Sunday 1 November 2020

Kiss of the Vampire

Kiss of the Vampire - Hammer
Hammer's third vampire movie - following 'Dracula' (1958) (UK / US) and 'Brides of Dracula' (1960) (UK / US) - was the first without the D word in the title and indeed without any links to the Transylvanian count. Made by first time horror director Don Sharp for whom it would mark the beginning of a long lasting love of the genre and a career that would include a couple more for Hammer ('The Devil-Ship Pirates' (1964) & 'Rasputin, the Mad Monk' (1966) (UK / US)), the first two Fu Manchu movies with Christopher Lee, 'The Thirty Nine Steps' (1978) with Robert Powell and the great 'Psychomania' (1973) (UK / US) it offers a slight twist on the mythology.

Gerald (Edward de Souza - 'The Man' in Sapphire and Steel's final assignment (UKUS)) and Marianne Harcourt (Jennifer Daniel - 'The Reptile' (UK / US)) are honeymooning in Bavaria when Marianne falls into the clutches of the sinister Dr Ravna (Noel Willman - 'The Reptile') and his decadent cult of sanguinary socialites and has to be rescued with the aid of boozy loner Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans - Number Two in The Prisoner episode that doesn't have Patrick McGoohan in it 'Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling' (UK / US)). 

Writer (and producer) Anthony Hinds (the man responsible for Hammer buying the rights to Quatermass and arguably launching the studio's golden years) gives us a script that's spare and direct and plays hard and fast with the well worn vampire tropes which the director pairs with vivid and opulent visuals,  some effective shocks and set pieces and an ending that is as inventive as it is, unintentionally, funny. 

Buy it here - UKUS - or watch it below.


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