(1971)
Dir - Peter Sasdy
Overall: GOOD
By 1971, Hungarian director Peter Sasdy had already made the sequel Taste the Blood of Dracula and twelve years later would "win" for the Razzie prized The Lonely Lady, but he does finer work than either one with Countess Dracula. Hot off the SU(CK)cess, (clever, eh?), of Hammer's Karnstein family kick-off The Vampire Lovers, Ingrid Pitt gets to be the title character here and it is probably her finest work. A duel role of sorts, Pitt not only looks the part of arguably the ultimate scream queen, but she bounces between jovial and cruel while still always remaining a villain first and sympathetic damsel way second. There is very little nudity and even less lesbian undertones, but neither of these things are wholly necessary. As is the case with many Hammer films, the ending is a bit abrupt and the real life historical details of Elizabeth Báthory are greatly toned down. In actually the Hungarian Countess was tried and convicted of murdering over six-hundred women, not less than the half dozen shown here. Also her miraculous revelation of how blood sacrifices work seems like it garnished a mere few seconds for screenwriter Jeremy Paul to come up with before moving on. Though one has to often nitpick where Hammer horror is concerned since most all of these films are just as similar as they are wholly watchable, if not entirely excellent.
(1972)
Dir - Robert Young
Overall: GOOD
This one-off, early vampire excursion from the decade is a near flawless one for Hammer. Really, it is only until the ending that things get a bit sloppy. For instance, why do the vampiric twins recall in terror when they stumble upon a cross around the neck of one of their victims last minute, but have no problem at all entering a church shortly after and toying with said victim? Also, if the entire scheme of the traveling, undead circus is to kill all the townsfolk's spawn to resurrect their fifteen-year dead leader, then why does he come alive when the stake is removed from his heart before the job is done? Why not just immediately take the steak out of him and bam, the whole blood-sucking family is back on track to reap their vengeance together? These are rather goofy missteps with the plot, (along with some of the usual, laughably bad decisions that frightened villagers always seem to make), but thankfully they come a ways into the last act. Before that, Vampire Circus executes a stellar premise, has oodles of nudity, a vampire midget, Darth Vader, a Doctor Who companion, some simple effects pulled off rather well, and is easily one of the goriest of all Hammer movies. In spite of how much tighter it all could have been, it is oodles of fun and as recommendable.
(1972)
Dir - Brian Clemens
Overall: GOOD
If there is any movie in the Hammer filmography that daftly never got a sequel, Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter is probably that movie. The early 70s was when the Gothic approach by the famed studio was nearing its final era of relevance as more brutal and modern horror films were soon to be on the rise, so maybe this one never begetting a franchised is not that surprising. Yet with nearly two dozen Frankenstein, Dracula, or Mummy movies churned out in the decades prior, plus the "off to face another adventure" finale here, one would think Captain Kronos 2 - Electric Boogallo would have at least happened. Regardless, there are a couple of pointless action scenes and some groan inducing dialog exchanges present here, but they are very small in number and actually kick up the entertainment value with a chuckle or three. As with the better Hammer genre outings, this one endures well for writer/director Brian Clemens twists on common vampire lore, a compelling mystery that waits until nearly the last minute to reveal itself, clever cinematography, a swashbuckling/slightly silly and certainly dashing hero, and robo-babe Caroline Monroe who does little else more than look like Caroline Monroe. Which is more than enough mind you.
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