Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Nigel P Fresh from playing an unnamed vampire in this film's prequel 'The Vampire Lovers', actress Kirstin Lindholm here plays an unnamed peasant girl in the pre-credits sequence. She is attacked by another wraith-like bloodsucker stalking the countryside in broad daylight, which seems perfectly acceptable for the undead in these latter day Hammer films.Immediately, the same studio-bound low-budget tattiness that afflicted the earlier film is evident here. Former DJ Mike Raven plays Baron Karnstein (presumably the same character John Forbes-Robertson played in 'The Vampire Lovers'), dressed in suit and cape and dubbed by Valentine Dyall. He spills the girl's blood to resurrect, in a nice gory sequence, Carmilla. Close-ups of Christopher Lee's eyes, complete with red contact lenses, spliced from another film, are inexplicably inserted during this scene, further under-lining the gleefully cut-price nature of this production – and this barely ten minutes in.Unlike the episodic nature of 'The Vampire Lovers', this gives us more time to get to know the characters. Ralph Bates – in a role originally written for Peter Cushing – plays Giles Barton, a fascinating character who exudes prim fussiness as schoolmaster in an idyllic Finishing School for girls, but hides a dark desire. He is chided by the girls for being a pervert, whereas the less interesting hero Richard LeStrange (Michael Johnson), who lies his way into the position of supply teacher so he can ogle new pupil Mircalla more closely, is welcomed with open arms by the students. Pippa Steele returns from 'The Vampire Lovers' to play a different, equally doomed, character, as does the splendid Harvey Hall, but the titular Carmilla has been recast. Instead of Ingrid Pitt's mastery of seduction and devilry, we have Yutte Stensgaard's far less complex interpretation. Well worthy of a mention is Suzanna Leigh as Janet Playfair, the schoolmistress who tries to attract LeStrange's eye. Christopher Neame, one of a gaggle of villagers would go onto play Dracula's servant Johnny Alucard in 'Dracula AD 1972'.Barton's moonlit rendezvous with Carmilla is my favourite scene from the film. Barton wishes to be a servant of the Devil, having studied vampire lore and disposing of Carmilla's victims. His crumbling entreaties to the unfeeling girl as she drains him of his blood are a perfect mix of seduction and doom. Almost as mesmerising is Carmilla's later love scene with LeStrange. This scene has been much derided, mainly due to the inclusion of a song ('Strange Love' by 'Tracy') throughout its duration, but I really like it. With horror, you either have to 'go with it' or not, and this scene helps to sell the haunting, dreamlike atmosphere – and yet it is telling Hammer never tried anything like it again. Ah well.Having succumbed to the charms of a mortal, Carmilla's days (or nights) are numbered. The Karnsteins return to their castle and a fiery finale involves a burning wooden stake hurtling from the ceiling, impaling the girl as the Count and Countess face their fate. I'm not sure whether I prefer this to the previous film or not. Both have flaws – usually budget-related – but many merits too. One thing I am sure about, however, is that the final picture of the trilogy, 'Twins of Evil' ends the project on a high.

Uriah43 "Giles Barton" (Ralph Gates) is a novelist who writes about vampires and his interest about them has led him to a finishing school for young women in a remote part of Austria. While there he meets a beautiful student named "Mircalla" (Yutte Stensgaard) and immediately becomes enamored with her. What he doesn't know is that there is more about her than meets the eye. On that note the same could be said for this movie as it is the 2nd film in the "Karnstein Trilogy" produced by Hammer Films which also includes its predecessor "The Vampire Lovers" and later "Twins of Evil". Naturally, being a Hammer production it has a good Gothic feel to it which adds to the overall ambiance. It also has several beautiful women of which both Suzanna Leigh (as "Janet Playfair") and the aforementioned Yutte Stensgaard stand out most prominently. At any rate, while it isn't necessary to see "The Vampire Lovers" prior to watching this film I would suggest viewing it first if for no other reason than to gain a bit of continuity. Likewise, I should also mention that the vampires in this movie don't follow the same general rules one might expect as they can walk around during the day with apparently no ill effects. In any case, this is a pretty good vampire movie and I rate it as slightly above average.

