Review of Lust for a Vampire (1971) by Brian S — 24 Apr 2011

The second in Hammer Studios' "Camilla" trilogy, "Lust for a Vampire" stars the very lust-worthy Yutte Stensgaard and we do get to see almost all of her in this Gothic horror flick. The story is pretty weak and mundane, but that can be forgiven somewhat in light of all the plunging necklines, girl-on-girl neck-biting action, and the general appeal to prurient interests embodied here. And did I mention Yutte Stensgaard?

The Karnsteins are back in their Austrian castle, and this time they've infiltrated an all-girls finishing school where daughter Mircalla (an anagram of Carmilla, get it?) has enrolled. She's not only working her way through the student body -- and very attractive bodies they are -- but she's got the new English teacher in her clutches, too. It's up to Miss Playfair (Suzanna Leigh) to straighten things out. When Mircallla makes the daughter of a well-connected doctor her victim, though, the Karnsteins' plan soon unravels and it's not long before the angry mob of torch and pitchfork-wielding villagers descend on Castle Karnstein. And that's about all there is to it.

It's all pretty silly stuff, made all the sillier by the playing of a terrible song over the film's one hilariously brief and somewhat awkward softcore love scene between Stensgaard and the novelist-turned-English-teacher. Still, there's such a terrific abundance of eye candy here that faulting it too much for not being what the flick was never intended to be (e.g., suspenseful and intelligent) misses the point. The key to enjoying "Lust for a Vampire" is turning off one's brain and simply appreciating low-cut negligees, women in tunics doing synchronized "Greco-Roman" dancing in revealing tunics without... err... support, and generally watching things jiggle across one's screen, punctuated with occasional neck wounds and hot blondes rolling around in bed together. Key word here is LUST.

The early 19th century never looked this good!