The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)

Exquisite-looking vampire outing from Hammer Films, quite beautifully photographed by Alan Hume and scored by James Bernard, was the studio's attempt to keep the genre going without the services of their star, Christopher Lee. Plot concerns newlywed couple in early 1900s Bavaria lost on the roadway and running out of petrol near the castle of one Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman). He invites them to dinner, where he checks out the Mrs. A few days later, the couple is invited to a masquerade ball, where the husband is drugged and the wife taken away into the clutches of Ravna, the vampire prince among a throng of devoted bloodsuckers. Marvelous tale comes complete with its very own Van Helsing in the guise of Clifford Evans' Professor Zimmer, who has been waiting to exterminate Ravna for many moons. Director Don Sharp doesn't rush through this narrative; he takes his time to set the stage, though buffs may find his pacing a bit slow. Sharp certainly doesn't skimp on the bloodletting, particularly at the rousing finish. Good show! *** from ****

this lesser known hammer vampire flick is actually an official part of the hammer Dracula 10 film series and I really wonder why IMDb is not including it as a sequel to horror of Dracula and brides of Dracula hammer first 2 Dracula films released in 1958 and 1960 respectively.After the refusal of sir lee to appear as the count from 1958 to 1966 hammer released two films without sir lee in 1960 and 1963 loose sequels to the 1958 Dracula film which continued and expanded the vampirism story further.the first was brides of Dracula 1960 in which even peter cushing reprised the role he had in the first Dracula film from 1958 and the 2nd one is this movie which continued to explore the Dracula related stories and it should have marked at IMDb as a sequel to the hammer official Dracula films.A beautiful film with all the hammer elements u loved and it's only flaw is that Sir lee and peter cushing are not in the movie.not great like the rest of the Dracula hammer films but still a worthy addition to the series AND NOT TO MISS.GRADE B - = 7 out of 10

Don Sharp directed this entertaining vampire tale(not connected with the Dracula series) that sees honeymooning Gerald and Marianne Harcourt(played by Edward De Souza & Jennifer Daniel) develop car trouble on their driving trip in Europe, but are aided by a Count Ravna(played by Noel Willman) who invites them to his castle for a costume party after they check into a local inn. The party takes a dark turn after Gerald is drugged, and told that he has no wife! Confused and outraged, he seeks the help of Professor Zimmer(played by Clifford Evans) who is also staying at the inn, and informs him that Ravna leads a vampire cult that turned his own daughter, and now wants Marianne... Another atmospheric horror from Hammer with a fine score and direction. A pity it couldn't have brought back Peter Cushing as Van Helsing, but performances are still good, and leads to an exciting finale.

Modest Hammer potboiler with all the studio's virtues intact: good acting, economical direction, neat photography, an unpretentious script and tight pacing. Edward de Souza and Jacqueline Daniel are the English honeymoon couple menaced by a chateauful of vampires led by Noel Wilman. Clifford Evans does a forceful job as the grizzled Van Helsing figure; it's just a pity they didn't develop his character a bit more. Befanged Transylvanian minxes Jacqueline Wallis and Isobel Black add to the sex quotient. Director Don Sharp gets right down to business from a splendid opening sequence set in that oh so familiar graveyard at Bray Studios. The trusty forest location at Black Park - another familiar day's outing for the Hammer crew - is well used, too. If only the bats at the climax looked a bit more real. Not a full-blooded Hammer classic, but quite perfect in its own minor key.