KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (U.S. TV version: KISS OF EVIL)
Director - Don Sharp, Screenplay - John Elder (Anthony Hinds),
Cinematography - Alan Hume, Producer - Anthony Hinds, Music -
James Bernard, Makeup - Roy Ashton, Art Direction - Don Mingaye,
Special effects - Les Bowie. Hammer. 1963.
Cast: Clifford Evans (Professor Zimmer), Edward de Souza (Gerald Harcourt),
Noel Willman (Dr. Ravna), Jennifer Daniel (Marianne Harcourt), Barry
Warren (Carl Ravna), Brian Oulton (1st disciple), Noel Howlett (Father
Xavier), Jacquie Wallis (Sabena Ravna), Peter Madden (Bruno), Isobel
Black (Tania), Vera Cook (Anna), John Harvey (Police sergeant)
Gerald Harcourt and his beautiful wife, Marianne, are on their honeymoon,
touring through a forest in Bavaria, when their motor-car runs out of
gasoline. The year is 1910.
Leaving his new wife alone, Gerald sets out for help. When he returns,
he finds Marianne cringing, terrified by the strange appearance of a man
named Professor Zimmer, who has warned her to keep away from an imposing
but eerie looking chateau on the nearby mountain. Gerald has found an
almost derelict hotel where they are received reluctantly by the
proprietor and his wife, Bruno and Anna.
A little later, a uniformed servant arrives at the hotel with
a dinner invitation for the Harcourts from Dr. Ravna, who lives in the
chateau. They accept.
The chateau is luxurious and comfortable. Ravna tells them that
he is a well-known scientist who had to retreat to this castle when one
of his experiments "went wrong." He introduces his son, Carl, and his
daughter, Sabena. In the background is a strange and pretty girl, Tania,
who is not introduced.
After a delicious dinner, Carl plays
the piano. The music has a strange, almost hypnotic effect on Marianne.
Gerald manages to rouse her from her reverie and they leave, after Ravna
promises to obtain gasoline for the car.
The next day, Carl and Sabena arrive with an invitation for
the Harcourts to attend a masquerade ball that evening.
The party is a huge and lavish affair, complete with orchestra
and many well dressed guests, all wearing colorful masks. Carl and Sabena
put the Harcourts at their ease and whirl them off to a gay evening of
dancing, laughter and champagne.
Towards the end of the evening, Gerald is drugged and falls
asleep, while Marianne is tricked, shoved into a room, and the door locked.
She finds she is there with Ravna, now dressed in a white robe. His eyes
are ablaze, and the animal smile on his lips reveal two teeth much sharper
and longer than normal. Soon, Ravna has the girl in a trance and prepares
to sink his fangs into her smooth, white neck...
Gerald eventually awakens, and when he asks for his wife,
Carl and the servant act as though they had never seen Marianne. They
throw Gerald out. Returning to the hotel in a frenzy, Gerald finds all
of Marianne's clothes and every scrap of evidence that she had ever
been there have disappeared. Bruno and Anna deny that they have ever
seen her.
Gerald finally finds an ally in Zimmer, who is not surprised
when told Marianne is a prisoner. He explains that for years he has been
working on a formula---almost ready---to raise the Devil's spirits to
destroy Ravna and his cult of vampires.
Attempting to rescue his wife, Gerald breaks into the chateau.
He is caught and tied up. Ravna instructs Tania to initiate Gerald into
the vampiric society. She moves slowly and sensuously towards him. Her
talon-like hand rips off his shirt and her long fingernails scratch his
bare chest, causing blood to spurt.
With a great effort, Gerald frees himself and smears his own
blood across his chest in the form of a holy cross. This repels the
vampires. In the resulting confusion, Zimmer appears and rushes Gerald
and Marianne away, back to the hotel.
Feverishly, Zimmer and Gerald work preparing Zimmer's
incantation. In the meantime, Ravna is surrounded by his terrified
disciples who cannot leave the castle because Zimmer has smeared all the
exits with garlic.
Ravna decides that if he has Marianne as
a hostage, he can control Gerald and Zimmer. Through mental telepathy,
he exercizes his fantastic hypnotic power. In a trance, Marianne runs
from the hotel towards the chateau.
Meanwhile, Zimmer's spell has been invoked. As he and Gerald
rush and catch the running Marianne, thousands of huge bats fill the air,
flying to the chateau. They swoop into the rooms, and in force, attack
Ravna and the disciples. Soon, every member of the cult in the castle
has been killed by the flying mammals.
In the woods, where Gerald and Zimmer have been watching the
horde of bats swarm away, Marianne is still in a trance. Father Xavier,
the local priest who has joined them, holds a crucifix in the air and
prays besides Marianne. As he concludes his prayers, Marianne is at
last relaxed and normal. She looks up at Gerald and throws herself into
his arms.
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