+++1/2
One of Hammer's best horror films, starring Peter Cushing and real-life identical twins Mary and Madeleine Collinson. Cushing plays Gustav Weil, a zealous witch-finder seemingly determined to rid Central Europe of pretty young girls by burning them at the stake. Enter his orphaned nieces -- both young, both pretty -- one of whom so resents his authoritarian ways that she seeks out the local degenerate, Count Karnstein, who promptly turns her into a vampire. Based "on characters created by J. Sheridan Le Fanu" -- which means that Le Fanu's Carmilla, her name here scrambled as Mircalla (Katya Wyeth), is briefly but effectively summoned from Hell to turn Karnstein himself into a vampire. Hough and screenwriter Tudor Gates make good use of the twins motif in a story that is actually more complex and satisfying than most horror films of this type, with several genuinely dramatic moments, as well as a healthy sense of eroticism, particularly in the early going. Cushing gives a fine performance as the stern but ultimately conscientious Gustav, while the Collinson sisters, perfectly suited for their roles (and only a year removed from being Playboy's Plamates of the Month for October 1970), belie their resume of seemingly minor roles in a string of British sexploitation films. The third entry in Hammer's so-called Karnstein Trilogy, after The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire.
One of Hammer's best horror films, starring Peter Cushing and real-life identical twins Mary and Madeleine Collinson. Cushing plays Gustav Weil, a zealous witch-finder seemingly determined to rid Central Europe of pretty young girls by burning them at the stake. Enter his orphaned nieces -- both young, both pretty -- one of whom so resents his authoritarian ways that she seeks out the local degenerate, Count Karnstein, who promptly turns her into a vampire. Based "on characters created by J. Sheridan Le Fanu" -- which means that Le Fanu's Carmilla, her name here scrambled as Mircalla (Katya Wyeth), is briefly but effectively summoned from Hell to turn Karnstein himself into a vampire. Hough and screenwriter Tudor Gates make good use of the twins motif in a story that is actually more complex and satisfying than most horror films of this type, with several genuinely dramatic moments, as well as a healthy sense of eroticism, particularly in the early going. Cushing gives a fine performance as the stern but ultimately conscientious Gustav, while the Collinson sisters, perfectly suited for their roles (and only a year removed from being Playboy's Plamates of the Month for October 1970), belie their resume of seemingly minor roles in a string of British sexploitation films. The third entry in Hammer's so-called Karnstein Trilogy, after The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire.
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