Kiss of the Vampire

Starring:Clifford Evans, Edward de Souza, Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Barry Warren, Brian Oulton, Noel Howlett, Jacquie Wallis, Peter Madden, Isobel Black, Vera Cook, John Harvey, Stan Simmons, Virginia Gregg, Carl Esmond, Horst Ebersberg, Elizabeth Valentine, Margaret Read, Sheila Welles, Olga Dickie
Director: Don Sharp
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Don Sharp's moody if workmanlike horror film suffers from the absence of Christopher Lee, whose intense, almost feral presence in The Horror of Dracula made him one of the most memorable bloodsuckers in film history. In his place is a veritable undead cabal led by the vampire patriarch Ravna (Noel Willman), a nobleman whose family literally holds a tiny Eastern European village hostage. When a young honeymooning couple wanders into this terror-gripped crossroads, Ravna decides to make the innocent bride his own, and the dizzy groom can only turn to the dark eyed, wild-bearded Prof. Zimmer (Clifford Evans) for help. It's an unusual chapter in the vampire legend, as these undead are more like a cult interested in adding to their numbers, complete with formal ceremonies. Sharp creates a thick cloud of dread from the empty streets, the mourning peasants, and the fog that seems to carpet the doomed town every night, but has less success with his cast. Only Zimmer emerges as a memorable figure, an almost demonic-looking vampire hunter who comes off as a shadowy alter ego of Van Helsing. Christopher Lee returned in Hammer's next vampire picture, Dracula, Prince of Darkness. --Sean Axmaker
Description
Lost on the way to their honeymoon, a young couple are lured into the castle of hypnotic Dr. Ravna, plunging them into a nightmare of horror and deception from which there may be no escape.

Hammer Horror Series (Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf / Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac / Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare / Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein)
Average customer rating:

Very Interesting

Should have read the other reviews before purchasing.....

Night Creatures

hammerseries

Defective Discs

Hammer Horror Series (Brides of Dracula / Curse of the Werewolf / Phantom of the Opera (1962) / Paranoiac / Kiss of the Vampire / Nightmare / Night Creatures / Evil of Frankenstein)
Starring: Hammer Horror Series
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)

The Val Lewton Horror Collection (Cat People / The Curse of the Cat People / I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher / Isle of the Dead / Bedlam / The Leopard Man / The Ghost Ship / The Seventh Victim / Shadows in the Dark)

Hammer Horror Collection (The Curse of Frankenstein / Dracula Has Risen from the Grave / Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed / Horror of Dracula / The Mummy / Taste the Blood of Dracula)

Dracula A.D. 1972

The Innocents

ASIN: B0009X770O
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Description

Hammer Films, one of the most celebrated horror studios in the history of cinema, presents 8 classic horror films in one collection. From Dracula to Frankenstein, werewolves to phantoms, the Hammer Horror Series showcases some of the most terrifying monsters in the history of cinema and features legendary performances by Peter Cushing, Oliver Reed and Janette Scott.

Customer Reviews:

Very Interesting.......2007-07-03

This collection contains eight movies that propose a different kind of suspense and horror. The most of them are filmed in color, but there are two (Paranoia and Nightmare) that were done in black and white. Although the temes are classic of the horror movies( vampires, werewolfs, etc), the style of the cinematography is different.

If you like the good horror films, this is an excellent choice.

Should have read the other reviews before purchasing............2007-06-06

I was so excited when my Hammer Horror Series DVDs came in the mail yesterday. But when I started watching it last night, during Curse of the Werewolf, it completely froze up. I should have read the other reviews of this before purchasing. I didn't even bother to watch any of the other films because I finally read all the negative reviews and am just going to send it back. I truly hope Universal has changed from DVD-18 to DVD-9, because I was really anticipating watching these!

I hope the problem has been fixed by this time.

Night Creatures.......2007-05-13

Remembered from my youth, really enjoyed catching up with it again. I could not get my player to play without the subtitles but it didn't spoil it.

hammerseries.......2007-04-11

save your cash.this is a letdown collection.don't misunderstand:that's not to say that hammer studios failed to live up to their usual great standards concerning the horror movie genre;it's the powers-that- be that determine which movies go into a particular collection.no studio makes great movies with every attempt;hammer's no exception to this rule.there's really only one good movie in this collection(evil of frankenstein):brides of dracula is also passable.everything else...junk.

