The Kiss of the Vampire

Plot synopsis:
Gerald [Edward de Souza] and Marianne [Jennifer Daniel] Harcourt are motoring through Europe on their honeymoon when their car runs out of petrol. Looking out over the valley from his chateau window, Dr Ravna [Noel Willman] sees them, but cannot do anything before Gerald goes for help, leaving Marianne in the car. Gerald gets a tow to the nearest hotel, where they take a room for the night. There are no other guests, save for Professor Zimmer [Clifford Evans], who spends much of his time drinking. The owners, Anna [Vera Cook] and Bruno [Peter Madden], try to make the newlyweds' stay a happy one, but they are obviously troubled by
something and haven't had guests in a long time, attested to by the sheets over the furniture and remarks like, "Nobody ever stays here anymore." But no one will say why. While Gerald and Marianne take tea in their room, a letter arrives for them. It is from Dr Ravna, inviting them to dine with him. When Bruno tells them that Dr Ravna's table is the best in the country, they decide to go.Gerald and Marianne find the pheasant and wine to be tasty, Dr Ravnos to be a charming host, and his son Carl [Barry Warren] is a fine pianist. When Carl plays one of his own compositions, Marianne is almost entranced. As an added surprise, Dr Ravna says that he's sending for some petrol for their car, but it may take several days. Gerald and Marianne return to their hotel. It's late, and Marianne is tired, but not tired enough not to hear Anna sobbing in a room down the hall. Marianne peeks in and sees Anna sitting on the floor, going through some clothes and photos of her daughter Tania, who has been lost to Ravna.The next day, Carl Ravna and his sister Sabena [Jacquie Wallis] drop by the hotel to invite Gerald and Marianne to a party they are giving on Saturday night. It's going to be a gala. Ravna is bringing in a chef from Paris and an orchestra from Vienna, and Carl and Sabena offer to loan Gerald and Marianne formal clothes so they don't have to worry about their dress. Gerald invites them in for a drink, but they leave quickly when Professor Zimmer informs that the weather is changing...the sun is coming out.It's a masked ball. Marianne is given a black mask, and Gerald is given a red devil mask. Carl and Marianne dance and dance. When Marianne takes a break and wonders where Gerald has gone, Carl switches his mask for one like that being worn by Gerald and, without saying a word, he leads Marianne upstairs, where he abruptly pushes her into a room and locks the door. Marianne is alone, except for Dr Ravna, who mesmerizes her and then bites her neck. Gerald is chatting downstairs with Sabena and drinking a bit too much champagne. He wonders where Marianne is, but Sabena offers him one more "special" class of champagne. Gerald drinks it and begins to feel faint, so Sabena takes him upstairs so that he can lie down.The party-goers suddenly take off their masks, change into white gowns, and enter a ceremonial chamber where Ravna introduces Marianne as a new disciple. When Gerald wakes up, there is no evidence of any party, and everyone denies knowing Marianne. Carl tells Gerald that he came alone, drank too much, and had to sleep it off. They throw Gerald out, where he is later found laying in the road by Professor Zimmer who takes him back to the hotel. Bruno also denies knowing Marianne, and all her clothes are gone. Not even the police believe him. Only Zimmer remembers, and he tells Gerald that Marianne is being held at Ravna's chateau. Zimmer knows about the vampires. He tells Gerald about his own daughter who was made into a vampire by Ravna.That night, Gerald goes to the castle. He happens upon Tania [Isobel Black] and asks for her help. Tania leads him straight to Ravna, who calls for Marianne. Marianne, obviously entranced, doesn't want anything to do with Gerald. To prove it, she spits in his face. Ravna then tells Tania to "initiate" Gerald. Tania scratches his chest, drawing blood. As she bends forward to bite his neck, Gerald pushes her away and makes a cross on his chest using his own blood. At that moment, Zimmer enters the room. They grab Marianne and take her back to the hotel. Zimmer has placed crosses drawn with distillation of garlic on all the entrances to the chateau, which seals the vampires inside. Tonight is the full moon, he says, and Capricorn is in conjunction with Saturn, a perfect night for performing a ritual that he's been working on to destroy the vampires. While Zimmer prepares, Ravna summons Marianne, who starts walking back to