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Countess Dracula / The Vampire LoversRating:
Release Date: 26 August, 2003 Retail Price: $14.95 OUR Price: $13.46 You SAVE: $1.49! Cast: Complete Cast (7 total) |
Countess Dracula / The Vampire Lovers Reviews
T & A & H (Hammer, that is)
At last, two latter-day Hammer horror classics arrive, and in a bargain-priced deluxe treatment! MGM has really done a fine job with this Ingrid Pitt double-feature. Both films feature commentary from Pitt and others involved in the productions. The commentaries are a bit dry, but nonetheless informative and entertaining. As an added bonus, you get Ingrid Pitt reading excerpts from "Carmilla" (upon which THE VAMPIRE LOVERS was loosely--very loosely--based).
COUNTESS DRACULA has not been, to my knowledge, commercially available in the U.S. until now. The widescreen transfer is certainly an improvement over my old "bootleg" VHS copy, with rich colors and a remarkably clean and crisp audio track. That being said, I find the film itself to be the lesser of the two on this disc. But of course, it's nice to have this rarely-seen Hammer flick.
THE VAMPIRE LOVERS finds Pitt it top form as the tortured Mircalla Karnstein. Even more delightful is doe-eyed Madeline Smith as Emma, the bewitching innocent caught up in this sapphic web of fangs and flesh.
This is one "Midnite Movies" offering that any fan of classic horror will definitely want to own. Or, if you're just curious about Hammer films or Ingrid Pitt, here's a very affordable way to check 'em out. Recommended, for sure.
You must die! Everybody must die!
The Vampire Lovers, while certainly well made and acted, it didn't really live up to the hype of being Hammer's creative high of the 70s. The story has no sense of urgency or menance until the last 3 minutes, and even than it still manages to end with a whimper. On the bright side MGM Technical Services outdid themselves with a superb restoration of the video and audio. If only all catalogue titles received such lavish attention. The commentary is a little dry, but Pitt/Baker/Gates do provide some interesting factoids about the film and Hammer in general. The best feature, for me, is the excerpts of "Carmilla" read by Ingrid Pitt. Apart from the pleasure of hearing her lovely accent, which I adore, it's made me want to track down Le Fanu's original novella. Countess Dracula was more of a chore! Again it's nicely made and the actors all rise to the occassion, but the script pulls them right back down. Peter Sasdy and Jeremy Paul have obviously worked on too many genteel BBC production by this point, because Countess Dracula plays exactly like a plodding early television drama (With blood and ... of course!). Pitt/Sasdy/Paul provide a fairly standard commentary. We learn early on that both Sasdy and Paul have had very good educations, and while Ingrid remains mum for most of the time she does offer some historical notes on the real Erzebet Bathori. After hearing Mr. Sasdy accent on the commentary one wonders why he decided to dub Ingrid's in the film, as Pitt once mentioned in an interview, his could explode a banana! While enjoyable, The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula certainly aren't the creative reawakening Hammer would experience with Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter and Hands of the Ripper they are not without their own charms.
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