Anoraks Assemble

The Vampire Lovers is a 1970 Gothic horror film, written by Tudor Gates and directed by Roy Ward Baker.

It is the first in the so-called “Karnstein Trilogy”, and stars Ingrid Pitt, Kate O’Mara and Peter Cushing.

Oh Lordy, where do I start?

Basically, Ingrid Pitt plays a vampire who tries to seduce every young woman she meets, leaving her victims suffering from strange nightmares, where they see themselves attacked by a giant cat, and also with puncture wounds on their breasts.

And talking of breasts, well hello, but we are really kicking off the 1970s in style, with plenty of blood and boob shots. In fact, in terms of the blood, it is surprisingly gory, with a rather gruesome decapitation scene which I was not expecting.

There is a lot of sexual content which, if nothing else, illustrates the relaxation in censorship rules and what was now deemed to be acceptable. And yes, the film clearly deals with lesbian themes, but not in a way that I, a woman, think is terribly positive. This is a film made by men, for men, a borderline porno with boob shots a plenty.

If you want to see a horror film with a really interesting lesbian character, check out Claire Bloom as Theo in The Haunting.

It is difficult to find many positives in The Vampire Lovers – I do not think I was the target audience – but Peter Cushing is in it, so it can’t all be terrible, can it?

Well actually, I think it can. In fact, I would much rather go and watch Dracula AD 1972, and that is saying something!