Defective Discs.......2007-03-25

While I enjoyed the movies in this set that I was able to access, I had to return it because neither Evil of Frankenstein nor Curse of the Werewolf would play properly. I should have been advised by the warnings of other customers who had similar problems. Live and learn.

Average customer rating:

Creative and well-directed
What were you thinking Nick
Funny Funny Funny
And you thought your boss was bad!
very funny.

Vampire's Kiss
Starring: Nicolas Cage , Maria Conchita Alonso , Jennifer Beals , Elizabeth Ashley , and Kasi Lemmons
Director: Robert Bierman
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Snake Eyes

ASIN: B000068IET
Release Date: 2002-08-27

Amazon.com

Nicolas Cage is perfectly cast in this devious black comedy of a New York literary agent whose latest one-night stand lands him in bed with vampire Jennifer Beals, who takes a big, bloody bite out of his identity. The emotionally unstable executive develops an aversion to sunlight, a fear of crosses, and a sudden appetite for cockroaches (not to mention a sadistic pleasure in tormenting hapless secretary Maria Conchita Alonso), but is it a supernatural curse or schizophrenia? Vampire's Kiss (written by After Hours scribe Joseph Minion) walks a dangerous line between satire and psychosis, which Cage pushes to surreal levels with a manic, unhinged performance. "I'm a vampire!" he howls, shuffling down alleys and snapping his cheap plastic fangs, less a Dracula than a bug-eyed, psychotic Renfield. Both funny and unsettling, this is one of the most demented takes on the genre. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Oscar® winner* Nicolas Cage is amazing (The New Yorker) in this outrageous, erotically charged thriller about a womanizing New York executive who becomes convinced that he's a vampire when one of his conquests bites his neck in the throes of passion. Jennifer Beals (Devil in a Blue Dress) sizzles as the femme fatale who sets Cage on his batty course in this darkly funny, lively, imaginative fantasy (Los Angeles Times)! *1995: Actor, Leaving Las Vegas

Customer Reviews:

Creative and well-directed .......2007-06-12

This was one of the first five DVDs a friend of mine bought after he got a player, and so I was curious about his choice. The things he chooses may not be perfect, but are invariably very interesting, as it turned out with this one. The only thing I knew about this movie beforehand was that it's supposed to be a 'comedy,' and that Nicholas Cage eats a cockroach in it. So it was hard for me to understand why someone would be so passionate about what seemed like a goofy 80s comedy, but it turns out that this film is much more than that.

Nicholas Cage, back when he was young and adventurous and before he fully committed himself to his strict "Bad Movies Only" policy, plays a socially retarded man with serious issues toward woman and more than a little inadequacy as he slowly descends into utter insanity. Interestingly, the way he conceives of his problem is that really he is turning into a vampire.

The opening photography is wonderful, silhouetted spires and gothic details of Manhattan against a blood red sky, that seem to reveal the city as a place of dark supernatural horrors within the regular city we know, which was a great start.

I was surprised in reading the reviews on the IMDb that no one talks about the place that misogyny plays in Cage's dementia... he's lonely and isolated and sees women as objects, so as he goes insane he thinks he's a vampire, someone who picks up young women, rapes [bites] and kills them... and is cursed by this. In this movie, the main character HATES women, and a lot of the audience's discomfort comes from how horrible he is to them. I thought it was also ingenious how all the women; his therapist, the imaginary vampire woman, the woman he jilts near the beginning, and his secretary all look vaguely alike. The director could easily have thrown in a bit of psychoanalytic depth by having a photo of the character's mother looking similar as well.

There are things in this movie that are vaguely funny on their own, but in the context of the movie are not really funny at all. I mean yeah, people do goofy things as they are mentally breaking apart, but is that funny? All the actors do a great job, but I love the therapist, who seems so engaged and curious. I like how Cage's character assumes the movements of movie vampires, because in his lunacy movie vampires are probably exactly what he is imitating.

