The Vampire Lovers

The mysterious Marcilla spends a few days at the castle of General Spielsdorf and his niece Laura, as her mother has to go away for an extended period of time due to a supposedly sick boyfriend. Marcilla makes friends with Laura, who has terrible dreams at night in which she is attacked by a large cat. Day by day, Laura becomes weaker until she eventually dies. Marcilla leaves the house and takes up residence with Mr. Morton, now under the name Carmilla. She befriends his daughter Emma, who gets the same dreams as Laura and grows weaker day by day. The governess of the house also falls under Carmilla's spell. Only the butler suspects that Carmilla might be a vampire. Together with a doctor he tries to save Emma...

The Vampire Lovers is the first part of the Karnstein trilogy and the only co-production with the US studio AIP, who are best known for Corman's Poe adaptations. The other two films in the series are Lust for a Vampire (1971) and Twins of Evil (1971). The story is based on the novel Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu which had been adapted numerous times already - the most impressive adaption is Blood and Roses (Original Title: Et mourir de plaisir, 1960) directed by Roger Vadim. Director Roy Ward Baker had already worked for Hammer before, for instance on the incredible Quatermass and the Pit (1967) and later on also on Asylum (1972) for Amicus. The Vampire Lovers is coherently directed, surprising in many places with provocative permissiveness (especially from lead actress Ingrid Pitt) and a lesbian context that is anything but subversive. The scene in which Carmilla and Emma throw themselves naked on the bed remains as memorable as the bloody decapitation at the beginning of the film. In the Karnstein series, Hammer has tailored the classic vampire material to the exploitation cinema of the 70s. The mix of horror, sex & violence works brilliantly, so a recommendation can be made without hesitation.

US Blu-ray re-release slightly censored

In order to receive an R rating, the film had to be cut in the sex and violence scenes for theatrical release in the US. According to IMDb, this version is on the VHS tape by Embassy. For the DVD release, MGM reconstructed the missing footage except for a brief shot at the beginning of the film. The first Blu-ray of the film was released in the US by Scream Factory and is based on this restoration. On the German Blu-ray by Anolis is a slightly extended version of the film. Right at the beginning when the vampire is decapitated by Baron Hartog, the Anolis Blu-ray has a short shot of her head hitting the ground. This scene has poorer picture quality and was inserted from an SD source as already documented by us in this comparison.

On December 21, 2021, Scream Factory published a re-release of the film on Blu-ray in the US. Released as a Collector's Edition, the film has been resampled and the picture is a tad better than the first edition. As expected, the shot where the severed head of the vampire falls to the ground is missing. The shot can be found in the bonus material. The release is also slightly censored in one other spot. In the scene where Carmilla gets out of the bathtub while Emma holds the towel for her, there is a short alternative shot of Emma. This means that Carmilla's private parts are no longer visible. This is presumably one of the censorship interventions in the US version which has not been corrected.At least the Blu-ray contains alternate footage that has not been seen in HD before. Scream Factory has started an exchange program via which you can get the uncensored version starting in February 2022.

Runtimes:

German Blu-ray (Anolis): 91:36 min.
US Blu-ray (Scream Factory Collectors Edition): 91:07 min.

Comparison between the US Blu-ray (Collector's Edition - 2021 edition) by Scream Factory and the German Blu-ray by Anolis.

[00:06:03][00:06:13]

The severed head of the vampiress falls to the floor in one shot.

Anolis: 1,10 sec.


[00:32:03][00:32:11]

As Carmilla gets out of the bathtub while Emma holds the towel for her, the Collectors Edition Blu-ray cuts briefly to Emma as Carmilla stands up.

The Anolis version continues to show Carmilla getting out of the bathtub.

CE: 1,33 sec.
Anolis: 1,33 sec.