Lust For A Vampire [DVD]

This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of 'Lust For A Vampire' released by Shout! Factory in 2019.*****NOTE***** For those who are new to this movie, this is not a modern movie. It was made in 1971. It was made a few years after the rating system began and is rated 'R'. There is nudity in this film. This is part two of 'The Karnstein Trilogy' of movies.WHAT IS THE KARNSTEIN TRILOGY OF FILMS?:The three Karnstein Trilogy films are:The Vampire Lovers (1970)Lust For A Vampire (1971)Twins of Evil (1971)-The movies are all based on a novella called 'Carmilla' by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. They all focus on members of the Karnstein family.-This trilogy is not a traditional trilogy. The movies are only loosely connected and can be watched in any order.-The vampires in this trilogy have differences than more traditional vampires. For instance, these vampires are not affected by daylight. Another vampire movie produced by Hammer Film Productions, uses vampires with same traits as The Karnstein Trilogy. This movie is called 'Vampire Circus'.-There was a fourth movie planned called the Vampire Virgins or Vampire Hunters. A movie was eventually made called 'Captain Kronos- Vampire Hunter'. There is, in fact, a vampire from the Karnstein family in the movie so there is definitely a connection. However, the setting is different.BLU-RAY: The picture is a new 4K scan of the original film elements. You can watch the movie in two different aspect ratio's. You can watch it in either 1.66:1 or 1.85:1. I always like to watch the version that gives you more of the original picture. I watched it in 1.85:1. I think the picture is quite nice. The colors are bright and the picture is sharp. From time to time you can see some film grain. Overall, I am quite pleased with the picture.EXTRA'S:-There is an alternate cover on the inside of the Blu-Ray sleeve. You can see a picture of it in this review.-Audio Commentary by Film Historian Bruce Hallenbeck - Hallenbeck's commentary is a new commentary and he is the type of commentator who gives you a lot of background information, biographies, etc. as well as some commentary on what you are seeing.-Audio Commentary by Director Jimmy Sangster, actress Susanna Leigh and Hammer Film Historian Marcus Hearn - I listened to this commentary. Susanna Leigh played Janet. She injects a lot of humor into the commentary. Sangster is quite frank in his commentary. He says that he was a last minute replacement and none of the production ideas were his. He did not get along with the producers and only directed the movie as a favor. -Interview with Actress Mel Churcher - This is a short interview. Churcher was essentially an extra in the film. She played one of the students at the school.-Theatrical Trailer-Radio Spots-Still Galleries-Subtitles*****WARNING - LOTS OF SPOILERS BELOW THIS POINT*****PLOT/SUMMARY: Richard Lestrange is a writer who has come to Karnstein Castle to do research for a new novel. Unfortunatley he has arrived at a time when the Karnstein vampires return. Supposedly they rise every 40 years. He visits the castle and he mistakenly believes he is being abducted by vampires. He has run into a bunch of students and their schoolmaster, Giles Barton, from a nearby girls school. They go back to the school and Lestrange meets the school principal, Miss Simpson and the the school's athletics instructor, Janet. Shortly thereafter, a new student shows up named Mircalla. Mircalla is brought to the school by her Aunt Heritzen. Lestrange takes a liking to Mircalla.Lestrange goes to a local bar where he meets the incoming English teacher. He convinces him to leave so that he can take the job at the school. He soon learns that Barton is obsessed with the history of the Karnstein's. Barton knows that Mircalla is a Karnstein vampire. He hides one of her victims in a well. Barton asks Mircalla to make him her servant. Mircalla kills Barton. Lestange knows Mircalla's secret but falls in love with her anyway and protects her secret. Janet has fallen in love with Lestrange and tries to convince him to stay away. Miss Simpson lies to the police about the recent death's at the school. She has been lying to protect the school's reputation. The father of one of the victims comes to the school and demands answers. The locals angered by the recent death's march on the Karnstein castle.PRODUCTION:This movie was made in 1971 and released in the U.S. by MGM.-This movie has alternate titles of 'Love For A Vampire' and 'To Love A Vampire'.-Jimmy Sangster ended up directing this movie when the great Terence Fisher couldn't direct.-A scene of a cloes-up of one of the vampires' eyes is obviously a stock footage close-up of Christopher Lee's bloodshot eyes.-Peter Cushing was originally planned to have the role of Lestrange. His wife had recently died and Cushing was grieving at the time.-There were originally a bunch of scenes that would have tied this movie to the previous movie, 'The Vampire Lovers'. They were cut from the final script.COMMENTS:-From the commentary we learn that Suzanna Leigh, who plays Janet was told that the nude scenes were for the 'Swedish version' of the movie. She did not have to do any nude scenes.-The song, "Strange Love" was made for this film and the director, Jimmy Sangster, was mortified when he heard it playing for the first time during a love scene in the movie.-The scene with Carmilla drenched in blood was originally meant to be even bloodier, but it was toned down a bit in the final cut. WHO IS YUTTE STENSGAARD AND WHAT BECAME OF HER? Stensgaard was born in in Denmark and moved to the United Kingdom in 1963. She eventually became a model and started acting in small parts in 1968. She got the role of Carmilla in 1971 and it would be one of the final roles of her career. Shortly thereafter she got married and moved to the United States and became a Christian. She married for the third time in 2012.CONCLUSIONS: WAS 'LUST FOR A VAMPIRE', A TERRIBLE FILM?:Ralph Bates, who plays Giles Barton, called Lust For A Vampire' one of the worst movies ever made. Jimmy Sangster, who directed the film, was not happy with the results. He was a last minute replacement and had nothing to do with the production of the film. He did the film as a favor to Hammer. There are some critics who think that this movie was the worst film that Hammer ever made. It is often accused of being campy and just plain silly. I disagree with all the people who say this movie is terrible. I actually thought it was quite enjoyable. This movie may not have the greatest of scripts, but at the end of the day, it is entertaining. The plot is at least somewhat interesting and there is plenty of eye candy for us males.I think this is a decent release and worth purchasing if you are a fan of Hammer films. You get two audio commentaries, including one which features the director.RATINGS:Plot: 6/10 or 3 stars - Entertaining, if not great.Picture: 8/10 or 4 stars - New 4K scan is very good.Extra's: 7/10 or 3 1/2 stars - Two audio commentariesOverall: 4 stars

