Kiss Of The Vampire is one of my favourite Hammer horror movies, even though it does not feature either Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing.

I watched it again recently on YouTube and it really holds up well.  It takes the basic set-up template of a great many vampire movies (ie a young couple break down in the woods near to a mysterious castle and become prey to the undead…) but adds a number of unique, memorable touches. 

These include the opening sequence, where the vampire hunter character interrupts a funeral to drive a spade into a coffin; the vampires themselves – who include an entire family and a cult of their decadent acolytes; and, most unusually, the finale, whereby a swarm of vampire bats are summoned by black magic to attack and destroy the coven of vampires. 

Clifford Evans makes a good Van Helsing substitute as the gruff, hard-drinking professor; Noel Willman turns on the charm in the Dracula-lite role as “Dr Ravna”, and director Don Sharp, in the first of several movies he made for Hammer, keeps the action moving along nicely.

This is an Argentinian poster, which reproduces a similar image as was featured on the US one-sheet.