the castle. When Gerald discovers that Marianne is gone, he and Father Xavier [Noel Howlett] pursue. Zimmer summons a scourge of bats that fly into the castle and bite all the vampires to death, which releases Marianne from her trance.NOTE: US version has the following story interwoven with the one above.The Stanghers live in the same village as Dr Ravna. Rosa Stangher [Virginia Gregg] sews robes for Dr Ravna, although neither she nor husband Otto [Horst Ebersberg?] know what he uses them for. Daughter Theresa [Shiela Welles] wants to step out for a while, but her father is worried about her being out alone. When he finds that his wife actually sent Theresa to Ravna's castle that afternoon to tell him that his robes were ready, Otto is really angry. Rosa refuses to believe the gossip about Ravna. Theresa's boyfriend Anton [Carl Esmond] drops by. When he finds that Theresa has received a music box as a gift from Ravna, he gets angry and warns her to
never go to the chateau again. Later, as Theresa listens to the music, she feels strangely compelled to put on her shawl and go for a walk, but her mother stops her and sends her to bed. Theresa has also been invited to the ball. Her mother helps her get ready, but her father refuses to let her go. The day after the ball, the town is happy and alive again. Anton and Theresa are back together. Everyone is going to church. While Theresa gets her hat, Anton burns the musicbox. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl]

Tags: paranormal, cult, gothic, murder

Review:
"The Kiss of the Vampire" is a Hammer Studios film from 1963 that should manage to surprise and impress even the most jaded horror fans.
In it, British honeymooning couple Gerald and Marianne Harcourt run out of petrol near "Kronenbourg," Germany in the year 1910 or so (judging from their vintage automobile), and are soon befriended by the area's most prominent citizens: the family of castle-dwelling Dr. Ravna, a debonair host who just happens to head a clan of blood-loving vampires!
There are also several impressive sequences: Ravna's son, Karl, playing his eerily dreamy piano composition; a flaming-hand cauterization following a vampire's "kiss"; a vampire masquerade ball; and perhaps the best pentagram/conjuration scene ever shown on film...at least, until "The Devil Rides Out" came along in 1968.
The basic plot: Gerald and Marianne Harcourt, a couple traveling through Europe for their honeymoon, break down in a small and secluded Eastern European village ,and one of the few places theyr'e welcomed is is the grand castle of the Count Ravna ,but when he turns out to be a bloodsucker and own a vampire cult and kidnap Marianne, Gerald must ally with reclusive vampire hunter Dr.Zimmer to defeat the vampires.The praise:Ominous and entrancing.
The masque scene is a masterpiece in structure, and Roman Polanski was definitely influenced by this in the making of his great suspenseful comedy "The fearless Vampire killers".The acting is solid , and the film is gorgeously ornate to look at, the Castle Ravna is being a place of complex architecture and decorative flourishes.
Gerard asks for help to the local Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans) and learns that Dr. Ravna is the leader of a vampire cult that had abducted his wife.
Don Sharp directed this entertaining vampire tale(not connected with the Dracula series) that sees honeymooning Gerald and Marianne Harcourt(played by Edward De Souza & Jennifer Daniel) develop car trouble on their driving trip in Europe, but are aided by a Count Ravna(played by Noel Willman) who invites them to his castle for a costume party after they check into a local inn.
Confused and outraged, he seeks the help of Professor Zimmer(played by Clifford Evans) who is also staying at the inn, and informs him that Ravna leads a vampire cult that turned his own daughter, and now wants Marianne...
Out of Hammer Film Productions in Eastmancolour, cinematography is by Alan Hume and music by James Bernard.Honeymooners Gerald (de Souza) and Marianne Harcourt (Daniel) stop over in a remote Bavarian village and fall prey to a suspicious family headed by Dr. Ravna (Willman).Planned as a Dracula sequel by Hammer Films, Kiss of the Vampire eventually followed in the vein of Brides of Dracula by bringing vampires into a social situation without the famous Count as the figurehead.
Ulmer's The Black Cat (1934), the narrative follows the familiar vampiric formula so beloved by horror film makers, especially the house of Hammer, which is no bad thing really since they do it so well.
