The 1970 Hammer picture, “The Vampire Lovers,” is just one of several film adaptations of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s immensely influential Gothic tale, “Carmilla,” which appeared more than twenty years before Bram Stoker’s better known “Dracula.” Like most of the screen versions, “The Vampire Lovers” focuses on and exploits the strong lesbian undertones of the original work, with ample nudity thrown in for good measure. Although it’s not the best of the classic Hammer horrors, “The Vampire Lovers” demonstrates the studio’s characteristic tastes for literary material, buxom leading ladies, and lush Gothic atmosphere. Classic horror fans will also enjoy the appearances of scream queen Ingrid Pitt as the vampiric protagonist and Peter Cushing as one of her grimly determined pursuers.
Pitt stars as a vampire beauty who goes by the names Carmilla, Marcilla, and Mircalla as she makes the rounds of the Styrian gentry, first establishing herself as a houseguest and then preying upon and seducing the daughters of the families with whom she stays. Her first victim is blonde Laura (Pippa Steel), the daughter of General von Spielsdorf (Peter Cushing). After Laura’s death, Carmilla moves on to Emma (Madeline Smith), even enthralling members of the household to help her drain the blood from Emma’s veins in nightly visitations. The grieving General von Spielsdorf, however, has enlisted help that might finally bring an end to Carmilla’s reign of terror.
When the film stays close to its source material it does quite well, and several scenes are very faithfully reproduced. Alterations tend to obscure the narrative, especially the recurring appearance of a mysterious man in black whose significance to Carmilla is never explained. As attractive as she is, Ingrid Pitt does not bear much resemblance to Le Fanu’s creation; she’s too mature and too solid to be the languid, unearthly girl the author describes, and her obvious age difference in relation to her victims makes her seem more like a vampiric Mrs. Robinson than a proper companion for girls of eighteen. Her ingénue victims are pretty and willing to bare it all, but we’re never encouraged to feel much for or about them. Peter Cushing is always a welcome presence, but he has far less to do here than in other Hammer films.
The retroactive influence of “Dracula” on “The Vampire Lovers” proves one of the most interesting aspects of the picture from an academic perspective. Hammer had scored one of its first big hits with “Horror of Dracula” in 1958, so it comes as no surprise that the Le Fanu adaptation is outfitted with numerous elements of Stoker’s tale. Ironically, it was Le Fanu who influenced Stoker, but here the relationship is reversed, with Stoker’s crosses, garlic, and vampiric mesmerism tacked on to Le Fanu’s lore of debauched ancestors, hidden graves, and tell-tale portraits. Underscoring the relationship is a shift in the movie’s narratorial perspective that favors a Van Helsing type male over Le Fanu’s female storyteller (whose story is told, rather pointedly, to a female auditor). The women in Le Fanu’s original have more agency and intellect than the Hammer versions; no mysterious man in black oversees Carmilla’s actions, and our heroine relates her story with intelligence and precision, leading the reader to be far more invested in her fate. Despite these issues, the movie serves as a useful indicator of the importance of “Carmilla” as part of the vampire canon, and it’s entertaining enough to watch, especially when Carmilla seduces her comely victims.
For more adaptations of “Carmilla,” try “Vampyr” (1932), “Blood and Roses” (1960), and “Crypt of the Vampire” (1964). Other Hammer pictures include “The Curse of Frankenstein” (1957), “Horror of Dracula” (1958), and “Dracula A.D. 1972” (1972). See more of Ingrid Pitt in “Countess Dracula” (1971) and “The Wicker Man” (1973). Hammer followed up “The Vampire Lovers” with two more pictures, “Lust for a Vampire” (1971) and “Twins of Evil” (1971), to form the Karnstein Trilogy.
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