What's that me hounds of classic Hammer horror films? You say you want more of the titillating, fantabuloso, bloodsucking, Sapphic action you enjoyed so much in the popular film The Vampire Lovers (1970)? Well, fret not, as Hammer Studios heard your grubby pleas and punched out this sequel, titled Lust for a Vampire (1971). Directed Jimmy Sangster, known for his excellent writing work on such films like X the Unknown (1956), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), and Dracula (1958), the film stars Ralph Bates (Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde), Michael Johnson (Anne of the Thousand Days), and Yutte Stensgaard (Scream and Scream Again), in her last silver screen appearance. Also appearing is Barbara Jefford (The Ninth Gate), Suzanna Leigh (The Lost Continent), Helen Christie (Rasputin: The Mad Monk), and former pirate radio station disc jockey Mike Raven, whom I last saw in the fairly rotten film Crucible of Terror (1971).The film, set in the year 1830, begins with the abduction of a peasant girl, whose yams are literally bursting forth from her cleavage, begging for a squeeze. The girl ends up being used in some black magic ritual (what a waste), one that reincarnates what I guess to be a vampire, and a sexy one at that...we then switch to a nearby town where we meet noted author Richard Lestrange (Johnson), who's visiting the area interested in researching material for a new book. Seems the town has had some bad luck over the years, specifically with a family by the name of Karnstein, and their now dilapidated castle that is no longer occupied...or is it? Anyway, turns out the vampiric activity follows a 40-year cyclical timetable, and the anniversary is here...sure enough, young, boobalicious girlies begin to go missing. Richard thinks the idea of vampires is a lot of hooey, decides to visit the castle, where he meets the nerdy and bespeckled teacher Giles Barton (Bates), co-founder of a newly opened school for buxom bouncing beauties who enjoy giving themselves massages (oops, that girl's shirt fell off) and nekkid nighttime swims (yowsa). Richard becomes infatuated with a teacher named Janet Playfair (Leigh), and subsequently weasels his way into a teaching position, but then later falls under the thrall Mircalla (Stensgaard), who is actually Carmilla Karnstein, the same girl we saw brought back from the dead (or undead) at the beginning of the film! Soon a sinister cloud of evil falls over the school, as the blood drained bodies begin to pile up...it's a veritable vampires virginal smorgasbord, and no one is safe...All right, I tend to agree with some of the others in that this film may not be as bad as many claim it is, but in terms of a Hammer Production, it is pretty stinky...Sangster himself was embarrassed by the results (particularly the inclusion of the song `Strange Love', to which I'd agree with him), and claimed he was basically along for the ride, taking the helm just prior to shooting after the original director, Terrence Fisher, was unable to proceed after breaking his leg. Apparently Peter Cushing was meant to appear, but due to his wife's illness at the time, opted out, to which Ralph Bates was brought in...and then there's Ingrid Pitt, who played the role of Mircalla/Carmilla Karnstein in The Vampire Lovers...she declined to appear in this follow up because she thought the script awful. Seems this film had a lot going against it from the get go, but I'll tell you what, there is some fun to be had, if you don't expect too much. If you look at Sangster's credits, you'll notice his specialty seemed more in crafting tales, rather than directing, but he did do a decent job here, even if his heart wasn't in it. I thought most of the actors did reasonably well, but the main problem to me was a lack of focus. There were a great number of characters running around, more than necessary, and some of them ended up getting the short end of the stick. I though Raven played an interesting character, and assumed he'd have more screen time based on his pronounced present of the DVD case artwork, but that wasn't the case. Most of the time he slinked around on the peripheral, throwing sinister glares about. He should have been utilized more, especially given his commanding presence and booming, baritone voice. Also, I thought more could have been done with Barbara Jefford's character of Countess Herritzen...she seemed a rich (and sexy), untapped vein of juiciness waiting to be mined. And then there was the police inspector, played by Harvey Hall (The Vampire Lovers). I thought his character surprisingly strong, but ultimately wasted. What was up with Ralph Bates character? He prominent in the story initially, but then poof! He's gone...sort of pointless, if you ask me. Like I said, too many characters floating around resulting in uneven focus overall. Yutte Stensgaard did well, but let's face it, she's no Ingrid Pitt, and as many a Hammer fan knows, that's one corset that's especially hard to fill...the general atmosphere of the film worked alright (there are some really beautiful settings), but it felt lacking in the signature darker, more gothic tones normally associated with previous Hammer horror works, but then again, the studio was in a period of decline, one which it sadly wouldn't survive. There were a few good films that came out in this later period, Twins of Evil (1971) for example, but it wasn't like it was in the old days. Some of my favorite parts of the film (beside the copious boobage) included the scenes where the weak willed head mistress Miss Simpson gets chastised by not only the police inspector, but later by a father of one of the dead girls, presenting the best `deer caught in the headlights' expression I've ever seen...you see, Miss Simpson neglected to report the various incidents in a timely manner as she was so worried about a scandal, as she had all her money tied up in the school. Also, be sure to catch the exchange between the characters of Richard Lestrange and the uber effeminate Professor Herz, played by Erik Chitty (The Vault of Horror), as Richard fools the man into leaving prior to his arriving at the school so that Richard may take his place. The ending provides quite the entertaining (if not cliché) spectacle, in that of the old `angry townspeople with torches' routine...I never get tired of that...Anchor Bay Entertainment provides an excellent uncut, uncensored widescreen (1.77:1) picture on this DVD, enhanced for 16X9 televisions. The picture quality is clear, vibrant, and generally beautiful. Also, the Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio is crisp and comes through very well. There are some excellent features, including an audio commentary track with director Jimmy Sangster and actress Suzanna Leigh (she never popped her top in the film), moderated by Hammer film historian Marcus Hearn, along with a theatrical trailer, radio spots, a poster and still gallery, talent bios, and a 5X7 insert reproduction of original poster artwork for the film, the flipside listing the chapter stops. All in all a five star release of a three star film, hence the four star rating.Cookieman108By the way, I never knew how useful an old, dried up well could be, especially if you have some corpses that need disposing of...

