(1963) Directed by Don Sharp; Written by John Elder (aka:
Anthony Hinds); Starring: Clifford Evans, Edward de Souza, Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Barry Warren, Jacquie
Wallis and Isobel Black; Available on Blu-Ray and DVD
Rating: ****
“I decided straight away he was going to be a creature
possessed of bloodlust and great sexual appetite. I focused on Ravna’s power.”
– Noel Willman on his character, Dr. Ravna (from The Hammer Story, by
Marcus Hearn and Alan Bates)
“I felt that the picture had to have a style about it, that
it had to have a feeling of elegance and decadence.” – Don Sharp (from Hammer
Films: The Unsung Heroes, by Wayne Kinsey)
Note: This is an expanded version of a capsule review from July2015.
After re-evaluating the film, I upped my star rating (did I mention I hate ratingmovies?).
Thanks (Or should I say “fangs”?) to Gabriela from PaleWriter for hosting Dark and Deep: The Gothic Horror Blogathon,
a celebration of all things dark and mysterious. With this in mind, it was an
easy choice for today’s review, one of the lesser-known but no less-deserving
titles from the famed production company.
When you think of Hammer films and vampire movies, the first
that likely come to mind are the Dracula films with Christopher Lee as
the titular Count, and Cushing as his archnemesis, Professor Van Helsing. You
might also bring up the Karnstein trilogy, which helped make stars of Ingrid
Pitt, Madeline Smith, and the Collinson twins. Following the success of The
Brides of Dracula (1960), Anthony Hinds set his sights on another vampire
film – this time without the presence of Lee or Cushing (even Hammer stalwart
Michael Ripper was otherwise occupied). Australian director Don Sharp was
approached by Hinds to direct his first Hammer film. Although The Kiss of
the Vampire was filmed in 1962,*/** problems with distribution (distributor
Universal-International, feared that the film’s climactic swarm of bats was too
similar to scenes in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, released in 1963) delayed
its release in the States until 1963, and in the U.K. until 1964.
* Fun Fact #1: The Kiss of the Vampire was filmed back-to-back
with The Old Dark House and Paranoiac.
** Fun Fact #2: Ever budget-conscious, numerous set pieces in
The Kiss of the Vampire appeared in other Hammer films. The production/art
design team of Bernard Robinson and Don Mingaye recycled set pieces from various
productions: the same stained-glass window was used in The Old Dark House,
a staircase was repurposed from Paranoiac, and the stone griffins from The
Brides of Dracula were re-purposed for Ravna’s castle.
While traveling in the Bavarian mountains on their honeymoon,
Gerald and Mariane Harcourt (Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel) run out of
gas. The nearby village appears deserted; likewise, the dust-coated inn where
they decide to spend the night is suspiciously bereft of guests. The innkeeper
and his wife, Bruno and Anna (Peter Madden and Vera Cook) are accommodating,
but reticent about the conditions of the village, or Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman), who
resides in the nearby castle. Gerald soon discovers that their troubles have
only begun, as Ravna fixes his sights on Mariane as his newest disciple.
It’s been said that vampire films (and by extension depictions
of vampirism) reflect the times in which they’re made, and The Kiss of the
Vampire is no exception. In this case, the central theme (the wealthy preying
on the impoverished) is just as relevant today. When Ravna entertains Gerald
and Mariane at his castle, he does little to mask his disdain for the common
folk in the village, stating, “It often happens in life that the most beautiful
things are made from the most unpromising of materials, don’t you find?” He
further comments about the wine they’re drinking as being “made from grapes
trampled by the feet of a peasant.” At once this reveals his attitude toward
those less fortunate, but it’s also an indication about how he views his disciples,
having saved them from a lesser existence. We learn that the innkeepers live in
fear of Ravna, after he took away their daughter Tania (Isobel Black), who now
serves as one of his undead minions.
Isobel Black makes an impressive film debut as Tania. She has
few lines and relatively little screen time, but her presence makes a big
impression, bringing an overt sexuality to the role. In one of the film’s more
memorable scenes, set in a fog-shrouded graveyard, she claws at the dirt, in an
attempt to recover one of her cohorts. Co-star (and headliner) Jennifer Daniel is
nearly upstaged by Black’s mischievous, almost feral performance.
Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans) is first seen in the film’s
stunning opening scene, where he impales his daughter’s coffin with a shovel.
He’s sort of an alcoholic version of Van Helsing, drowning his sorrows in
liquor after he lost his daughter to Ravna. Evans plays his character with zealous
conviction – Zimmer doesn’t want to see history repeat with Mariane, vowing to
destroy Ravna and his followers (“forcing evil to destroy itself”). In a cringey
scene that’s surpassed only by Cushing in The Brides of Dracula (1960), he
burns his arm over an open flame to ameliorate a bite he sustained from Tania.
As a protagonist, Gerald is a bit on the obtuse side,
managing to get drugged twice in the movie. The first time, he drinks a glass
of “special” champagne at Ravna’s masquerade ball. In the second instance, Zimmer
gets the best of him, before he can impulsively run off to Ravna’s castle to
rescue his wife, sans a solid plan. On the other hand, Gerald deserves credit
where it’s due. During an initiation ritual, Tania scratches his chest, leaving
streaks of blood. In what can only be described as one of the most “metal”
moments in Hammer history, he smears the blood in the form of a cross,
thwarting her ambitions.
The Kiss of the Vampire features some extraordinary
sets and art direction. As mentioned in Fun Fact #2, the production design wizards
at Hammer were masters at doing more with less, repurposing and re-arranging sets
and set pieces until they looked like they were purpose-built for this production.
In the masquerade sequence, our eyes are treated to a ballroom festooned with a
colorful menagerie of paper lanterns, complemented by an equally colorful, bizarre
assortment of masks (I’m not sure if Stanley Kubrick was a fan, but the masks
and secret society element seem to parallel one sequence of Eyes Wide Shut).
Overall, the movie looks like a much more expensive production – that is, until
the final effects sequence, in which a swarm of fake, barely mobile bats* on
visible wires spoil the illusion.
* Fun Fact #3: 21 bats were manufactured by the prop
department, but additional bats were purchased from several local Woolworths
stores.
Sharp proved his mettle as a director for Hammer with this
film (On a side note, isn’t “Sharp” the perfect name for a director of a movie
with fanged creatures of the night? Okay, I’ll see myself out…), and would go
on to direct other projects for the production company, The Devil-Ship
Pirates (1964) and Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966). If you can look
past the underwhelming ending, the rest of the film works quite well. It warrants
re-evaluation by Hammer and non-Hammer fans alike, delivering everything you
might expect in a gothic horror film. Don’t let the paucity of Hammer regulars
fool you. The Kiss of the Vampire is a Hammer vampire film that compares
with the best of them.
Sources for this article: The Hammer Story, by Marcus
Hearn and Alan Bates; Hammer Films: The Unsung Heroes, by Wayne Kinsey
