Line #20 Film/TheVampireLovers


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_vampire_lovers.jpg]]
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3	''The Vampire Lovers'' is a 1970 Film/HammerHorror film directed by Roy Ward Baker, starring Creator/IngridPitt, Creator/PeterCushing, Douglas Wilmer, Ferdy Mayne, Creator/MadelineSmith, and Creator/KateOMara. It is based off Creator/JosephSheridanLeFanu's novella ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}''.
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5	A woman calling herself Carmilla (Pitt) arrives at the residence of one Mr. Morton, where she befriends Morton's daughter Emma (Smith) and Emma's governess (O'Mara); thereafter Emma suffers mysterious nightmares. The secret to Carmilla's mysterious past may lie with General Spielsdorf (Cushing) and Baron Hartog (Wilmer).
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7	Followed by two loose sequels, ''Film/LustForAVampire'' and ''Film/TwinsOfEvil''; altogether these films are known as "The Karnstein Trilogy".
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9	!!Features examples of:
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11	* AdaptationalBadass: This version of Carmilla directly engages a foe in battle and is only warded off by a makeshift crucifix. Her powers of seduction are also put to more extensive use; she forges two minions with her [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane possibly-supernatural]] charms.
12	* AdaptationalDumbass: In the book, the main character Laura is highly educated, speaks three languages, and is steeped in Enlightenment ideals due to her father not wanting her to be superstitious. Here, Emma is a wide-eyed ingenue who doesn't know the German word for "eyebrow" and is easily spooked.
13	* AdaptationalVillainy: Carmilla retains her book counterpart's aversion to the consequences of her murders, but her inspiration was an innocent when alive. Here, her entire family is said to have been wicked even before becoming vampires, presumably including herself.
14	* AdaptationNameChange: Laura becomes Emma in this version, while Bertha Spielsdorf, one of Carmilla's earlier victims, becomes (somewhat confusingly) Laura.
15	* AmbiguouslyEvil: For a good 3/4 of the film Marcilla/Carmilla keeps her fangs hidden and almost seems to be acting as an inside woman for the real villain, the sinister Man in Black. Indeed, given that she clearly has feelings for both Laura and Emma, and is never seen feeding on either of them, a case could almost be made that she was being placed in these households in order that she could allow her Master entry so that he could feed on these young women.
16	* AmbiguousTimePeriod: Often placed in 1790s Styria, the internal evidence would appear to place it decades later. Baron Hartog’s vendetta against the Karnsteins follows the death of his sister in 1794, and it’s not specified how long it took him to track them down. Either way, he’s shown and described as a young man in the flashback, but when he returns to finish the job he is at least 20 years older, possibly more. This would place the setting somewhere around the 1820s, possibly as late as 1840, and definately after the Napoleonic Wars.
17	* AristocratsAreEvil: The Karnsteins who all became vampires after death.
18	* BigBad: Mircalla Karnstein, a LesbianVampire seeking her latest prey.
19	* BigDamnHeroes: Carl shows up just in the nick of time to save Emma from Mircalla
20	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Mircalla.
21	* BlingOfWar: General Spielsdorf (Creator/PeterCushing) in the ball scene.
22	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Carmilla's three main victims are Laura (blonde), the Governess (brunette), and Emma (redhead).
23	* BodyguardBetrayal:
24	** Mademoiselle Perrodot, Emma's governess who seemed protective of her, turns on a dime after Carmilla seduces her.
25	** Renton the butler who tried to protect Emma from the vampire likewise falls prey to her seductions
26	* BreakingAndBloodsucking: A young woman is asleep in her cottage. She's startled awake by Carmilla stroking her face but soon after is delighted to see her.
27	* BuryYourGays: Mircalla and the Governess' fates.
28	* CreepyChangingPainting: After Mircalla is killed, her image in her portrait turns into a skeleton.
29	* [[CrusadingWidow Crusading Uncle]]: General Spielsdorf avenges his niece by staking Mircalla and cutting off her head.
30	* DepravedBisexual: Mircalla Karnstein primarily seduces women to feed upon, but is perfectly willing to do the same to men.
31	* DemotedToExtra: Due to AdaptationNameChange, Laura is portrayed as Carmilla's first victim who is quickly killed off in the first twenty minutes.