In fact it should be noted that the finale to this one is a departure from the norm and is rather exciting, if just a little abrupt in the context of plotting.A bevy of beauties adorn the frames while suave aristocrat type gentlemen glide around the Ravna abode, this is very much a film rich in that Hammer style.
The film is bracketed by two bravura sequences: the opening scene at the graveyard where an obviously drunk and distraught Professor Zimmer (the Van Helsing figure here vividly essayed by Clifford Evans as a boorish and cynical man) unceremoniously plunges a spade into the wooden coffin of his dead daughter thus releasing her soul from the curse of the undead; and the startling climactic destruction of the vampiric cult at the hands of (irony of ironies) some admittedly fake-looking vampire bats!
As usual with this type of film, the young leads (Edward De Souza and Jennifer Daniel) are merely adequate but the film benefits immensely from a deliciously villainous turn by Noel Willman as Dr. Ravna, a worthy Dracula stand-in, whose soothing, calm composure and tonality starkly contrast with the more energetic antics of a Christopher Lee, but exude just as much evil.
I also enjoy watching our hapless hero (played by the somehow likable Edward DeSouza) get humiliated by the vampires when he attempts to rescue his wife.The sets are cool and Gothic, if obviously studio-bound; this is the kind of movie that many would call cheap, but tolerant and loving horror fans would probably describe it as quite lavish.I have some plot-related problems.
As usual for a horror film, certain casual asides in the dialogue are more interesting than the story itself; Zimmer describes his daughter's conversion into a vampire in the most fascinating terms, and even suggests that vampires can be redeemed through faith in God. All of which amounts to nothing, of course, since Hammer films can never be too deep.
What we get is the usual fight over a pretty girl, the staple of vampire movies for way too many years.Groaning aside, all Hammer films do have a certain charm, including the slow ones.
The couple eventually meet Clifford Evans(Professor Zimmer),"One Brief Summer",'66 who is the Vampire of all Vamps, and falls in love with Jennifer Daniel(Marianne Harcourt),"Love Is all There Is",'96, the young bride and does everything possible to steal her for his own.
Plot:A newly married couple the Harcourts (Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel) while on honeymoon somewhere in eastern Europe run into a bit of car trouble just outside a village which is run by the Ravna vampire family.After booking into the village hotel they get an invitation to the Vampire castle for a masked ball,during which Mrs Harcourt disappears,of course the vampires tell Harcourt that there never was a wife and that he came alone..Mrs Harcourt has been ravished by the leader of the family Dr Ravna(Noel Willman).Harcourt who has been sent on his way from the Ravna castle, seeks help from the mysterious Professor Zimmer(Clifford Evans) to try and get his wife back.
Review: Being a big Hammer Horror fan I was looking forward to this film,having read some good reviewsthere are none of the regular stars here and so this is an unusual film in the Hammer cataloguethe vampires can go out in the daylight and they don't appear to have any of the powers one would expect of a family of vampiresthey are more like a religious sect than vampires as they wear white robes a lot of the timevery strange.The sets are great particularly the castle....The masked ball sequence is done very well and is very reminiscent of the masked ball scenes in Eyes Wide Shut even down to the stark and haunting piano soundtrack,I wonder if Stan the man was influenced in any way by this scenehmmm...I feel the film suffers from the very stiff acting of some of the stars,and a rather dull scriptDon Sharp's direction is also a little incoherent.I cant help feeling this would have been a much better film in Terence Fisher's hands and a more familiar cast perhaps Peter Cushing in the VanHelsing like role of Professor Zimmer.The grand finale is well worth waiting for though 7/10.
The story is about a young couple who is traveling through the country when their car suddenly runs out of gas.The couple decides to stay in a local Inn,to spend the night because it seems that there isn't a gas station for miles.While staying there,the local vampire clan extends their warmest invitations to their castle for dinner and some music.The head vampire called Count Ravna falls for the human girl and from there on in will stop at nothing to get her in his vampire clan.The rest of the movie follows the husband of the kidnapped girl trying to find anyone who is willing to go back to the castle and get his wife back."The Kiss of the Vampire" is an enjoyable early 60's Hammer vampire flick.There is a truly surreal sequence of grand masquerade ball with vampires wearing strange masks.The portrayal of vampire clan as a some sort of religious brainwashing cult is a nice touch.Clifford Evans is certainly memorable as the vampire hunter Professor Zimmer and the usual Hammer atmosphere with spooky old castles,skeletal woods and foggy cemeteries is fantastic.8 out of 10..
