KISS
OF THE VAMPIRE (1962)Director: Don Sharp
Image Entertainment
KISS
OF THE VAMPIRE (1962)This essential foray into the vampire mythos first appeared, courtesy of Hammer Films of England, in the year 1962. Christopher Lee had scored a major international success with HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) and had galvanized the British studio. Lee, ever fearful of being typecast, refused to reprise the famous role. THE BRIDES OF DRACULA came first and then KISS, both without the vampire king. So once again the studio revived its vampire tale without the Undead King himself, this time substituting stage and screen actor Noel Willman in the pivotal role.
Willman was interviewed by film
journalist David Del Valle back in the 80s for "Little Shoppe of Horrors"
magazine. When asked by Del Valle how he approached the role, Willman quipped,
"With garlic, dear boy and a bag of crucifixes. To be honest I decided
straight away he was to be a creature possessed of bloodlust and great sexual
appetite. I see Ravna as the ultimate authority figure. After all, he vampirises
his own children, his own flesh and blood and yet they all still obeyed him.
This decadent situation was very attractive to Don Sharp and I must say, I focused
on Ravna's power. Being a director myself, I understood how easy it could be
to send this all up, and I chose to play him withdrawn and immobile. And I kept
myself from acting like a director by keeping to myself during most of the shoot.
Otherwise, I might find myself telling Eddie De Souza how to 
perform,
but believe me, the effect worked marvelously and Don Sharp seemed to be very
pleased." Willman passed away only years later, appropriately in a movie
theater in New York.
The film's opening sequence alone was as frightening in many ways as the prologue of BLACK SUNDAY (AIP, 1961) had been for this reviewer. After lowering a casket into the ground after a funeral, a shovel is thrown down into the coffin itself, impaling the undead girl within who lets out a bloodcurdling scream! The villagers and priest run from the sight of the unholy occurrence and then, during opening titles and credits, the deliciously macabre "Vampire's Rhapsody" by James Bernard fills the air.
Cut
to a couple honeymooning in Bavaria that is ensnared in a trap by a family of
rich, physically attractive, undead degenerates and the film begins to roll.
The superb co-stars, Barry Warren (as Carl, Ravna's son) and Jacquie Wallis
(as Sabena, Ravna's daughter) nearly steal the film. But the radiant blonde
beauty of Jennifer Daniel as Marianne Harcourt gives all the aforementioned
competition as the intended victim of the cult and all its followers.
The climax of the film is also
Hammer's most spectacular as a massive flock of vampire bats crashes through
stained glass windows of the chateau to defeat the white-robed cult of the undead.
Many teens and young adults are critical of 
this. There was no CGI at this time and critics also speak unkindly of the rubber
bats attached to piano wire but this reviewer will only say it packed a wallop
in 1962 that all the best CGI effects of today do with contemporary audiences.
Bruce Hallenbeck deserves major praise for his erudite and thorough tribute to this film found in the pages of "Little Shoppe of Horrors" Nos. 10/11.
This is one of a handful of titles
that Universal licensed to Image Entertainment some years ago and unfortunately,
no other Universal Hammer films have arrived on DVD to date. Letterboxed in
the theatrical ratio of 1.66:1, color is used to major effect here 
and
this disc does not disappoint. Blood red is utilized to best effect and the
rich wonders of Chateau Ravna are truly a sight to behold. The sets by Bernard
Robinson are first-rate as are the opulent costumes by Molly Arbuthnot and as
wardrobe mistress, Rosemary Burrows. The mono audio track crisp, and quite effective
for a 40-year-old film.
KISS OF THE VAMPIRE moves at a
very slow pace in comparison with contemporary horror films. Yet its dark romance,
its poetic rendition of the vampire tale would influence Roman Polanski's later
DA
NCE
OF THE VAMPIRES (1967) and give Sharon Tate that short-lived moment of her career,
showcasing her own immense beauty on the screen filled with the brilliance of
Ferdinand Mayne as Count Von Krolock as he reprised the Ravna role created by
Noel Willman. Touches of Alfred Hitchcock would also inform this tale, perhaps
a nod to its distributor, Universal-International Pictures.
This reviewer considers KISS OF THE VAMPIRE one of Hammer Films' finest moments. The entire cast is stellar down to the last extra. No collection should be without this masterpiece, period. So, Universal, how about giving us BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960) and CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961) . . . WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY! (Christopher Dietrich)