Review of Lust for a Vampire (1971) by Christine M — 23 Mar 2009

Lust for a Vampire.

Directed by Jimmy Sangster.

Written by Tudor Gates.

Based on characters created by Sheridan Le Fanu.

Starring Yutte Stensgaard, Michael Johnson, Ralph Bates, Barbara Jefford, Suzannah Leigh, Helen Christie, Pippa Steel, David Healy, Harvey Hall, Mike Raven.

Hammer studio brings yet another foray into the quaking delights of the undead. It is based on La Fanu?s classic lesbian vampire tale, ?Carmilla?, and retains a chilly elegance that is neatly counterbalanced by a freedom of form expressed through the athletic maneuverings of the agile female body.

In 1830's Styria, a mysterious new pupil arrives at a finishing school. Soon upon her arrival people begin to die in strange circumstances. Legends abound throughout the local peasant population that the dreaded Karnstein family has returned from the grave to feast on the flesh of anyone who touches their fancy.

Mircalla Herritzen begins to attend a school that is located quite close to the Karnstein castle. She is amongst a large contingent of young, most likely virginal girls who attend classes on English Literature, History, and the like. They are free, unassuming and necessarily chaste. When Mircalla moves in with Susan (Steel) it doesn?t take her long to introduce her into the arts of forbidden lesbian love. In fact, Mircalla has put Susan under her spell and has commanded her to satisfy her every wish. This culminates with Mircalla attacking Susan and biting her on the neck before tossing her body down into a well.

Richard LeStrange (Johnson) comes to the area to research a novel he is writing about supernatural phenomenon. He?s already written about vampires and when he hears a peasant man warning him about the Karnsteins he is highly suspicious. He isn?t prone to believe in superstitions and considers the remarks as born of fear and hysteria. But then Susan dies and quickly after her Giles Barton, an official at and co-founder of the school. The head mistress, Miss Simpson (Christie) does not contact the police immediately and when Inspector Heinrich (Hall) appears he is angry at the lapse in time and Miss Simpson?s negligence. He manages to make it to the bottom of the well and Susan?s body but when he attempts to climb up the rope is cut sending him hurling to his death.

The film is rich with atmosphere and does a fine job establishing a particular place and time. It is, as one might assume from the title, drenched in sex and there are many shots of young girls gallivanting about with their tight bosoms pressed together and their skirts flailing in the breeze. The sex scenes are handled with soft light and a highly attuned sense of the erotic.

The film opens with a Satanic liturgy by Count Karnstein (Raven) who conjures up devils to assist him in bringing back Carmilla Karnstein from the dead after centuries in slumber. A young girl is enticed into a coach and led into the castle before being placed on an alter where her throat is slit and drained of blood. The blood is then poured on Carmilla?s skull and she ultimately rises in the form of Mircalla. The ceremony possesses a legitimate power as the camera deftly captures the intensity of the offerings being made to the Dark Lord. It feels like a legitimate ritual and the sight of Mircalla emerging with her face and breasts covered in blood is highly intoxicating. She is a vengeful angel return to earth to do her master?s bidding.

Much of this film is centered about the romance between LeStrange and Mircalla. She has transfixed him as he carelessly confesses his love for her. He is unaware of her true identity until he begins to look through Barton?s extensive collection of materials about the Karnsteins. It is Barton who discovers who Mircalla is but she fixes on him with her eyes and lures him willingly to his death. The camera focuses on her deep, penetrating eyes as he eagerly awaits her cold embrace. He moans appreciatively as the life is slowly drained from him.

Countess Herritzen (Jefford) is a paragon of feminine charm, elegance and beauty. She is an idealized form who promises an intoxication unparalleled by merely mortal sexual fever. Yet she satisfies herself with merely a glance, a simple posture that is inviting yet cruelly articulated. She can not be had for the usual barter stroke. One cannot simply come to her and expect redemption through her agonizing caress.

Count Karnstein in this film appears periodically when something particularly sinister is about to go down. He exudes a type of malicious affability that lends the film some well-needed charisma. One can?t help but feel for this dynasty who must perpetually endure the sodden madness of human existence unless some wiseacre comes along and puts an end to their misery through a timely steak through the heart or decapitation.

In this film the threat of vampirism is deftly construed through the terror stricken faces of the locals who hold steadfastly to their belief in the phenomena and are swayed by any gossip that might be afoot in their land. Lestrange is an objective reporter who is suddenly thrust into a situation where he must test all his pet theories against the reality he confronts. Of course he is stricken, utterly beguiled by the allure of Mircalla and is, for the most part, unable to see her for who she is. Love literally blinds him to the truth and he is essentially unaware how close his death is at any given moment. For her part, Carmilla, in the guise of Mircalla, also places herself in danger by daring to give in to the temptation of earthly love. For all vampires this is one of the most bitter tortures as the loved one always perishes in the end.

Yutte Stensgaard conveys all of the appetizing qualities one would expect from such a timeless beauty as Carmilla. She is soft and delicate yet one knows there lies a dangerous hunger behind those radiant eyes. Carmilla is clearly a fiendish killer readily able to dispatch her victims with a single bite. There is no opportunity for the stricken to rise and join the ranks of the undead. Michael Johnson plays the thankless role of the outsider with a certain energy. His charisma is not particularly noticeable although he does sell his character?s earnestness. Suzannah Leigh slinks about with a hidden sexual thrall all her own. She is the great undiscovered one as her body remains obscured and tantalizingly out of reach. Barbara Jefford as mentioned is a diabolical charmer with cataclysms for eyes. Her character is poisonous yet one cannot hold back the urge to come to her regardless of the terrible price to pay.

Overall, this film captures the mystery and sexual vitality of vampires through a familiar format that is both unnerving and deeply stimulating. It?s fundamentally erotic nature is presented in straightforward terms and it?s clear what the film maker?s intentions are. This film speaks to the sexual hysteria that has always surrounded the belief in vampires. It demonstrates the misunderstood nature of the vampire and establishes their immeasurable agonies as a race of terrible creatures aligned with malevolent forces that mankind must defeat in order to bring about its own overcoming. The primordial essences of sex and death are ably cemented here to present a story of love?s hissing brutality in the face of so much passing beauty.