The Kiss of the Vampire (DVD)

Set in the early 1900s, The Kiss of the Vampire starts right off in the chiller tradition when two young honeymooners (Marianne, played by Jennifer Daniel, and Gerald, played by Edward de Souza) riding in their motorcar take a wrong turn and run out of petrol. Their only choice is to brave the dark Bavarian forest in search of shelter. They find a lonely inn, run by a strangely subdued and superstitious couple, which has only one other lodger: the taciturn and secretive Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans).

When the sun goes down, Marianne and Gerald find solace in the party invitation of Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman), the distinguished lord of a nearby chateau. Required to don masks for the special costume ball, the couple soon finds themselves separated, drugged, and unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. Fantasy turns to nightmare when Marianne finds herself in the clutches of a vampire coven, and Gerald must turn to Zimmer (Clifford Evans), who performs a dangerous and ancient ritual in a frantic attempt to destroy the curse.

The Kiss of the Vampire is a palm-rubbing good time for fans of gothic vampire stories; there’s the long, slow-burn buildup typical of the Hammer Films, but it’s never boring thanks to the deft direction of Don Sharp, who made his debut here (he would later go on to direct Christopher Lee in the first two of the Christopher Lee Fu Manchu series, plus Curse of the Fly, and several other B horror movies). The costumes, art direction, music and cinematography are all wonderfully realized, and the actors are perfectly cast. Willman made blonde vampires icy-cool long before Lestat, and when Evans performs his elaborate anti-Satanic ritual he’s clearly relishing each incantation.

The cherry on this spooky sundae is a climatic scene involving dozens of fake vampire bats flapping around on visible strings while the actors do their level best to seem terrified. The Kiss of the Vampire is deservedly an eternal favorite.

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson

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The Hammer Horror Series — A collectible set of eight classics featuring Frankenstein, the Werewolf, Dracula and more. On DVD September 6, 2005 (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Official synopses of the other films in this collection:

"Brides of Dracula" 1960

Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur), a beautiful young French girl, is stranded en route to a teaching assignment in Eastern Europe. She is persuaded to spend the night at the nearly deserted castle of a mysterious Baroness (Martita Hunt), where she accidentally discovers a man chained to the wall of his room. The Baroness only explains that he is her seasick and feeble-minded son. Unable to get any further information from the maid Greta (Freda Jackson), Marianne steals a key and sets him free. Once unbound, the Baron (David Peel) fiendishly recruits the undead for his evil purposes until captured by Marianne and the indefatigable Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing).

"Phantom of the Opera" 1962

Herbert Lom stars as the Phantom in Hammer Films' celebrated production of Gaston Leroux's horror classic. Mysterious mishaps bedevil a London opera house, but when tragedy strikes during an opening night performance, it's clear that these "accidents" are the deliberate work of a deranged madman -- the Phantom. When Christine (Heather Sears), the young star of a new musical is contacted by the shadowy specter, her producer (Edward de Souza) investigates, tracking the ghostly Phantom to his secret underground lair. More than an evil apparition, the Phantom proves to be a brilliant composer. Disfigured and nearly destroyed, he now demands his hellish revenge. Christine, his new star, is the Phantom's one weakness, and he pays the ultimate price to keep his love alive.

"Paranoiac" 1963

Nothing is quite what it seems in this riveting, complex tale of greed, dementia and deceit. Rescued from a suicide attempt by a man claiming to be her long-dead brother, a young heiress (Janette Scott) finds a new reason to live. But her relatives have doubts; they think "Tony" (Alexander Davion) is an imposter who's trying to get his hands on the family fortune. Everyone has their own secret reasons to suspect Tony, as well as their own designs on his vast inheritance -- especially brother Simon (Oliver Reed), a magnetic but devastatingly cruel wretch who'll stop at nothing to thwart the supposed pretender. In this flavorful feast of a thriller, "the horror-mystery elements are brewed to a fine discriminating savor."

"Nightmare" 1964

This thriller walks the thin line between sanity and madness, exploring the shadowy world between dreams and reality. As a child, Janet (Jennie Linden) witnessed an unbearable horror: her insane mother stabbing her father to death. Now a young woman, Janet's recurring nightmares have her convinced she'll follow her mother to the asylum. Accompanied by her schoolteacher Miss Lewis (Brenda Bruce), Janet retreats to the home of her guardian (David Knight), who has hired lovely Grace (Moira Redmond) as a companion to help calm his troubled ward. But Janet's nightly terrors, magnified by the eerie, creaky old house, bring all of her fears chillingly to life. Are Janet's problems all in her head, or is there a sinister force at work? Startling plot twists reveal that sometimes when you wake up, the nightmare is just beginning.

"Night Creatures (Captain Clegg)" 1962

In this engaging costume melodrama of skulduggery on the low seas set back in the 18th-century, the Royal Crown suspects a bit of smuggling is going on in this locale, and they send Captain Collier (Patrick Allen) and his crew to check it out. When a mysterious swamp phantom clouds the investigation, Captain Collier suspects the odd village vicar (Peter Cushing) may be hiding something. What better way to do that than by the appearance of ghosts to scare away the curious, or by posing as someone he is not?

"The Evil of Frankenstein" 1964

Peter Cushing stars in this inspired fantasy as Baron von Frankenstein, the creator of the infamous monster. On the run from irate villagers who disapprove of his unorthodox experiments, Dr. Frankenstein returns to a remote mountain castle with his assistant Hans. Caught in a snowstorm, they are rescued by a mute deaf girl (Katy Wild) who leads them to the safety of her cave home. There, Frankenstein finds his original creature preserved in ice. Resurrecting the monster in his laboratory, Frankenstein discovers the brain is dormant, and he calls in Zoltan, a mystical hypnotist (Peter Woodthorpe). But Zoltan uses the creature for his own selfish purposes, and unleashes a violent chain of events. This chiller offers all the excitement and suspense of the original with spectacular effects and blood-curdling action in vivid color.

"The Curse of the Werewolf" 1961

Oliver Reed portrays the bloodthirsty man-beast who loves by day and kills by night in this gripping gothic thriller. Directed by famed horror filmmaker Terence Fisher, this atmospheric tale of terror follows Reed, the orphaned baby of a maniacal beggar and a mute girl, from birth to manhood, when he discovers his horrible secret. Try as he may, the cursed youth is unable to suppress the dark forces within. When the moon is full, he becomes an uncontrollable killer incapable of distinguishing between friend and foe. Spectacular makeup effects and beautifully photographed 19th Century European locales heighten the suspense of this classic werewolf story.