Lust for a Vampire (1971)

Pretty Good

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

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.

Lust for a Vampire is directed by Jimmy Sangster and written by Tudor Gates who uses characters written by Sheridan Le Fanu. It stars Ralph Bates, Barbara Jefford, Suzanna Leigh, Michael Johnson, Yutte Stensgaard, Helen Christie and Pippa Steel. Music is by Harry Robinson and Technicolor cinematography by David Muir.The second part of Hammer Films Karnstein Trilogy, Lust for a Vampire seemed destined to be miserable from the get go. Peter Cushing had to leave the production when his darling wife fell gravely ill, Hammer's best director Terence Fisher had to also bail out, while Gates had his original romantically literate script jettisoned for one more concerned with nudey prod games. What eventually plays out on screen is a tepid and confused movie, more concerned with bosom baiting than anything resembling a coherent and dramatic horror story.Pretty much everyone involved with making it disowned it, and it's not hard to see why. From production goofs to the inappropriate cheesy pop song that assaults the ears during a love making scene, the film is badly constructed and just lives to show some buxom flesh in the hope that that will be enough. A couple of scenes are smart, particularly the resurrection of main vampire babe, and the colour and costuming is up to Hammer's high standards, yet you can see Hammer straining for inspiration to take the 70s by storm, the cracks in their magnificent armour just starting to show.The only real surprise is that Robin Askwith isn't in it, he could have used it as a warm up for his "Confessions Of" series of films that were soon to surface… 4/10

Following Roy Ward Baker's brilliant "The Vampire Lovers" (1970), Jimmy Sangster's "Lust for a Vampire" is a vastly inferior, yet highly entertaining second entry to the Hammer Studios' Karnstein-trilogy. "The Vampire Lovers" was truly one of Hammer's most atmospheric films, wonderfully eerie, greatly acted (with a role for icon Peter Cushing), ground-breaking as the first Lesbian Vampire film, brilliantly photographed and blessed with the most ravishing female cast imaginable, lead by erotic Horror queen Ingrid Pitt. While "Lust for a Vampire" is neither as atmospheric, suspenseful and creepy, nor as beautiful as its predecessor it is still recommendable to my fellow Hammer fans. Set in 1830 Austria (my home country), "Lust for a Vampire" is the second tale about the Karnstein family of Vampires. The film begins when Marciella/Camilla Karnstein is once again resurrected. This time, the film is mainly set in a remote girls' college, which is mainly populated by gorgeous, young beauties with exhibitionist and bisexual tendencies. People begin to disappear, when the ravishing Camilla (Yutte Stensgard) attends the posh boarding school... Danish actress Yutte Stensgard is stunningly beautiful, but she doesn't reach the level of hypnotic eeriness that Igrid Pitt gave the role. Yet Miss Stensgard as the female Vampire is one of the most memorable aspects of "Lust for a Vampire". The film was originally supposed to be directed by master director Terence Fisher and star icon Peter Cushing, both of whom were replaced at a short notice. Jimmy Sangster, who was then chosen to direct this film, deserves huge praise as the brilliant screenwriter of such Hammer-milestones as "The Curse of Frankenstein" or "Dracula", but he sadly wasn't as goody as a director. Whereas Sangster's filmography as a screenwriter includes more than a few brilliant films, the two films he directed that I've seen, "The Horror of Frankenstein" and this one, were both mediocre. Ralph Bates, who plays a sinister teacher here, was a very good actor, in my opinion, but his role here is a bit ridiculous. Mike Raven, who plays the vampire count Karnstein here, is clearly made up to look like the all-mighty Christopher Lee, which remains a sorry attempt. Leading man Michael Johnson, who plays an author of Gothic novels who becomes a teacher at the school, is not very good either. The best parts of the cast are its female members, Yutte Stensgaard, Suzanna Leigh, who plays a beautiful young teacher, and lots of girls who provide female eye candy. Harvey Hall, who was in "The Vampire Lovers" already, plays a police inspector. The film has several gory moments, as well as a nice Gothic atmosphere. The photography is nice and the settings are eerie. Most of the score is also good, but a vocal song that is used seems terribly out of place. Overall, "Lust for a Vampire" does in no way compare to "The Vampire Lovers". I haven't seen the third part in the Karnstein trilogy, "Twins of Evil", so far, but I hope it will be more like "The Vampire Lovers" than this one. Even so, "Lust for A Vampire" is by no means a bad film, and should be enjoyed by Hammer fans.

While we anxiously await Lesbian Vampire Killers, we can visit a Hammer classic that has loads of naturally endowed women in a finishing school.While the lesbianism that is inferred is probably just normal boarding school hi-jinks, we are able to enjoy the peaks of pleasure exposed to our view. The vampire Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard) has plenty of girls to go skinny dipping with.The teacher Richard (Michael Johnson) is quite taken with the beauty that he fellow teacher (Ralph Bates) believes to be the reincarnation of a Countess that died 120 years previous. Another teacher (Suzanna Leigh) almost buys it after she continues to stick her nose into the problems of dying and missing.As expected, the villagers finally take matters into their own hands to rid themselves of the problem.