(1970)
Starring: Ingrid Pitt, Pippa Steele, Madeleine Smith, Peter Cushing
The first part of the trilogy featuring Carmilla, The Vampire Lovers opens in the 18th century Austro-Hungarian province of Styria. At a ball given by General Spielsdorf, a mysterious countess attends, accompanied by her daughter the beautiful Marcilla. The Countess is called away to tend a sick friend and imposes on the General to accept her daughter Marcilla as a houseguest. Marcilla soon initiates a passionate relationship with the general�s young niece, Laura. However, some of the villagers begin dying, and the General's daughter, Laura soon gets weak and pale, but Marcilla is there to comfort and take care of her. It isn�t long before the General discovers the puncture marks on his now dead daughter�s neck and soon the villagers begin whispering about vampires. Marcilla flees to find another family on which to impose herself. The pattern repeats as another girl gets ill, but the General cannot rest, and seeks the advice of an expert vampire killer. Now with another family, and calling herself Carmilla, she soon seduces and feeds on a girl named Emma. In the process, Carmilla also turns the family�s governess into her sexual slave.
The lesbian narrative is clear in this film. Carmilla clearly gets her satisfaction from her female victims. Moreover, brief breast stroking occurs in a few instances with Carmilla and her female victims, which is to say the least fairly daring and explicit for the period (Wright:1995, 64).
Wright, Bruce Lanier. Nightwalkers: Gothic Horror Movies, The Modern Era. Taylor Publishing Company. Dallas, Texas. 1995.