESBOS was very artsy-fartsy and was often too mannered and fanciful. I thought it was very silly, actually, and chock full of nudity from start to finish. With THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, there is also quite a bit of nudity but the film doesn't permeate with it as much and the story is excellent with or without the naughty bits flying about here and there. All VAMPIROS LESBOS really had going for it was nudity--otherwise, I can't recommend it.

By the way, there are a few odd things about this vampire tale. First, chopping off the heads with swords was employed here very nicely on two occasions--making the vampires 100% dead--not the 99.44% dead that Christopher Lee (Dracula in the Hammer films) often was. You knew he would somehow come back--vampires in this film stayed dead (I don't mean undead). Also, apparently these vampire lesbians are a bit like the TWILIGHT vampires, as they CAN go out during daylight (in non-direct sun) and even eat. However, unlike TWILIGHT I saw no evidence of sparkling!

The story was exciting and different. The only negative is the guy on the horseback. He appears again and again and he appears to be a vampire. However, he NEVER is a part of the story and there is no explanation as to who he is. It's like he's a dangling plot element left over after a character was cut from the film. Who is this guy? Is he just some perv hoping to see some of that hot lesbian nudity? Regardless, he makes no sense at all in the film but it also doesn't seriously harm the picture.

Excellent production values highlight this slow-moving Gothic horror yarn from Hammer in which all of the action is confined to the beginning and end of the movie. The middle part consists of lots of atmosphere building sequences which can feel laboured and do drag a little life from the film. It's the slow-paced nature of the tale which stops it from being a total Hammer classic, although it's still very good. It reminds me of Hammer's Dracula, which is also a slow moving tale as both films dwell on victims gradually falling weaker as they're preyed on by the vampire menace.

On the plus side, the film contains lots of the same ethereal atmosphere (with scenes of nightdress-clad beauties wandering through mist-enshrouded countryside at night) as the films of French auteur Jean Rollin, and is very suspenseful and thrilling when it needs to be. It's just a shame that so much time is taken up with non-action as most of the leading men leave the film for the middle duration and the resulting women seduce and are victimised by each other. What we're left with are numerous scenes of Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith being naked which do get a little repetitive despite the premise.

The film benefits from an extremely strong cast of British character actors. George Cole (taking a break from his usual comedy genre) stars as Roger Morton, whose beautiful daughter Emma (played by Madeline Smith, a regular young British beauty from the period) is seduced and preyed upon by the voluptuous Carmilla. Ingrid Pitt takes the lead in her first Hammer Horror appearance and makes for an unforgettably sexy vampiress, although she's romantic rather than scary. Kate O'Mara has a supporting role as a French governess although her role is limited and extraneous.

Genre fans will be pleased to hear that Peter Cushing also has a small role in the film, and it is he who gets to confront Ingrid Pitt in explicitly gory scenes at the end of the film which make up for the non-action preceding those scenes. Despite playing a much different character, you can't help but see a flash of Van Helsing as Cushing does his duty. Cushing's authoritative performance is a highlight of the film. Supporting actors include Ferdy Mayne as the unfortunate family doctor, Douglas Wilmer as Baron von Hartog, an expert vampire killer who beheads his own sister in a gruesome opening scene, Dawn Addams as the briefly-seen Countess (her character unexplained and mysterious) and a very young-looking Jon Finch as the handsome young male lead. The familiar faces of Pippa Steele (who, despite dying, returns in the sequel) and John Forbes-Robertson (as the sinister "Man in Black" he is no less laughable here than his camped-up turn as Dracula in LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES) appear in minor roles, while Harvey Hall puts in an excellent turn as the loyal manservant Renton.

The film's strength is in playing it all totally seriously, even the so-called "erotic sequences", with none of the tacky cheesiness which overwhelmed the sequel, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE. The film concentrates on the sex rather than the horror aspects with plenty of lesbian tension and Pitt wandering around in a low-cut dress for the entire course of the film. The violence, on the other hand, is limited to a couple of decapitations and some splashes of blood - admittedly colourful. The music is lyrical yet understated, the costumes immaculate and the ladies quite simply gorgeous. THE VAMPIRE LOVERS is a watchable Hammer film which is a must-see for fans, yet by not including any of the trademark excitement or style that another director would have brought to the movie it just misses 'total classic' status. I'm surprised to admit it, but Roy Ward Baker's journeyman direction is merely perfunctory.