32	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Implied. The mysterious vampire patriarch loses his [[SlasherSmile good cheer]] when he observes the reburial of a now very dead Carmilla.
33	* {{Fanservice}}: Oh, yes, very much. Naked Mircalla taking a bath, Mircalla kissing a topless Emma, the list goes on.
34	%% * GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
35	* GirlOnGirlIsHot:
36	** Emma and Carmilla fool around in the nude after Carmilla takes a bath.
37	** Carmilla's seduction of the governess is a great example of how a scene can be charged with eroticism without even showing anything that explicit. See SexyDiscretionShot below.
38	* GoodColorsEvilColors. In the same ball, Carmilla (Ingrid Pitt) is dressed in blood-red and her mother has a black dress (although white roses in the hair). Guess what it means?
39	* HauntedCastle: As per the ISO Standard for Film/HammerHorror.
40	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Baron Hartog killed almost all of the Karnstein vampires after his sister was killed.
41	* HorrorHunger: Carmilla appears to have genuine feelings for Emma, but can't keep her fangs to herself.
42	* ImprovisedCross: Carl Ebhardt's cruciform dagger. The doctor tries to pull this off by drawing in the dirt but fails.
43	* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Emma.
44	* LesbianVampire: Countess Mircalla Karnstein, also known as Carmilla and Marcilla. Also an adaptation of the trope origin, Carmilla.
45	* LipstickLesbian: Mircalla, and also the governess, though in the latter case, Mircalla's vampiric influence may be at play.
46	* MsFanservice: Ingrid Pitt and all the other young women in the film, who all have at least one scene in a translucent gown.
47	* MustBeInvited: Implied on both occasions when Mircalla is a house-guest. Averted with the woman in the cottage.
48	* OffWithHisHead: The only way to truly kill a vampire.
49	* OminousFog: In the cemetery during the climax.
50	* OnlySaneMan: Renton the butler who put two and two together and realizes a vampire is responsible for Emma's condition. He promptly calls in the doctor, gets garlic flowers, and sends a message to Mr. Morton.
51	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Vampire abilities either vary depending on how they became Undead or are presented inconsistently. The first vampire shown in the prologue can only sleep/return to the grave if they have their burial shroud, but Mircalla has no such restriction, a fact that Baron Hartog himself finds surprising. It appears that Karnstein vampires spend long periods in a form of stupor interspersed with periods of feeding, as the first vampire is the only one shown as active when Hartog comes to the castle; they don't even wake up when he stakes them. Hartog stakes each Karnstein with the same sharpened branch, but when the General stakes Mircalla he leaves his stake in her heart and takes her head for good measure, possibly implying that Hertog's original massacre might not have permanently disposed of the Karnstein's he unearthed.
52	* SexyDiscretionShot:
53	** Mircalla and Emma eventually kiss in bed, before Mircalla undresses Emma, leaving her topless, and continues kissing her. It then cuts to a close-up of Emma's face reacting to it before cutting away.
54	** Mircalla leads the Governess to her room, at which point Mircalla, obscured under shadows, takes off her gown, leaving herself completely nude, and invites the Governess to come closer. The Governess, at this point clearly enthralled with Mircalla, obligues, before cutting away to the next morning.
55	* SignificantAnagram: Marcilla and Carmilla for Mircalla
56	* ThisWasHisTrueForm: Mircalla's portrait decays to reveal a fanged skeleton after her death.
57	* TragicMonster: Carmilla is implied to have genuine feelings for Emma, but sadly her vampire instincts are way too strong to overcome.
58	* {{Uberwald}}: Officially Styria.
59	* VampireHunter: The Baron Hartog (Douglas Wilmer) becomes one to avenge his sister. He seeks out every member of the Karnstein family to exterminate them before they wake up from their grave and feed upon the living.
60	* VampiresAreSexGods: How much of everyone's attraction to Mircalla is real is left ambiguous. Is it mind control, pure lust, or something more?
61	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Carmilla's "mother" is never seen again after leaving Carmilla with the Mortons, and it is never explained who exactly she really was. The same goes for the mysterious man in black who watches over the events from a distance then just disappears around the third act before coming back at the end, revealed as a vampire.
62	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Mircalla kills the Governess once the latter isn't useful to her.

Context Film / TheVampireLovers