There are only two problems I think the film has. The film goes out of its way to show how Alva, the abused secretary, needs her job and is not supported by her family, but Cage's behavior is SO over the top that ANYONE would know that she has a lot of reason to go to the police. That she remains so passive is a little frustrating and unrealistic to the point where it detracts from the film.

The big problem, I think, is that ramping up so quickly to high insanity in the first hour, there's really nowhere for the film to go in it's last 45 minutes. The scenes of Cage humiliating his secretary become repetitive, as do other aspects, tarnishing what started out exceedingly well.

I was shocked to learn that this was the director's first full feature, as it is very assured and well-done. I would love to have a chat with the writer to know HOW this idea came to him and what he thought about it. It's too bad this movie didn't do better, but I expect it's because it is such a difficult concept to get across on a poster. Anyway, worth seeking out.

What were you thinking Nick.......2007-03-09

Every actor has at least one movie that he wishes would just go away and i hope that Nicolas Cage picks this as his. Just an awful movie that should disappear.

Funny Funny Funny.......2006-09-24

I saw this movie years ago. It is, perhaps, the funniest, most bizarre film I have ever seen. I like it despite Nicholas Cage, who I dislike as an actor to an extreme. He is hysterical in Vampire Kiss. The most memorable scene in any movie ever is when he is running down the street screaming "I'm a vampire!". The way he torments his secretary is pure sadism at its best (or worst). If you haven't seen it before give it a try, but keep an open mind. It was never as popular as it should be, but I think that's because most people just don't get it.

And you thought your boss was bad!.......2006-08-26

I tend to view Nicolas Cage's film career as split somewhat down the middle. There is 'interesting and edgy young Nicolas Cage' who turned in odd--if not downright weird--performances in minor films. Sometimes these performances worked against the grain of the film, however, they were always riveting. Then there is 'mainstream Nicolas Cage' who, after winning his Academy Award, tended to make safer choices as a leading man or a heroic figure. Cage's work has always been solid and intelligent, but his acting choices have lost much of their original maverick appeal.

Cage plays Peter Loew, an elitist and pretentious literary agent at a publishing house. Loew fancies himself a ladies' man, but in fact leads a rather cold and lonely life. Loew also speaks with a strange and completely contrived accent, which he feels will make him more interesting to people. Unfortunately, most people only find this annoying--virtually guaranteeing Loew's inability to connect with anyone in a meaningful way. One night, after picking up a beautiful woman (Jennifer Beals), Loew brings her home for what turns out to be a rather violent sexual encounter. When the woman delivers a savage bite to his neck, Loew becomes convinced that she is a vampire and that he will now become a vampire as well. Thus begins Loew's spiral into madness.

Alva (played to perfection by Maria Conchita Alonso) is Loew's beleaguered and bullied secretary, who finds herself becoming the focus of Loew's escalating and alarmingly inappropriate behavior. He rages at her over the smallest error, verbally abusing her as no other boss has ever abused his secretary. He chases her down the hall, even following her into the ladies' bathroom. Even after Alva completes the petty Herculean task Loew had assigned her, he responds by telling her "It's too late," and then brutally assaulting her. (Possibly my favorite scene in the film is where Loew leaps up onto a table, points his finger at Alva in a wildly exaggerated gesture, and shouts "THERE YOU ARE!" while she cringes in absolute terror. Although there is nothing intrinsically funny about bullies or mental illness, Cage's over-the-top performance imbues the film with the surrealistic qualities of a Max Fleischer cartoon.)

As Loew completely unravels mentally, Cage still allows you to see glimpses of the frightened man behind the madness. Cage conveys Loew's complete despair at his inability to stop himself. In many ways, Loew is a distant cousin to Patrick Bateman, the psychotic protagonist in American Psycho. As Loew devolves into his paranoid fantasies and delusional behavior, he becomes increasingly dangerous to everyone around him.

