We watched this movie – in part or whole? I forget now – once before. Here we are watching it again. As we approach Hallowe’en it seems there’s a bit of a Hammer-fest going on round here!
I’m not naturally a massive fan of these hammy technicolour schlock-horror sorts of movies. But Teresa is gradually indoctrinating me in the ways of Hammer and similar stuff.
None of the cast are familiar to me, except perhaps Jennifer Daniel. And even then I’m not sure I’ve really seen her before (other than the last time we watched this).
To enjoy these things one has to either have some degree of susceptibility to the superstitious, or else suspend all pretence at any idea of rational integrity. The world these supernatural or paranormal stories inhabit is, well, frankly really rather silly.
But if you can settle into the silliness – I can’t be bothered to synopsise the typical haunted castle pretty dame horny ol’ vampire schtick – then there is here an alternate ‘reality’ in which one can revel in a whole bouillabaisse or witches brew of nuttiness.
If one knows and loves Cushing, Lee et al, as we do, their charisma can help make even the most excessively camp nonsense more palatable. Surprisingly, perhaps, the B-list cast of Kiss of the Vampire are actually okay, on the whole. Within the formulaic corridors of this rather tawdry hallucinatory world this isn’t so bad.
Still, that’s hardly a glowing recommendation!
