At a finishing school for girls in 1830 Austria, one of the students goes missing; the administration is in a quandary, not knowing that another beauty from the village was recently murdered and her virginal blood was used to reincarnate Carmilla, a female vampire of the devilish Karnstein family, who arrives at the school under the guise of a new student. Screenwriter Tudor Gates (again mining Joseph Sheridan Le Fanuand's novella "Carmilla" for inspiration) and producers Michael Style and Harry Fine all return from 1970's adequate Hammer horror "The Vampire Lovers", but results are tepid this time. With new restraints handed down by the British censors, the team has scaled back on the lesbian overtures predominant in their previous film. Worse, the bloodsucker action also seems toned down in favor of a corny star-crossed romance between the vampire-heroine and a handsome human, an author and Royal heir who falls hard for the blonde beauty (they have sex in a grassy field to the strains of a pop love ballad!). Under these conditions, crack horror director Jimmy Sangster (filling in at the eleventh hour for an ailing Terence Fisher) might be excused for his flaccid handling--and yet, amazingly, there is not one drop of suspense in this scenario. Sangster is probably responsible for the picture's strongest sequence, with smitten school co-founder Ralph Bates groveling at the feet of the new Carmilla/Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard), though this scene, too, finishes poorly. Strong-jawed Michael Johnson positively eats his heart out after making love with the girl and finding himself rebuffed the next day, while a police inspector is killed while sniffing around and nothing is mentioned of him again. The writer and producers tried their luck a third time later the same year with "Twins of Evil", the final chapter of the Karnstein Trilogy. * from ****

A quick sequel to THE VAMPIRE LOVERS, this was the second in the infamous Hammer Karnstein trilogy (the third being TWINS OF EVIL). As a result it contains all of the ingredients we are now used to seeing in Hammer's '70s films, such as extra gore, gratuitous female nudity, and a heavy dose of sex. Unfortunately, production of the film suffered when Peter Cushing - the original choice for teacher Barton - dropped out due to his wife's severe illness, and Terence Fisher also dropped out from directing due to an accident. As a result, the film is perhaps not as effective as it might have once been. However, I think a lot of the criticism of this film is unfair. It has everything you would expect from a vampire film - lots of blood, biting, and even torch-wielding villagers.The acting, however, can best be described as 'average'. The film lacks a central pivotal character such as Cushing or Lee to carry it. Ralph Bates is always value for money, although he despised the film, appearing in it as a favour; but he dies too soon. I would have preferred to see him as the male lead instead. Michael Johnson, the film's lead, was never heard of again. Mike Raven, a former DJ, looks sinister but tries too hard to be Chris Lee (incidentally, I'm sure I saw Lee's eyes appear in a close-up). Christopher Neame (Johnny Alucard in Dracula A.D. 1972) even has a small role as the peasant Hans. Yutte Stensgaard is certainly beautiful and makes for an effective, strangely hypnotic vampire, although her acting skills are limited to say the least.Although made on a low budget, I was impressed by the costumes (although clothes are hardly ever kept on) and the scenery, especially the castle and adjoining graveyard. Even some comedy aspects creep into the film (Mike Raven's catchphrase, "Heart attack" is one). The film is also atmospheric, although sadly this atmosphere is somewhat ruined by the inclusion of a pop song, 'Strange Love', which has to be a low point in the entire Hammer filmography. The film does its best to include a tragic love story, which is at least partially successful. Strangely, most of Mircalla's female victims scream when attacked, but her male victims - Ralph Bates in particular - seem to enjoy the experience. Must be something to do with hormones. One great scene has the vampire coach driver attack the angry villagers with a whip and - well, I won't spoil it for you. Let's just say it's a vintage Hammer moment. I also liked the final scene where a burning timber stakes one of the vampires in the blazing castle. LUST FOR A VAMPIRE is an average film with lots of different ingredients to keep it going; and a worthy addition to Hammer's vampire series, whatever the critics may say.

LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (Jimmy Sangster, 1971) was an adaptation of the legend of Carmilla the vampire from 1710 (here renamed "Mircalla"), where pagans at an English girls' finishing school must sacrifice a beautiful woman so Mircalla can inhabit her body and feed again. The film is full of gratuitous nudity, plays around with lesbianism, and is often cited as a sign of Hammer Films in decline. I saw this film in a class taught by critic Douglas Brode at Syracuse University, however, and was reminded that what I find great about B filmmaking is that as long as the filmmakers satisfy some mandate - in this case, gratuitous nudity, and the debut of a pop song ("Strange Love," as I recall) - they can make whatever movie they want. It also reminds me that for all of Hammer's greatness, it really was a B movie studio, beholden to the same mandates as every other. What Sangster and company here have done, IMO, is make a well-lit, well shot soft core porn movie that nonetheless has a compelling and interesting story. If you're watching it for the T&A, the cast and the cinematography will oblige you, IMO, but I feel that it will also give you more than the average movie of this type will. I've always felt that Joss Whedon later took this concept - creating works that were, on their surface, simple, lowbrow entertainment, but then writing them well - and made a career out of it, and in my opinion, this was one of the first examples of how that can be done. I evaluate every film based on if I think it will give its intended audience what they want, and if, like Woody Allen, you don't usually like your filth this clean, LUST FOR A VAMPIRE will disappoint. If you're a nerd, however, who is tired of seeing vapid B movies that don't even TRY to tell a compelling story, this movie will impress. Not for everybody, IMO, but honestly my favorite Hammer Horror Film.

"Giles Barton" (Ralph Gates) is a novelist who writes about vampires and his interest about them has led him to a finishing school for young women in a remote part of Austria. While there he meets a beautiful student named "Mircalla" (Yutte Stensgaard) and immediately becomes enamored with her. What he doesn't know is that there is more about her than meets the eye. On that note the same could be said for this movie as it is the 2nd film in the "Karnstein Trilogy" produced by Hammer Films which also includes its predecessor "The Vampire Lovers" and later "Twins of Evil". Naturally, being a Hammer production it has a good Gothic feel to it which adds to the overall ambiance. It also has several beautiful women of which both Suzanna Leigh (as "Janet Playfair") and the aforementioned Yutte Stensgaard stand out most prominently. At any rate, while it isn't necessary to see "The Vampire Lovers" prior to watching this film I would suggest viewing it first if for no other reason than to gain a bit of continuity. Likewise, I should also mention that the vampires in this movie don't follow the same general rules one might expect as they can walk around during the day with apparently no ill effects. In any case, this is a pretty good vampire movie and I rate it as slightly above average.