Whether he is chasing couples down the street screaming "I'M A VAMPIRE!" or attacking and killing a girl in a night club with a pair of ludicrous novelty vampire teeth, this is Cage at his most bizarrely entertaining. I loved this darkly satirical tale of insanity, but I realize it is not for everyone. However, if you are up for a walk on the weird side, this film just might be a perfect fit.

very funny........2006-02-20

This is probably one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Those who don't think it's funny are those who are easily offended. If you are easily offended or politically correct you probably won't enjoy this film.

Having said that, if you like vampires you won't necessarily dislike this film. I completely disagree with the reviewer who said "If you like vampires, you will not like this movie." That's crap. I love vampires/vampire movies and I loved this movie. Believe it or not, not all vampire fans are two-dimensional, some of us are actually well rounded.

The person who compared it to Polanski's "Repulsion" needs to get away from the bong. While both deal with mental insanity, the same can be said about a lot of films. "Repulsion" was just disturbing and weird, and not overly entertaining. (Polanski's work is highly overrated and pretentious. We watch films to be entertained, not to have whatever it is Polanski tries to pull.)

Having said all this, this is definitely not a film for everyone. It was way ahead of it's time when it was made. Had it been made now, there would likely be a huge cult following behind it...but then again, maybe not. As liberal as most like to imagine themselves, we still live in a country of highly uptight people, easily offended, and unable to laugh at the things we fear or find disturbing.

If you've got a sick sense of humor, add this to your video library, because if you aren't going to be able to laugh at it, you aren't going to enjoy it.

Average customer rating:

Not what I had expected....
worst acting ever.
good movie
Dracula's curse
An edited version of an Italian min-series that updates Dracula to the Budapest of today

Dracula's Curse
Starring: Patrick Bergin , Giancarlo Giannini , Hardy Krüger Jr. , Stefania Rocca , and Muriel Baumeister
Director: Roger Young
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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Dracula 3 - Legacy
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Dracula 3000
Vampires - Out for Blood (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B00000F7NF
Release Date: 2004-02-17

Customer Reviews:

Not what I had expected...........2007-04-29

Rented this for a Saturday nite chiller thriller. I realize this was a tv
movie from Europe with a limited budget but putting a modern spin on
this classic tale didn't have much bite. I couldn't get past the way
these actors came across, felt like they were reading their scripts to
each other. There really wasn't much in the scare dept. a few good sets
here and there doesn't make a good film and this one fell short in every
way. Three stars is more than it deserves.

worst acting ever........2006-09-05

i'm only 15 minutes into this film and i'm finding it hard to keep watching.

this is quite possibly the worst acting/directing i've ever seen in a movie.

good movie.......2006-07-27

It was a rather faithfull version to the book, althought the action takes place not in england but in budapest

Dracula's curse.......2005-11-18

What can I say about this film? The characters simply do not have any personality. And to be honest, I just don't like any movie that only has an absolute evil, an absolute good and nothing in bwteen. It is a good movie if you just want to know the plot, but then why not just watch the 1992 version of Dracula. The only reason I give it 2 star is because the story is pretty close to the original novel.

An edited version of an Italian min-series that updates Dracula to the Budapest of today.......2005-10-30

"Dracula's Curse" is a 102-minute truncated version of the 163-minute Itallian television mini-series "Il Bacio di Dracula" ("The Kiss of Dracula"), which retells Bram Stoker's gothic horror story in the modern day setting of Budapest. This time Jonathan Harker (Hardy Krüger Jr.) is an investment banker working in Eastern Europe who has become engaged to Mina Murray (Stefania Rocca), and is celebrating with his friends, English diplomatic official Arthur Holmwood (Conrad Hornby), businessman Quincy Morris (Alessio Boni), and the funny loving Lucy Westerner (Muriel Baumeister). After the ball and a quick spin in his new sports car, Harker has a late night meeting the Vladislav Tepes (Patrick Bergin), who wants Harker to work for his "uncle." Meanwhile, at the local insane asylum, Dr. Seward (Kai Wiesinger) is dealing with one of his patients, Roenfield (Brett Forest).

