The Karnstein Trilogy
Encyclopedia
Vampire films
Vampire films have been a staple since the silent days, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptation of vampire fiction has been from Bram Stoker's Dracula, with over 170...
were produced by Hammer Films
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
, and were notable at the time for being somewhat daring in explicitly depicting lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
themes. All three films were scripted by Tudor Gates
Tudor Gates
Tudor Gates was an English screenwriter and trade unionist.-Biography:Gates was involved in stage management by the early 1950s and began scriptwriting in his spare time. After The Guv'nor was broadcast on television in 1956, he took to writing full time...
. They are related by vampires of the noble Karnstein family, and their seat Castle Karnstein near the town of Karnstein in Styria, Austria. The films in the trilogy are:
- The Vampire LoversThe Vampire LoversThe Vampire Lovers is a 1970 British Hammer Horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, Kate O'Mara, and Jon Finch. It is based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla and is part of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy of films. The other films in...
(1970), featuring British actress Ingrid PittIngrid PittIngrid Pitt was an actress best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Background:Pitt was born Ingoushka Petrov in Warsaw, Poland to a German father of Russian descent and a Polish Jewish mother. During World War II she and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp...
as the lesbian vampireLesbian vampireLesbian vampirism is a trope in 20th century exploitation film that has its roots in Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novella Carmilla about the predatory love of a female vampire for a young woman :...
Mircalla Karnstein otherwise known as Carmilla. The film was based on the 1872 novella CarmillaCarmillaCarmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. First published in 1872, it tells the story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a female vampire named Carmilla...
by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. This film closely follows the story and is among the most popular. - Lust for a VampireLust for a VampireLust For a Vampire is a 1971 British Hammer Horror film directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Yutte Stensgaard, Michael Johnston and Barbara Jefford. It is the second film in the so-called Karnstein Trilogy loosely based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla...
(1971), featuring DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
born actress Yutte StensgaardYutte StensgaardYutte Stensgaard is a Danish actress born in Thisted, Jutland, Denmark, best known for her starring role in Hammer's Lust for a Vampire.-Career:...
as Mircalla. The film is a loose sequel to The Vampire Lovers. - Twins of EvilTwins of EvilTwins of Evil is a 1971 horror film by Hammer Film Productions starring Peter Cushing, with Damien Thomas and the real-life twins and former Playboy Playmates Mary and Madeleine Collinson....
(1972), featuring Damien ThomasDamien ThomasDamien Thomas is a British actor noted for his roles in British films and television, such as his role as Richard Mason in the 1983 BBC production of Jane Eyre....
as Mircalla's descendant, the evil Count Karnstein. Mircalla herself, played by German actress Katya WyethKatya WyethKatya Wyeth is a German-born model and actress notable for her roles in several classic horror films of the 1960s and '70s. Her name sometimes appears as 'Katya Wyath' or 'Kathja Wyeth'....
, appears only briefly. The plot revolves around two sisters Frieda and Maria Gellhorn (played by twin PlayboyPlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
PlaymatePlaymateA Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month . The PMOM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, as well as a short biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and...
s Mary CollinsonMary CollinsonMary Collinson is a model and actress . She was chosen as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in October 1970, together with her twin sister Madeleine Collinson...
and Madeleine CollinsonMadeleine CollinsonMadeleine Collinson is a model and actress. She was chosen as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month in October, 1970 , together with her twin sister Mary Collinson...
). It is often considered a prequel as it is set earlier in time than the other two films, and the set design and costumes give the film a 17th century look and feel. Critical reception of this film, especially in comparison to The Vampire Lovers varies widely.
A planned fourth film in the series, variously announced as Vampire Virgins and Vampire Hunters, never went beyond the early draft stage.
The biology of the vampires in Hammer's Karnstein films is different from that of the Dracula series
Dracula (1958 film)
Dracula, also known as Horror of Dracula in the United States, is a 1958 British horror film. It is the first in the series of Hammer Horror films inspired by the Bram Stoker novel Dracula. It was directed by Terence Fisher, and stars Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Carol Marsh, Melissa Stribling and...
, as the Karnstein vampires can walk about in daylight and are immune to fire. Some of this revised mythology carries over into the unrelated Hammer film Vampire Circus
Vampire Circus
Vampire Circus is a 1972 British horror film directed by Robert Young for Hammer Film Productions. It stars Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters and Anthony Higgins . The story concerns a travelling carnival whose vampiric artistes prey on the children of a 19th-century Austrian village...
.