The Kiss of the Vampire (1964)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1962
Running Times: 88 mins
Format: Eastmancolor     35mm
Ratio: 1.66:1
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Hammer Films
Producer: Anthony Hinds
Production Manager: Don Weeks

SCRIPT
Script: John Elder (real name: Anthony Hinds)

DIRECTION
Director: Don Sharp
Assistant Director: Douglas Hermes

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Alan Hume
Camera Operator: Moray Grant
Labs: Pathe

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Supervising Editor: James Needs

MUSIC
Musical Supervisor: John Hollingsworth
Music: James Bernard

SOUND
Sound Recording: Ken Rawkins
Sound Editor: James Groom
Sound System: RCA Sound Recording

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up: Roy Ashton
Hair: Frieda Steiger
Wardrobe Supervisor: Molly Arbuthnot
Wardrobe Mistress: Rosemary Burrows

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Les Bowie

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Bernard Robinson
Art Director: Don Mingaye

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Pauline Wise

LOCATIONS
Locations: Bray Studios, Berkshire, England, UK

CAST
Clifford Evans (Professor Zimmer)
Noel Willman (Dr Ravna)
Edward De Souza (Gerald Harcourt)
Jennifer Daniel (Marianne Harcourt)
Barry Warren (Carl)
Jacquie Wallis (Sabena)
Isobel Black (Tania)
Peter Madden (Bruno)
Vera Cook (Anna)
Noel Howlett (Father Xavier)
Brian Oulton (vampire)
John Harvey (Inspector)
Olga Dickie (woman at graveyard - uncredited)
Margaret Read (1st disciple - uncredited)
Stan Simmons (servant - uncredited)
Elizabeth Valentine (2nd disciple - uncredited)
Carl Esmond (Anton - in US TV version only)
Virginia Gregg (Rosa Stangher - in US TV version only)
Sheila Welles (Theresa Stangher - in US TV version only)

PLOT SUMMARY

A honeymooning couple, Gerald and Marianne, are stranded in a remote, middle-European village when their car breaks down. They are invited to stay at the castle of Dr Ravna, not realising that he's the leader of a vampire cult who has become infatuated with Marianne. It's up to Gerald and the vampire hunting Professor Zimmer to save Marianne from Ravna's clutches.

Hammer in 1962 were already losing or getting rid of the team that had made their breakthrough pictures. Thus no Lee (not even in the previous Dracula, Brides of Dracula (1960)) Cushing (Clifford Evans had appeared in the previous year's Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and takes the role of the vampire hunter here) or the major production personnel – Fisher, Sangster, Asher - that had made those films so special. Known in pre-production as Dracula 3, writer Tony Hinds was happy to recycle the beginning and end previously rejected for Brides of Dracula and these are the most memorable sequences here. Willman makes a smooth vampire villain and Isobel Black is underused as a very sexy hand maiden but it's a big step down from the classic years. Part of Hammer's production pileup in 1962 / 1963, this didn't get a release for two years. The problems of that period and a new production deal with Seven Arts meant that Hammer had to reluctantly go back to Christopher Lee to headline Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966).

UK
Theatrical Distributor: Universal-International Pictures (on double bill with Paranoiac (1964))

USA
Laserdisc Distributor: MCA Home Video (42521)
DVD Distributor: Image Entertainment (ID 4286 USDVD)

Sweden
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: unrated

1963
September
11: USA - theatrical release

1964
January
26: UK - theatrical release

1965
June
28: Denmark - theatrical release

1970
February
2: Sweden - theatrical release

1995
September
19: USA - laserdisc release (MCA Home Video (42521) - on double bill with Nightmare (1964))

1998
August
5: USA - DVD release (Image Entertainment (ID 4286 USDVD))

Kiss of Evil - US TV title
Der Kuß des Vampirs - German title
Il mistero del castello - Italian title
Vampyrens kyss - Swedish title

MAGAZINES

Daily Cinema no.8858 3-4 January 1964 p.4 (UK)
review

Dark Terrors no.14 (June 1997) pp.11-20 (UK)
illustrated credits, synopsis, production notes

Film Daily vol.123 no.22 (1 August 1963) p.9 (USA)
review

Hollywood Reporter vol.176 no.22 (30 July 1963) p.3 (USA)
review

The House That Hammer Built no.4 (August 1997) pp.190-196 (UK)
illustrated credits, synopsis, review

Kine Weekly no.2878 (29 November 1962) p.6 (UK)
credits

Kine Weekly no.2934 (26 December 1963) p.16 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.31 no.361 (February 1964) p.26 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Motion Picture Herald vol.230 no.5 (7 August 1963) p.867 (USA)
review

Variety 31 July 1963 (USA)
credits, review

BOOKS

British National Film Catalogue vol.2 (1964)
credits, synopsis

KEYWORDS

vampires, castles, masquerades, bats, honeymoons, newlyweds, cars