Of course those well-versed in the lore of vampires in general and Dracula in particular will recognize the variation of Vlad Tepes as being the name of the "real" Dracula of history, the Wallachian prince known as the Impaler. What threw me at first was the whole bit about Dracula's uncle, because the whole idea that Dracula becomes younger as he gets new blood that we have seen in the past (e.g., "Bram Stoker's Dracula"), is abandoned this time. Not only does Bergin play both Tepes, we go back and forth from the younger to the older throughout. This becomes problematic because the older Vladislav is the more imposing and interesting figure of the two, especially since the younger one smacks too much of James Bond at time. At least the older one has something of a Romanian accent (most of the time, anyhow).

The basic narrative of Stoker's novel is intact, with the other glaring difference besides bringing the story a century into the future being that Abraham Van Helsing is now replaced by Dr. Enrico Valenzi (Giancarlo Giannini). He proves to be the one character that works well in the 21st century, mainly because the teleplay by Eric Lener and director Roger Young allows him to discuss the existence of vampires from a 21st century perspective. However, the resent of the vampire hunters are just young plastic types who would rather be partying, driving fast cars, or running around half-dressed in the middle of the night. There are times when I was reminded of "Dark Shadows," but this soap opera is not as compelling. The authority that Valenzi holds over the group ends up being by default, because he is smarter than all of them put together. Well, the guys, for sure, since Mina has some moments.

Granted, we are watching a mini-series that has had an hour chopped off of it, and I have seen what that has done to even great mini-series like "Shogun" when that sort of butchery happens. So it could well be that "Il Bacio di Dracula" in its entirety is superior to "Dracula's Curse." Then again, it could be that what was cut was more of the soap opera elements that disengage our interest. Ultimately, the paradox of "Dracula's Curse" is that while it indeed convinces us that a modern retelling of the original Dracula story can work, this movie version of the mini-series does not carry it off. For every scene that makes you sit up because things are getting interesting and well-played, there are two scenes where things are going backwards (often involving characters floating and/or Bergin opening and closing his cape). The end result is that while this version is of some intellectual interest, "Dracula's Curse" lacks enough of a pulse for it to be anything more than a curiosity to fans of vampire flicks.

Average customer rating:

Waste of Time
Seeing Red

Crimson Nights
Starring: Lev Gorn , Roberta Orlandi , Tina Krause , Lori Thomas , and Oguz Sozer
Director: Jeffrey Arsenault
Manufacturer: E.I. Independent
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ASIN: B000BB18U4
Release Date: 2006-02-21

Description

A modern-day vampire tale dripping with hot-blooded eroticism, nocturnal sensuality, and untamed lesbian seductions that reach extreme new heights in carnal horror. A plague of sexually-charged vampirism stalks the streets of New York, and no one is safe from its contamination. Susan has been recently turned, and she must pass the curse on to a fresh victim to insure its rampant human infiltration. Seducing her boyfriend Burt to the point of exhaustion with a voluptuous body and an unholy mouth, Susan delivers the final undying kiss. A vampire himself now, Burt hunts for his first meal, and he ends up in the bed of the sex-starved Jasmine. Burt puts the bite on her, and another monster is born. Jasmine ravishes Kate body and soul, and on and on and one by one the sensual bloodlust is spread as prey becomes predator - victim becomes vanquisher. The lives of ten people will forever be changed on this crimson night.

Customer Reviews:

Waste of Time.......2007-06-30

I had fairly low expectations when I bought this dvd. This movie had no plot what so ever and every scene was the same; with a few shower scenes to waste time. A woman comes home and has tepid sex with her husband/boyfriend and then slices him and drinks his blood. The next scene he goes, has sex and drinks another womans blood. Next scene, she goes and has sex and drinks the blood of another woman. You see each person for two scenes each, then never hear from them again. I love low budget horror films and vampires films are a favorite but this was never entertaining in the least. If all you want is nudity you might find something to like about this piece of garbage. Otherwisw, steer clear.

Seeing Red.......2005-12-22

This film is not all that bad, if you take it for what it set out to achieve. It is little more than a series of couples having sex with one of them cutting their lover with a blade and drinking their blood. The victim becomes the attacker in the next scene and so on, through about 10 different scence, a few lesbian ones.

