the VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970)

[RCMerchant]

I just watched this for the first time in 30 years-I dint like it then-I thought it was too slow-but now-dam!
Ingrid Pitt is amazingly sympathetic-and is actually not just a pair of tits-she's really good in this-and its atmospheric-and weird. A great film.
Of the tits and blood vampire movies Hammer made-TWINS OF EVIL (1971) and LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971)-this is the best.


http://youtu.be/StTTfl8SU5k

[RCMerchant]

Come to think of it-how many lesbian vampire movies are out there-arguably DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (1936),this-LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971),LEMORA (1973) seems like a pedophile lesbian vampire movie... -its a sick disturbing film!

http://youtu.be/51xR-FG8QCg

[Archivist]

The Vampire Lovers was the first Hammer lesbian vampire movie I ever saw, and it made me dig up as many others of that ilk as I could.  Lust For A Vampire, Twins of Evil (blu-ray, babyyy!) and the European Vampyros Lesbos.

Goodness, I love The Vampire Lovers.  Actually, I love Madeline Smith, being in The Vampire Lovers was secondary.  Also her cameo as a Italian agent in the Roger Moore James Bond Live And Let Die (1973).  Oddly, a photo of her and Roger Moore is on the back of the DVD for Man With The Golden Gun (1974), even though that scene isn't even in the movie.

British and European actresses had sweetness and style back then, which is rather less common now.

[Rev. Powell]

My favorites in this genre are VAMPYRES 



and (a bit artier) DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS

[BoyScoutKevin]

1st of all I want to thank RC Merchant for bringing my attention to "Lemora : a Child's Tale of the Supernatural," while I am sure I was aware of it, I had never checked into it, but . . .?! now that I have checked into it, I'll have to see if I can find a copy of it somewhere to check it out--controversial or not.

While the film may be controversial, and the victors may change from story to story, the controversy actually dates back to Bram Stoker's original "Dracula" with its . . .

Christianity vs. vampirism +
Victorian values vs. free love
=one of the best vs. one of the worst films ever seen.

And, of course, vampirism is itself controversial
with the question whether it's sexual or not.
Vampirism of a child is itself more controversial
with the question whether it's sexual or not.
And the use of underage actors as the victim, as in "Lemora," is the most controversial of all.
Though, I have found underage actors make for a more credible victim for the most part, then using someone older.

Anyway . . .?!
Here are a half dozen more vampire films that generated some controversy with their choice of victim and/or vampire.

Count Dracula (1977)
(with the baby vamped by Dracula's Brides)
Fright Night (1985)
(with the question as to whether the character "Evil Ed" was actually gay or not?)
Lair of the White Worm
(with the vamping of an underage boy scout portrayed by an underage actor) (Review at this website)
Salem's Lot
(both versions)
Tenderness of the Wolves
(with its use of a human "vampire")
Vampire Circus
(with a girl vamped, then 2 boys vamped in the circus' Hall of Mirrors)

And "The Vampire Lovers" is based upon Sheridan Le Fanu's "Carmilla," which h wrote in 1871 or some 26 years before Bram Stoker wrote "Dracula." There being almost a dozen films, of various quality, based upon it, including this one. "Carmilla" also has the distinction of probably being the 1st English novel to explicitly deal with the subject  of lesbianism.