Heading through the countryside on their honeymoon, a young couple stranded at a desolate inn find a local's welcoming château hides a coven of vampire followers who he intends to add with her presence forcing him to fight them to regain her and stop the creatures.This here was a somewhat decent entry in the genre.
The last part that works here is the ending, as not only is the main attack using black magic and necromancy a novel take on the genre that's something to enjoy, but the vampire bat attack on the congregation is a lot of fun, especially as it's a long, drawn-out battle that has a lot of good stuff to it seeing the bats fly around the large, lavish castle feeding on the cult.
This film splendidly showcases the beautiful costumes, colors, and late 19th/early 20th century eye candy which highlighted so many of these British films.The story centers around a newlywed couple (Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel) who take a wrong turn en route to their honeymoon and find themselves the honored guests at the château of Dr. Ravna (Noel William) and his family (twenty-year-old Isobel Black makes a yummy vampiress and could bite me anywhere, anytime).
This is a fun Hammer flick to watch with the usual story of a couple of newlyweds who end up staying at a desolate inn and of course there is a bunch of vampires living at the castle in the area.
Kiss of the Vampire has no big stars and is the first directorial effort of Don Sharp, yet despite these "failings", as some might say, it is a beautiful and intense film crammed with scary moments, James Bernard's haunting melodies, and typical Hammer gothic sets.
Notwithstanding, Kiss of the Vampire is a small treasure to behold, and the climactic scene at the end is one of Hammer's better climaxes..
When car trouble strands a honeymooning couple , an odd aristocratic family helps them but with sinister consequences.Director Don Sharp offers a wordy vampire film complete with masquerade ball.
The lead never manages to be scary enough when especially when the fangs com out.Written by Anthony Hinds with a wonderful strong opening where a shovel is shoved through a coffin, there's an interesting conspiracy and cult aspect to it but that's as far as it's goes despite the plot thickening when everyone denies ever meeting Gerald's wife Marianne as though she never existed.
Not even the dramatic score can shake things up.Notable is Clifford Evans in a Van Helsing type role as Professor Zimmerman in this standard vampire reworking.With large sets and great locations it's wonderfully filmed and executed by Sharp but it is also sadly very flat.
Exquisite-looking vampire outing from Hammer Films, quite beautifully photographed by Alan Hume and scored by James Bernard, was the studio's attempt to keep the genre going without the services of their star, Christopher Lee. Plot concerns newlywed couple in early 1900s Bavaria lost on the roadway and running out of petrol near the castle of one Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman).
He invites them to dinner, where he checks out the Mrs. A few days later, the couple is invited to a masquerade ball, where the husband is drugged and the wife taken away into the clutches of Ravna, the vampire prince among a throng of devoted bloodsuckers.
Unbeknownst to Gerald Harcourt, this aristocratic family has sinister plans for his wife, so he must call upon a vampire expert named Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans).A little more mystery may have added to the overall impact; as it is, we're all pretty sure of where this is headed.
The young ladies present are often sumptuously lovely."The Kiss of the Vampire" entertains in deliberately paced, ominous fashion; it's a Hammer film that deserves to be better known.Seven out of 10..
The last is for me the case, even though I always normally enjoy watching an Hammer production.Noel Willman looks like Christopher Lee and sounds like Bela Lugosi, so in other words he is a good count Dracula, even though his character has a different name in this movie but of course it's still the same character.
It's still of course a big shame that Christopher Lee himself doesn't star in this movie, like he had done in so many other Hammer film productions.
The legendary Hammer Studios have made some very good movies ("Dracula" and "Brides of Dracula" both with the impressive Peter Cushing) and some bad ones.This is one of those bad ones.The story makes no sense and is very dull,for an hour and a half nothing much happens and then the movie is over.The story of the Vampire is of course a famous one and there are hundreds of vampire movies from which "Dracula" from 1958 is definitely the best,a horror classic.This one doesn't even come close.