There's not much more to the film, but then it is better than a lot of its kind, because it never sets out to be anything more; not funny - in a clever, or self-depreciating way, not witty - really no storyline to it at all.

The only drawbacks is it is thus very repetitive. Three obligatory 'shower scences' - three different women coming home from work, at various points in the film, each one stepping into a shower, soaping herself up... nothing more, then a few scenes later, its the next woman doing it, etc.

Once Bitten (1985) / Vampire's Kiss (1989) (Totally Awesome 80s Double Feature)

Average customer rating:

Once Bitten (1985) / Vampire's Kiss (1989) (Totally Awesome 80s Double Feature)
Starring: Nicolas Cage , Maria Conchita Alonso , Jennifer Beals , Elizabeth Ashley , and Kasi Lemmons
Director: Robert Bierman , and Howard Storm
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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Description

Disc 1 Side A: ONCE BITTEN WS Disc 1 Side B: ONCE BITTEN P&S

Amazon.com

Don Sharp's moody if workmanlike horror film suffers from the absence of Christopher Lee, whose intense, almost feral presence in The Horror of Dracula made him one of the most memorable bloodsuckers in film history. In his place is a veritable undead cabal led by the vampire patriarch Ravna (Noel Willman), a nobleman whose family literally holds a tiny Eastern European village hostage. When a young honeymooning couple wanders into this terror-gripped crossroads, Ravna decides to make the innocent bride his own, and the dizzy groom can only turn to the dark eyed, wild-bearded Prof. Zimmer (Clifford Evans) for help. It's an unusual chapter in the vampire legend, as these undead are more like a cult interested in adding to their numbers, complete with formal ceremonies. Sharp creates a thick cloud of dread from the empty streets, the mourning peasants, and the fog that seems to carpet the doomed town every night, but has less success with his cast. Only Zimmer emerges as a memorable figure, an almost demonic-looking vampire hunter who comes off as a shadowy alter ego of Van Helsing. Christopher Lee returned in Hammer's next vampire picture, Dracula, Prince of Darkness. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Lost on the way to their honeymoon, a young couple are lured into the castle of hypnotic Dr. Ravna, plunging them into a nightmare of horror and deception from which there may be no escape.

Customer Reviews:

Toxic "Kiss".......2006-06-02

When people think of Hammer Horror's vampires, they think of Christopher Lee being dispatched by Peter Cushing. Too bad that those wonderful actors weren't in "Kiss of the Vampire," because they might have salvaged a tepid vampire flick that descends into silliness by the third act.

Honeymooners Gerald and Marianne (Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel) run out of gas near a rural inn. They end up staying for the week, and are invited to the chateau of Doctor Ravna (Noel Willman) for a masked ball. But when a drugged Gerald wakes up, he finds that everyone -- even the innkeepers -- deny that Marianne ever existed.

Desperate, he ends up going to the peculiar Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans), who agrees to help him, since he has a personal vendetta against Ravna. But to get Marianne back, the two humans will have to tackle a whole castle full of evil vampires -- and somehow break Ravna's hypnotic hold on her.

The travellers-get-attacked-by-undead plot is pretty much a cliche by now, and it feels stale even in "Kiss of the Vampire," with its paint-by-numbers plot and bland acting. It has most of the Hammer staples -- rich settings and evil vamp cults -- but the plot is both ridiculous and very, very slow.

At first it's easy to be swept away by the vague menace of the vampires, and the sumptuous castle they live in. Unfortunately by the third act, it's deteriorated into dozens of panicking vampires running around in nightgowns. It's as silly as it sounds. The climax goes even further with lots of thunder'n'lightning black magic, and about six hundred rubber bats.

And the cast cannot salvage the glacial plot,. Daniel and de Souza do what they can, but their characters are such blithering idiots that it's hard to care; Evans does a good job, but his character is too thin. Willman tries hard to be Christopher Lee's Dracula, but he can't manage the same feral, sultry quality. He just looks embarrassed.

"Kiss of the Vampire" follows the formula of Lee-Cushing movies with none of the quality, eroticism or intelligence. One of Hammer's lesser vampire movies.

