The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)

Captivating movie !

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I actually quite enjoyed this film, but may be off putting to some! Definitely is a bit cheesy but if you can overlook that give it a watch. Sets and props used are lovely, a flashback to older film making. Costumes, such as the red dress, are really nice! They sometimes add extra layers of meaning (like a warning sign). The music was also great, very suspenseful and can build up tension. Most of the cinematography is standard, but it adds to the tension in places. However, the end of the film is a bit out of place and can date the film with the effects. The vampire costumes towards the end seem a bit weird being all white. Overall though a cheesy but fun vampire film!

Hammer Films were keen to repeat the success of 'Dracula' ( 1959 ), With Christopher Lee loathe to put on the plastic fangs again, it instead made pictures about other vampires. The superb 'Brides Of Dracula' ( 1960 ) had Peter Cushing's 'Van Helsing' at loggerheads with David Peel's 'Baron Meinster'. In 'The Kiss Of The Vampire' ( 1963 ), a young honeymooning couple - 'Gerald Harcourt' ( Edward De Souza ) and wife 'Marianne' ( Jennifer Daniel ) - are driving through Eastern Europe at the turn of the century when their car breaks down. Gerald leaves Marianne alone while he goes off to search for petrol, but she becomes frightened and runs after him. They wind up at an inn run by 'Bruno' ( Peter Madden ). Their arrival is observed by a man peering through a telescope. He is 'Dr.Ravna' ( Noel Willman ) and he invites the couple to dine at his castle. He is a polite and charming host, and has two grown-up children - 'Carl' ( Barry Warren ) and 'Sabena' ( Jacquie Wallis ). Ravna's hospitality, however, is a cover for a more sinister reason - he is head of a vampire cult, and has evil designs on Marianne...Written by John Elder ( Anthony Hinds ) and directed by Don Sharp ( who later made Hammer's 'Rasputin, The Mad Monk' ), 'Kiss' is one of Hammer's best horror pictures. The absence of Lee and Cushing is not too severe a handicap, thanks mainly to the superb performances of Willman and Clifford Evans as vampire slayer 'Professor Zimmer'. The latter is very different from the likes of 'Buffy' - he is elderly, drinks like a fish, and smokes a great deal. He has sworn to wipe out vampirism after his daughter was corrupted by Ravna. Echoing 'Brides Of Dracula', he gets to cure himself of vampirism by burning out the infection. You can see where Roman Polanski got many of the ideas he later sent up in 'Dance Of The Vampires' ( 1966 ), the fancy dress ball in particular. The erotic content is underplayed ( as you might expect in an early '60's picture ), but even so there's a strong charge to be had out of the sight of a nude Marianne being dressed by Ravna in white robes ( even if she is only in back shot ). Just a few years later, all this changed, and we got bare-breasted Ingrid Pitt sweating over Maddy Smith in 'The Vampire Lovers ( 1970 ).The climax in which Zimmer wipes out the Ravna cult by summoning up a swarm of bats is atmospheric and exciting. Ravna did not return for sequels - Lee relented about doing 'Dracula' again, and 'Dracula: Prince Of Darkness' premiered three years later.'Kiss' is strangely not out on PAL Region 2 ( I got my copy from America ), but it is a good one to have if you, like me, cherish Hammer Horror.

The story is about a young couple who is traveling through the country when their car suddenly runs out of gas.The couple decides to stay in a local Inn,to spend the night because it seems that there isn't a gas station for miles.While staying there,the local vampire clan extends their warmest invitations to their castle for dinner and some music.The head vampire called Count Ravna falls for the human girl and from there on in will stop at nothing to get her in his vampire clan.The rest of the movie follows the husband of the kidnapped girl trying to find anyone who is willing to go back to the castle and get his wife back."The Kiss of the Vampire" is an enjoyable early 60's Hammer vampire flick.There is a truly surreal sequence of grand masquerade ball with vampires wearing strange masks.The portrayal of vampire clan as a some sort of religious brainwashing cult is a nice touch.Clifford Evans is certainly memorable as the vampire hunter Professor Zimmer and the usual Hammer atmosphere with spooky old castles,skeletal woods and foggy cemeteries is fantastic.8 out of 10.

There is so much that is good about this film that it is such a shame that it is brought down from what might have been an excellent movie, by poor leads and a slowness after the good opening. Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel as the newlyweds in peril sleepwalk the first half hour and their lack of charisma, not helped by crass writing, is almost enough to crash this venture before halfway through. However, this is beautifully shot, with fantastic sets and costumes and there are excellent scenes. The opening is effective, the masked ball entrancing and the final denouement is sensational even though the bats aren't particularly well executed. Well worth seeing, but it could have been so much more. I'm not sure I buy the story about the film's release being delayed because of the similarity of the bat attack and a similar scene in Hitchcock's, The Birds. It makes no sense to me for this to have been made first then have it's release delayed till after that for the Hitch film. Maybe I'm missing something but I reckon this might have been thought to be too horrific but then released after The Birds had got away with it.