James Hitchcock The lesbian vampire was invented in 1872 by the Irish writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu in his novella "Carmilla". Of course, Victorian codes of literary propriety forbade direct discussion of sexual matters, so the lesbianism in his story is implied rather than explicit, but anyone reading it will be left in no doubt that Le Fanu's anti-heroine is romantically attracted to her own sex. It was, however, to be nearly a century before the cinema could take advantage of his invention. Victorian values persisted long after the end of the Victorian era, with the Hollywood of the Production Code being one of their last bastions, and until the 1960s making a film about lesbian vampires would have been as unthinkable as making a film about lesbian anything else. Cinematic vampires were generally male and sexless; I doubt if anyone ever regarded Bela Lugosi as a sex symbol. With the coming of the permissive society, however, things changed. Cinematic vampires no longer had to be gaunt, cadaverous, Transylvanian Counts but could now be sexy, voluptuous young ladies with a fondness for other sexy, voluptuous young ladies. ("Fangs for the Mammaries"....) Hammer's "The Vampire Lovers" from 1970 is a film of this type. This blend of horror and eroticism was popular at the box office so hammer decided to make a sequel. The fact that Le Fanu had not actually written a sequel to "Carmilla" proved no drawback, and the studio concocted a plot in which Carmilla Karnstein, having been restored to life through the use of diabolical magic, becomes a pupil at a girls' finishing school under the name "Mircalla", where she proceeds to wreak havoc among the other pupils, the staff and the inhabitants of the nearby village. Hammer were later to make a third film in the so-called Karnstein Trilogy, "Twins of Evil", although this film does not feature either lesbianism or the character of Carmilla. Miss Simpson's academy is the sort of fantasy girls boarding school beloved of erotic film-makers- it operates a strictly selective admissions policy, with selection taking place on the basis of looks rather than academic ability, the students are allowed to stay at school until their late twenties rather than leaving at eighteen, the gym mistress is as youthful as any of her pupils, and the school uniform (improbably, given that the action is supposed to take place in 1830) consists of the flimsiest, most diaphanous robes imaginable. The sex scenes are fairly tame, although there is plenty of toplessness and a couple of brief scenes of full nudity.Today there is a tendency in literature and the cinema to make vampires sympathetic. If "The Vampire Lovers" were to be remade today it would probably resemble a Sapphic version of "Twilight" with Carmilla, now a heroine rather than anti-heroine, portrayed as a soulful, sensitive, misunderstood creature, deeply in love with her mortal girlfriend Laura. This tendency, however, had not yet got going in the seventies, so the vampires in the Karnstein trilogy, although sexy, are still portrayed as evil, murderous creatures in league with the devil. Indeed, they are more evil than they were in Le Fanu's story, where Carmilla is portrayed as morally ambiguous. "Lust for a Vampire" does not feature any of Hammer's major stars. Ingrid Pitt, who had played Carmilla in "The Vampire Lovers", was offered the same role here but turned it down, possibly because she realised that, at 34, she would not make a very convincing schoolgirl. The part went instead to an otherwise obscure Danish actress named Yutte Stensgaard. Peter Cushing was forced to withdraw from the film because of his wife's illness. Christopher Lee does not appear here (or, indeed, in any of the trilogy), but Mike Raven, better known as a radio DJ, does a sort of Lee impersonation as Count Karnstein. The film's best-known actor is Ralph Bates, something of a horror specialist, who is given top billing even though his is only a supporting role and his character dies early on. The film was popular when it first came out, largely because of its erotic content, but today it looks like the weakest of the Karnstein trilogy. "The Vampire Lovers" at least had the advantage of being a reasonably faithful adaptation of a literary classic, albeit the lesbian theme far more explicit than in the original, and Pitt is splendidly seductive in the main role. "Twins of Evil" has its faults, notably the casting of the talentless Collinson sisters, but it does have a good performance from Cushing and raises some surprisingly pertinent points, for a Hammer horror flick, about religious fanaticism and the nature of evil. "Lust For a Vampire", by comparison, is poorly acted with a cliché- ridden and rather silly plot. Yutte Stensgaard, although striking- looking, had neither the talent nor the charisma of Pitt, and it is easy to understand why her acting career was so brief. (Having a name that was unpronounceable to anyone not fluent in Danish probably didn't help. Indeed, given that "Yutte" was a partial anglicisation of her real Christian name, Jytte, even Danes might have been at a loss as to how to pronounce it). Michael Johnson as the main male character Richard Lestrange is bland and uninteresting. The film still enjoys something of a cult following, chiefly among those who judge a film's artistic merits by the number of scantily-clad girls on display, but judged by any other standards "Lust For a Vampire" is a disappointment. 4/10 A goof. Arthur Biggs (a character who appears only in one scene) introduces himself as an "avant-garde writer", even though the phrase "avant-garde" was not used in this sense as early as 1830.