After his wife is kidnapped, the husband must turn to local Van Helsing stand-in Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans) for help in rescuing her from Ravna and his vampire cult.Slow-going but intriguing Hammer horror film directed by Don Sharp with a good script by Anthony Hinds and a solid cast.
The only thing new to the vampire genre this offers is the end scene when the vampires are eradicated in an unusual way--a way that would make Ed Wood proud.The film centers on newlyweds Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel who get lost and suffer car trouble in a remote location.
After they attend a ball at the Ravna's mansion, Jennifer Daniel is abducted and de Souza must save her with the help of drunken professor Zimmer (Cliff Evans) who has a score to settle with the Ravnas.STORY: $$$ (The story is that old hat about a young couple out of place in a rustic, country setting.
Of course, with a title like Kiss of the Vampire, and with an opening scene that leaves even less doubt about the eventual subject matter, it might be difficult for the film to be a complete surprise to anyone, but the pacing and "twists" are aided by a lack of knowledge.But for those who must know the premise, here it is: Gerald (Edward de Souza) and Marianne Harcourt (Jennifer Daniel) are newlyweds from the U.K. who are traveling through the back-roads of Germany on their honeymoon.
It's a shame he didn't come back for this one because one of the very few weak points in this film is the fairly unmenacing Dr Ravna, chief vampire, played rather insipidly by Noel Willman.The film opens with one of Hammer's usual strong prologues as we follow a funeral procession that is overlooked by a sinister looking figure standing on high.
He then tells the story of how his own daughter years earlier had taken up with the wrong crowd in a nearby city and ended up a disciple of Dr. Ravna's vampire group at the castle.That evening, Gerald makes his way to the castle while Professor Zimmer is doing anti-evil incantations in a pentagram he drew on the floor of his office.
If it wasn't for a very silly ending (of which more later), Kiss of the Vampire would rank amongst the best of Hammer's many horrors, despite the notable absence of any of the studio's major performers.
Directed with flair by Don Sharp (who would go on to helm the very enjoyable Rasputin: The Mad Monk, another of my favourite Hammer movies), what the film lacks in star power it more than makes up for in style and atmosphere, opening with a powerful pre-credits sequence that really grabs one's attention, before settling into seriously eerie mode, as honeymooners Gerald and Marianne Harcourt (Edward De Souza and Jennifer Daniel) experience car trouble in Eastern Europe where they fall foul of a Satanic sect of vampires led by the charismatic Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman).At first, Ravna appears to be every bit the congenial host, inviting the stranded newlyweds to dinner and, later, to a lavish masquerade, but he and his family have ulterior motives, intending to add Marianne to their cult of bloodsuckers.
With the doctor putting the bite on his wife, hapless Gerald seeks help from the enigmatic Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans), who has the knowledge and means to destroy the vampires.With sumptuous sets, slick direction, and wonderful photography steeped in rich colours, the film offers fans of Gothic horror several very memorable sequences: the Harcourts' arrival at Ravner's exquisite home, the haunting piano recital by Ravner's creepy son Carl (Barry Warren), Sabena Ravner (Jacquie Wallis) clawing the earth from a grave, Zimmer cauterising a bite on his arm, and—best of all perhaps—Ravner's masked ball where party-goers dance merrily, their faces hidden by a range of unsettling disguises.
While the story - honeymooning couple falls foul of vampire cult - may be nothing new, the typical trappings and good acting help to make this a refreshing spin on the tale, a rare film where everything gels together to become one.
In 'The Kiss Of The Vampire' ( 1963 ), a young honeymooning couple - 'Gerald Harcourt' ( Edward De Souza ) and wife 'Marianne' ( Jennifer Daniel ) - are driving through Eastern Europe at the turn of the century when their car breaks down.
Ravna's hospitality, however, is a cover for a more sinister reason - he is head of a vampire cult, and has evil designs on Marianne...Written by John Elder ( Anthony Hinds ) and directed by Don Sharp ( who later made Hammer's 'Rasputin, The Mad Monk' ), 'Kiss' is one of Hammer's best horror pictures.