Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darling readers.   Today’s post is going to focus on some of my favorite vampire films of all time!    They are the three Karnstein films made by Hammer Studios in 1970 and 1971.   As part of my healing process from being sick, I rewatched these films.   In the case of the last two, it had been the first time I had seen them in years!    That is what inspired this post about how impactful this trio of vampire films was for me.

The Hammer Horror Karnstein films began with The Vampire Lovers which starred Ingrid Pitt as Mircalla (her original name as Countess Karnstein), who went by the names Carmilla and Marcilla.   It is the best of the trio, in my opinion, and is based directly on the novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu.   The second film is Lust for a Vampire which starred Yutte Stensgaard as Carmilla (Mircalla’s descendant) but she went by the name Mircalla at the girls’ school she attended.   The final film was Twins of Evil which focused on the exploits of Mircalla’s descendant the Evil Count Karnstein.   Mircalla makes a brief appearance, played by Katya Wyeth in this third film.   The third film serves as a prequel to the first film, being set in the previous century.   The second film followed the first being set in the next century.   This means each was set in a different century, but all revolve around the tales of the Karnstein vampires over three hundred years or so!

Anyone familiar with my work will know that I adore the book Carmilla, even stating that it is my favorite classic vampire novel many times.   I really adore the way that the novel was adapted on three separate occasions over two years by Hammer Horror to bring us three really enjoyable films!   The first film is a rather straightforward retelling of the original novella, with some added sexiness, where the book and innuendo, the film is more forthright!   The name Laura is given to the first girl killed by Carmilla in the film, rather than by the narrator, who is traditionally named Laura, here she is called Emma.   I really loved Ingrid Pitt’s performance, as she is one of my favorite Hammer Horror actresses.    The second film takes place in the next century at a girls’ school.   Carmilla has been resurrected, going by the name of Mircalla, which was the original name of the Carmilla character in the book and first film.   This is explained away that each Karnstein woman is named with an anagram of one of her ancestors.   This means that Mircalla can become Marcilla and Carmilla!   In any case, whether they are all the same exact character or different members of the vampire family, each film has a great premise.    The second film has Mircalla seduce a novelist who has come to teach at the school she is now attending.   They have a love affair as she feeds on her female classmates, seducing them into her thrall to easily have food!   I love how she is resurrected in the beginning.   They take her bones and shroud (this universe has the vampire death shroud being needed for them to live instead of sleeping on the soil of their homeland) and pour the blood of a young woman over them reciting a spell that allows her to return.   This is done again in the final film.   Having this element of magick and necromancy being performed by vampires to resurrect one of their own harkens back to old folklore that stated that a witch who died would become a vampire in death!   I think that it is a brilliant way to imply that the Karnsteins are vampires because in life they were witches, and there is even a witch-hunting plot in the third film!

This process shows that vampires have a difficult time being permanently killed in this universe, as long as their bones remain their souls can be called forth and resurrected!   I love a really hard-to-kill vampire myself!   It is stated in the films that the only way to truly kill them is to behead them or stake them in the heart (which is how the heroes kill them in the films), but burning will only destroy the body, they can be resurrected into new bodies.   It is unclear how accurate this is, as it seems like beheaded vampires may still be resurrected, but either way, they are nearly impossible to kill, much like an Anne Rice vampire!   I personally read this ability to resurrect to be conditional on whether or not their bones and shroud remain intact, as blood poured over the bones and shroud is how they are resurrected.   

The third film is focused on the descendant, Count Karnstein, and his seduction of one of the titular twins.   It is my third favorite of the three.   It is not as fun because the Carmilla character, or a version of her, is not at the center, making it lose a little in its appeal!   This is certainly the loosest adaptation of the bunch, but it is still a really fun watch.   Even my least favorite of my favorite trilogy of Hammer Horror films is still excellent!   That being said I am so happy to have rewatched these awesome films as part of my healing process.   I highly recommend them to anyone who loves a good supernatural tale, especially those based on classic vampire literature!

I hope you have enjoyed my gushing post about the Karnstein trilogy.   Have you seen these films?   Do you want to watch them?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Side Note: There is sometimes stated that a fourth film, Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter, is part of this series or set in the same universe as there are Karnstein characters, but it does not quite follow the others in form.   That is why I did not mention it in my post, but I did want to acknowledge its possible ties to the trilogy!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a poster for the second film.   I found the image on https://www.amazon.com/Lust-Vampire-Blu-ray-Barbara-Jefford/dp/B07SCPCG83.

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Further Watching

• The Vampire Lovers (1970)
• Lust for a Vampire (1971)
• Twins of Evil (1971)
• Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter (1974)