MartinHafer This R-rated vampire film made me laugh. After all, a vampire who died over a hundred years earlier (Countess Carmilla) has been revived and she matriculates at a nearby girls school. While this idea is silly, it's even sillier since the school apparently is only for hot ladies ages 18-25! And, during much of their free time, they spend it dressing and undressing and kissing each other! It was all meant to be very sexy and at times it was, but I also laughed a lot since it was so contrived and clichéd. After all, they sure seemed to come up with so many excuses to get naked! However, despite this silly plot, the film actually was pretty good in many ways. Much of it was, I am sure, due to it being made by Hammer Films--a studio that had already made a bazillion horror films and knew how to get the look right. While it's far from the studio's best, it was pretty good--and a lot better than some of their other 1970s vampire films (such as "The Satanic Rites of Dracula"). And, if you are looking for boobies, then this film should do the trick.By the way, don't you think the guy vampire looked an awful lot like General Zod from "Superman II"?! And, although not a bad film, get a look at the silly way they killed off Carmilla! Pretty dumb and pretty convenient!!

lastliberal While we anxiously await Lesbian Vampire Killers, we can visit a Hammer classic that has loads of naturally endowed women in a finishing school.While the lesbianism that is inferred is probably just normal boarding school hi-jinks, we are able to enjoy the peaks of pleasure exposed to our view. The vampire Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard) has plenty of girls to go skinny dipping with.The teacher Richard (Michael Johnson) is quite taken with the beauty that he fellow teacher (Ralph Bates) believes to be the reincarnation of a Countess that died 120 years previous. Another teacher (Suzanna Leigh) almost buys it after she continues to stick her nose into the problems of dying and missing.As expected, the villagers finally take matters into their own hands to rid themselves of the problem.

BaronBl00d Sheridan Le Fanu wrote a Gothic little vampire tale called Carmilla in the 19th century that has astoundingly been the subject and backdrop of a surprising amount of films. The story is quite good yet in no way is the material enough to cover the breadth and scope of more than one film - which is one of the major problems with this Hammer entry. Lust for a Vampire is the second in a trilogy of Hammer films known throughout filmdom as the "Karnstein Trilogy." The first film is The Vampire Lovers which is a wonderful adaptation of Le Fanu's work. Then we have this film - which is what it is - still clinging ever so strongly to the vastly resource-depleted story of Carmilla, and lastly there is Twins of Evil which is nothing more than a Carmilla film in name only because of places and general themes and film trends. So the story here by Tudor Gates is very lacking. This time around we have a girl's school - and the girls are of course all around 18(Many looking like they are in their early/mid 20s)and drop-dead gorgeous with well-coiffed hair, elegant dresses, and that "I just had my picture taken for the centerfold in Playboy" look. Nothing wrong with that but we are asked to believe it opened up in the heart of Eastern Europe RIGHT BY the castle of a family known throughout the countryside as evil vampires(and still coming to life every so often as we are told through the opening sequence of the film). Now I know it is only a film, and, yes, maybe I am over analyzing here - but this Hammer entry lacks the ingenuity, creative spark, and acting/directorial talents associated with Hammer. It is a product of its time - the early 70s - and Hammer had resorted to "tricks" if you will far more heavily then they ever had done so before. We see lots of bosoms here - lots.(Okay I CAN live with this.) Violence is at minimum for even a Hammer film, but what we also get which is a trend at this time are films where there is no recognizable star power. No Peter Cushing here(although I do understand he was slated to be in it but personal problems forced him to cancel). No Christopher Lee. No Andre Morel even or Andrew Keir. I would have even taken Michael Ripper, but what we get is Ralph Bates, a serviceable actor at best, in a throwaway role and not much else in terms of acting talent. The male lead Michael Johnson has a bit of charisma but is far more annoying as a thespian - I wanted him to get it very early on. The young beautiful girls are just that. Carmilla/Mircalla is played by Danish beauty Yutte Stensgaard. She is lovely to be sure, but she has little to do other than the "normal" things lesbian vampires do in films like this. Pippa Steel is also awesome eye candy. But the worst casting and most laughable of all is that of Mike Raven as some vampire in the wings so to speak who looks, acts, and sounds like Christopher Lee. Almost his whole repertoire of words is "heart attack." Pretty soon you start laughing just at the sight of him for just how ridiculous and unprofessional these scenes are - and in very bad taste as to the mood of the rest of the film. While I will agree that Lust for a Vampire is entertaining overall to a degree - it is also heavily flawed and unworthy of the great Hammer tradition, Jimmy Sangster the director, and many of the Hammer legions of production workers who have worked and created much superior work.