6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Marcilla Karnstein from time to time comes back from her death sleep, and under a different name, such as Carmilla or, now, Mircalla, spreads terror in a village with her vampire powers. General Von Spielsdorf loses his nubile daughter to Mircalla, and swears revenge, with the help of expert vampire-killer Baron Hartog and their Doctor. Eventually, they will kill the female vampire, but not before she traps a number of female lovers/victims...
Starring: Ingrid Pitt, George Cole (I), Peter Cushing, Kate O'Mara, Ferdy MayneHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Roman Polanski’s elegantly disturbing film version of Rosemary's Baby is often credited with breathing new life into what was then a pretty moribund horror genre. Though it’s nowhere near in the same league as Rosemary’s Baby, either artistically or with regard to its inherent chills, The Vampire Lovers which came along a year after Rosemary’s Baby was perhaps in its own small scale and intentionally provocative way, just as revolutionary. Hammer Films had made something of a splash by revisiting several iconic Universal properties throughout the fifties and sixties, including Frankenstein and Dracula, investing them with their own lurid atmosphere and frequent Grand Guignol touches. But by 1970, the bloom was definitely off the rose and Hammer seemed to be perilously close to tipping over into self parody. That actually did happen to Hammer, but just a bit later than 1970, and in fact the so-called Karnstein Trilogy, of which The Vampire Lovers was the first part, was in some ways the studio’s last gasp of originality, albeit originality that many found objectionable at the time of the three films’ theatrical exhibitions. “Exhibition” is an unusually appropriate term for this trilogy, for The Karnstein films were rife with female nudity (including full frontal, something that was more or less verboten in those more delicate times), as well as a none too subtle lesbian subtext. The films were obviously titillating if never very scary, and over the years they’ve attained something of a cult status, foreshadowing the more libertine sensibilities that would inhabit films in ensuing decades. The ironic thing is that The Vampire Lovers, despite its occasional “naughty bits”, will probably seem downright quaint to many younger viewers raised on much more sexually explicit and gorier fare.
The Vampire Lovers is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory's Scream Factory imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The elements here have some issues that include quite a few scratches and other blemishes, as well as what appears to be at least some minimal fading, which keeps the typical lurid Hammer color scheme from popping quite as well as one might hope. The overall image here is relatively soft quite a bit of the time, with midrange and wide range shots exhibiting even more fuzziness. Close-ups still offer above average fine detail. Reds seem just slightly orange some of the time and flesh tones are also slightly on the ruddy-pink side of things (see the first screenshot of Cushing for a good example). Overall, though, this is still a substantial improvement from the old Midnite Movies DVD two-fer, which is the last home video incarnation of the film that I experienced. Fans coming to the film with appropriate expectations will probably be reasonably well satisfied with the results here.
The Vampire Lovers features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track that has some minimal hiss, pops and cracks along the way, but which sounds rather good overall. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly and the film's rather hyperbolic score also sounds quite spry. (The film has some unintentionally funny cues—listen for example when the General sees the fang marks on his daughter's bosom and knows the die is cast. Listen to how long the string runs go on for in that cue.) Fidelity is very good if not overwhelming and dynamic range is reasonably wide.
Most people I know who have an overt fondness for The Vampire Lovers are only too aware of how silly and in fact illogical it is at times, but that seems to be part and parcel of the film's abiding allure (not to mention the nude shots of Ingrid Pitt). Those with a slightly skewed sensibility will no doubt appreciate this film's incipient lesbianism, especially since it's presented in such a discursive fashion throughout the film. Frankly, things are never all that scary in this film, despite some pretty graphic blood and gore, but there's a slightly goofy quality to The Vampire Lovers that makes things unexpectedly enjoyable. This Blu-ray has less than perfect video, but the audio is quite good and the supplements are a lot of fun. Recommended.
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