Spikeopath Lust for a Vampire is directed by Jimmy Sangster and written by Tudor Gates who uses characters written by Sheridan Le Fanu. It stars Ralph Bates, Barbara Jefford, Suzanna Leigh, Michael Johnson, Yutte Stensgaard, Helen Christie and Pippa Steel. Music is by Harry Robinson and Technicolor cinematography by David Muir.The second part of Hammer Films Karnstein Trilogy, Lust for a Vampire seemed destined to be miserable from the get go. Peter Cushing had to leave the production when his darling wife fell gravely ill, Hammer's best director Terence Fisher had to also bail out, while Gates had his original romantically literate script jettisoned for one more concerned with nudey prod games. What eventually plays out on screen is a tepid and confused movie, more concerned with bosom baiting than anything resembling a coherent and dramatic horror story.Pretty much everyone involved with making it disowned it, and it's not hard to see why. From production goofs to the inappropriate cheesy pop song that assaults the ears during a love making scene, the film is badly constructed and just lives to show some buxom flesh in the hope that that will be enough. A couple of scenes are smart, particularly the resurrection of main vampire babe, and the colour and costuming is up to Hammer's high standards, yet you can see Hammer straining for inspiration to take the 70s by storm, the cracks in their magnificent armour just starting to show.The only real surprise is that Robin Askwith isn't in it, he could have used it as a warm up for his "Confessions Of" series of films that were soon to surface… 4/10

Witchfinder General 666 Following Roy Ward Baker's brilliant "The Vampire Lovers" (1970), Jimmy Sangster's "Lust for a Vampire" is a vastly inferior, yet highly entertaining second entry to the Hammer Studios' Karnstein-trilogy. "The Vampire Lovers" was truly one of Hammer's most atmospheric films, wonderfully eerie, greatly acted (with a role for icon Peter Cushing), ground-breaking as the first Lesbian Vampire film, brilliantly photographed and blessed with the most ravishing female cast imaginable, lead by erotic Horror queen Ingrid Pitt. While "Lust for a Vampire" is neither as atmospheric, suspenseful and creepy, nor as beautiful as its predecessor it is still recommendable to my fellow Hammer fans. Set in 1830 Austria (my home country), "Lust for a Vampire" is the second tale about the Karnstein family of Vampires. The film begins when Marciella/Camilla Karnstein is once again resurrected. This time, the film is mainly set in a remote girls' college, which is mainly populated by gorgeous, young beauties with exhibitionist and bisexual tendencies. People begin to disappear, when the ravishing Camilla (Yutte Stensgard) attends the posh boarding school... Danish actress Yutte Stensgard is stunningly beautiful, but she doesn't reach the level of hypnotic eeriness that Igrid Pitt gave the role. Yet Miss Stensgard as the female Vampire is one of the most memorable aspects of "Lust for a Vampire". The film was originally supposed to be directed by master director Terence Fisher and star icon Peter Cushing, both of whom were replaced at a short notice. Jimmy Sangster, who was then chosen to direct this film, deserves huge praise as the brilliant screenwriter of such Hammer-milestones as "The Curse of Frankenstein" or "Dracula", but he sadly wasn't as goody as a director. Whereas Sangster's filmography as a screenwriter includes more than a few brilliant films, the two films he directed that I've seen, "The Horror of Frankenstein" and this one, were both mediocre. Ralph Bates, who plays a sinister teacher here, was a very good actor, in my opinion, but his role here is a bit ridiculous. Mike Raven, who plays the vampire count Karnstein here, is clearly made up to look like the all-mighty Christopher Lee, which remains a sorry attempt. Leading man Michael Johnson, who plays an author of Gothic novels who becomes a teacher at the school, is not very good either. The best parts of the cast are its female members, Yutte Stensgaard, Suzanna Leigh, who plays a beautiful young teacher, and lots of girls who provide female eye candy. Harvey Hall, who was in "The Vampire Lovers" already, plays a police inspector. The film has several gory moments, as well as a nice Gothic atmosphere. The photography is nice and the settings are eerie. Most of the score is also good, but a vocal song that is used seems terribly out of place. Overall, "Lust for a Vampire" does in no way compare to "The Vampire Lovers". I haven't seen the third part in the Karnstein trilogy, "Twins of Evil", so far, but I hope it will be more like "The Vampire Lovers" than this one. Even so, "Lust for A Vampire" is by no means a bad film, and should be enjoyed by Hammer fans.