THE VAMPIRE LOVERS is generally considered to be the best of the Hammer Films "Carmilla Trilogy" and the most faithful to J. Sheridan LeFanu's original story.
In THE VAMPIRE LOVERS a frankly lesbian Carmilla Karnstein spends most of the film seducing and drinking the blood of several lovely young ladies in eighteenth century Austria.
Like most Hammer productions THE VAMPIRE LOVERS relies heavily on stylism, and because the film is largely a straightforward retelling of LeFanu's tale, the storyline never sags. The sexual element is very much in evidence, serving as the underpinning of this film. There are a fair number of bare breasts and nubile bodies upon which Carmilla feeds, and the dialogue (much of it lifted from LeFanu) is classically Victorian and tastefully erotic.
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS is an entertaining and well-made THREE AND-A-HALF STAR film, and possibly the best of its genre. |
The Vampire Lovers dvd movie.