☆ ☆ ½
The
Vampire Lovers (1970) – R. W. Baker
At the start of Hammer Film’s decline,
they took advantage of the era’s growing permissiveness to merge their
longstanding interest in vampires (who are by nature the most erotic of
monsters) with an effort to attract viewers with titillation (which admittedly
wasn’t too far from their agenda with their previous period costumes for
actresses). Here, Ingrid Pitt, with her Garbo-like Polish accent, makes a
redoubtable lesbian vampire (from the oft-filmed tale by Sheridan Le Fanu),
seducing (and killing) the young ladies of the village, under the watchful eye
of Christopher Lee surrogate, John Forbes-Robertson. Unfortunately, the best
and spookiest scene occurs before the opening credits roll and from then on in things
are rather lacklustre, although presented with Hammer’s usual flair for set
decoration. Peter Cushing makes what amounts to a guest appearance. Look
elsewhere for your British horror thrills.
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