The Vampire Lovers

1970, 91m, 35mm, UK/U.S.

Hammer Films sharpened its fangs and turned up the erotic heat with its version of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic female vampire tale Carmilla. Bewitching women and stalking Madeline Smith while dodging the suspicions of Peter Cushing and (in his feature debut) Jon Finch, Ingrid Pitt achieved instant cult status as the sexy 19th-century bloodsucker: she remains the undisputed queen of cinema’s women with bite.

A film by Roy Ward Baker