This is a fascinating movie, starring the most beautiful vampire ("femme fatale") of the film history: Yutte Stensgaard. The 2nd part in the "Karnstein-Carmilla by Joseph S. Le Fanu" trilogy from the Hammer Studios. Well directed and acted and very entertaining, despite some parts which are slightly cut. One of my favourite vampire movies. But I don't see any reason why the complete version shouldn't be restored.

A Hammer Classic with the Great Ralph Bates.

Pongo dos estrellas porque no está remasterizada en cuanto a imagen, es una pena pero por 5,60€ no esta mal. AAAHHH!! otra cosa por sino no lo sabe nadie, es la segunda parte de una trilogia, pero me da la sensación, de que con los cambios de actores y actrices de los personajes la gente se perderá, y el guión no estaría a la altura en el sentido de que hay cosas que no cuadrán para que sea una trilogia, el orden cronologico sería este.1 - Las Amantes Del Vampiro2 - Lujuría De Un Vampiro3 - Dracula Y Las Mellizas

This film is the second of Hammers films to be centered on the Vampire Carmilla. As the title implies it contains more of the erotic than most of their films but they don't forget the gothic horror elements either. Ralph Bates delivers a delicious performance as the weirdo teacher just waiting to be corrupted by our villainess. I have been waiting for years to get a good copy of this movie and here it is with a great collection of bonus features as well.

il Film merita di essere visto soprattutto per la bellezza della vampira, il resto è mediocre.