Director: Jimmy Sangster
Year: 1971
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
Arriving in a small countryside village, a novelist fascinated by the local legends begins working at the nearby boarding school finds the other students mysteriously disappearing after a new student arrives, and ties it to the local legends forcing him to put an end to their plans.
Review:
There are a couple of good moments in here, and some really troublesome parts as well. One of the big reasons is that the decision to retain the period Gothic setting is admirable for a late-period Hammer title. The eerie opening, when an abducted village woman is abducted and taken to the castle, has two vampires slice her throat and the blood drips all over a white shroud that covers a corpse in a coffin, not only gives this an impressionable opening but also provides the kind of occult Gothic ritual within the huge elaborate castle which is exceptionally enjoyable. Due to the main vampire running loose in the school under the guise of the students provides this one with some fine sequences that explore this fuller, from the troop going through the ruins of the castle to the scenes of them going off into the night meeting with the vampire unexpectedly biting them.
That also means it doesn't miss one possible shot of nudity, especially in the first half hour of the film. The nudity is very tastefully done and isn't at all gratuitous, from the skinny-dipping sequence to the seduction of the other women and the immeasurable amount of topless groping between the girls that occurs here. These measures are done in conjunction with the Gothic flavor, as it adds leaps and bounds to the sensuality of the film featuring both the classy tone as well as the fine nudity. The other big factor for this one is the stellar Gothic ending, which is the grand siege at the castle towards the end has a lot of action with the grandstanding nature of the villagers and the battles with the servants and villagers leading into a series of fire-filled traps alongside the traditional burning-down-the-castle action and some stellar gore thrown in. These make it a pretty decent effort of the genre.
There are some really off moments here as well. The pace here is really the biggest factor since there are a lot of scenes that go on and just stretch out the film without really doing anything. The middle section of the film dealing with the staff and faculty of the school are just long, pointless talk scenes that don't really go anywhere as are the pointless interludes showing him teaching the students which aren't needed due to already knowing the secret identity. It constantly keeps going through those sequences where it feels like something's going to happen only for the conversation parts to continue and that makes it very aggravating. That also limits the action in the film, and other than the beginning and the end as there isn't much of that in the film. Beyond those two elements, the biggest factor against this is the utter cluelessness towards the identity as this one has her have to kill off several individuals who know her secret which obviously doesn't mean it's as well-hidden as it could be if it keeps getting out like it does. These are the main problems with the film.
Overview: ***/5
A halfway decent lesbian vampire film which still has some positive points, there are some likable features within this one while still having enough to be let down overall. Those who appreciate the original or don't mind the drawbacks on display will have the most to like here while most others out there should heed caution with this one.
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