The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)

Starring: Clifford Evans, Edward De Souza, Noel Willman, Jennifer Daniel, Barry Warren, Brian Oulton, Noel Howlett, Jacquie Wallis. Screenplay by Anthony Hinds. Directed by Don Sharp. UK. 88 minutes.

Kiss of the Vampire is one of the earlier entries from Hammer (that's the greatest Gothic horror movie studio of all time, for all you youngin's!) and also one of its very finest. Oddly enough, it's also one of the more obscure and lesser seen Hammer flicks (probably due to the absence of regulars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing) and a relatively recent release to video and DVD. I myself never once saw this shown on TV as a kid and it was quite a treat to have a "new" Hammer movie to gobble up like the wonderfully creepy confections they are.

An couple of English newlyweds are honeymooning on the Continent when their horseless carriage runs out of petrol in a particularly spooky patch of darling old Deutschland. After taking refuge in a nearby inn, they are treated to the hospitality of the local vampire family, who quickly take a shine to  the blushing new bride and decide to draft her into their coven of the undead. The bloodsuckers throw a bona fide vampire ball and abduct the woman, leaving the disgruntled groom to rely on the efforts of the local oddball occultist to rescue her from an eternity in darkness. These vampires don't play by the usual laws of vampire physics, being able to roam about on overcast days, and are ultimately dispatched in a rather novel manner ("Turning Evil against Evil!") by our heroes.

Hammer's horror films were the first to truly exploit the full dramatic potential of color (a technological development whose advent many fans and critics believed would spell the end of the genre altogether) and Kiss makes terrific use it. Special attention is paid to the crisp whites, lush crimsons and deep blues of the character's wardrobes, not to forget those bright red gouts of blood admirably displayed at the film's opening with the impaling of a fledgling bloodsucker with a shovel driven right through her coffin. CRUNCH! This often playful reveling in color is obvious in such scenes and notably in the costuming of the female lead, who wears a bright azure ribbon around her neck in an early scene, a spectacular scarlet dress towards the end.

The Kiss of the Vampire isn't only a definite must for any Hammer fan who hasn't had the chance to see it yet, but is also a safe bet for the uninitiated. Director Don Sharp later helmed such films Hammer's Dr. Fu Manchu series, Rasputin: The Mad Monk, and one of the weirdest English horror movies ever made, Psychomania (not many who have seen it can forget those images of motorcycle exploding out of graves with a roar of infernal engines). While those flicks are doozies in their own right, Kiss remains a particularly colorful feather in Sharp's rather full hat-band.


*** Bloody shovels full of maggots.

* Dead meat, ripe and reeking.
** Moribund, but showing a slight flicker of life.
*** Good n' healthy!
**** Brimming with vitality!