This is for the DVD Not the Movie.......2005-12-11

Like The "Dracula Prince of Darkness" DVD I Think Since Because The Hammer Horror Series Boxset has Come out I Think This Has went oop Too Bad Thank God I've Got This Edtion even though this movie is in the boxset i've just mentioned

moody, atmospheric non-Lee & Cushing vamp flick.......2005-09-14

Chris Lee and Peter Cushing's battles through several of Hammer's Dracula films really burned into people's thinking that Hammer Vamps meant these two in their clash of the Titans - Dracula and Van Helsing. However, Hammer did a handful of vampire flicks with a more sensual quality, like Lust for a Vampire and this gem, The Kiss of the Vampire. Because viewers missed the formidable presence of Lee and Cushing having at it again, I think this film was rather dismissed. It really needs a second -- and third -- look.

It's moody, atmospheric with a sensual quality stronger than the Lee-Cushing Drac flicks. I think it's mostly undermined by Noel Willman as the head vampire. Had they had someone of the raw sexuality of the commanding Lee, this likely would have been considered one of the best Hammer Vamps. Willman just does not imbue the film with that pull -- the repulsion against the bloodsucking ways, but the power that draws against all. He just doesn't put it over like Lee. But then few men could! Alas, where was Ian McShane when you needed him?

Willman is a nobleman - what else - over a tiny hamlet where he is actually doing rather better than Drac ever did. His castle is richly appointed and full of fellow vamps. Old Noel has his own Vamp Camp going. Naturally, the villagers live in terror as not only do they have a master vamp in residents, they have to fear all his vamp friends, too. Rather a large drain on the locals.

When a young honeymoon couple's car breaks down outside the castle, they come under the control of the evil vamp Count. You have the counter balance of evil with Professor Zimmer played, again, with less flair than Cushing, by Clifford Evans.

Despite Zimmer's warnings the couple come under the control of the Vamp master and his cronies, who have decided the young bride would make a delectable feast and new member to Happy Vamp Camp. Zimmer is fairly strong as his Van Helsing type role than Willman is as head vamp. The plot while predictable is lavishly filmed, complete with costume ball.

Because the lack of the two Hammer legends and the "we've been down this road before" causes people to initially dismiss the beauty of this film.

Give it a chance. Don't compare it, just judge it on it's own merits, and I think you will find it a richly done, impressive film that is very underrated.

IT'S THE KISS OF DEATH.......2004-11-11

Edward De Souza and Jennifer Daniel star as a married couple on their honeymoon traveling through Europe. But When their motor car breaks down they are stranded at an old inn on the side of the road. They soon except the hospitality of a Dr. Ravana{Noel William} at his castle for a maqeurade party. Ravana takes an interest to Marianne{Daniel}. And would hope she would succumb to his dark powers and become the queen of evil. Due to a curse at the climax of the film, Ravana and his disciples are torn to pieces by bats! A great film with horror and love intertwined. A film you don't want to miss. Starring Clifford Evans, Edward De Souza, Noel William, Jennifer Daniel and Barry Warren. Directed By Don Sharp. 88 Minutes

FIRST KISS.......2004-04-27

Since the plot has been described in several other reviews, I'd like to concentrate on the sumptious behind the scene areas this film does so well in. First, the coloring and use of it are marvelous; notice the brilliant red dress that sets the lovely Jennifer Daniels apart from the other party guests; the way Edward De Souza's hat matches his wife's riding outfit; the detail to the architecture in both the hotel and the chateau; the gorgeous and sinister music by James Bernard that director Don Sharp incorporates into the scene where Barry Warren plays its seduction to Daniels; and the effective use of wind and rain. This movie, first released in 1963 as Kiss of Evil, is not one of Hammer's best productions, but it is a rich, diffuse entry into the vampire genre, and Clifford Evans (looking a little like a middle-aged Sean Connery) has a malignant ferocity in his Van Helsing-like role.
Not a classic, but definitely for fans of the Hammer days!

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes - 25th Anniversary Edition

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Cup Final (REGION 1) (NTSC)

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