Kiss of Vampire

The movie, set around 1905, starts off with a funeral scene, and then progresses to a young couple traveling by car. They run out of gas, and end up in a creepy little town staying in a creepy little hotel. The feeling that something is seriously wrong permeates the scenes, but the young couple, who we find out are on their honeymoon, seem to take little notice, but I think that can be explained to them being newlyweds.

They soon make the acquaintance of the Ravna family, a very well to do and prominent family within the small town. The Ravna chateau is full of opulence, almost to the point of decadence, in comparison to the surrounding environment. The head of the family, Dr. Ravna, played by Noel Willman, puts forth a sinister aura, one that seems to be the source of most of the unease within the movie. The secrets slowly begin to reveal themselves, and the audience, if patient, will find the rewards to be many within this film.

What I found most interesting in this movie was how vampirism was linked to not only venereal disease, but also the occult. In the film, we find a small society of vampires, while most vampire movies would suggest these creatures of the night to be more solitary, more territorial. Not so in this film. He we see a group come together and a definite hierarchy in place.

The sets, costumes, scenery...it all comes together nicely. The actors all play there parts very well, and the direction is excellent. There is not a lot of blood in this movie, but there is just enough and in the right places coupled with a slow build of tension and suspense to make this a very effective film. I felt throughout as I was watching a movie made by real craftsmen of their trade, an above average entry into the vampire film genre. The scene with the costume ball was really enjoyable as the suspense underlying the entire film really started to surface here for me. My only squabble was at the end. I was hoping for something a bit more spectacular, as the build up lent me to believe, but it was at least satisfying, none the less.

Absolutely no extras here, not even a trailer, but there are atleast chapter stops, and the film looks excellent for its' age. The audio, also showing the films' age, did suffer just a little from the 'snap, crackle, pop' syndrome at some points, but was otherwise fine. I am glad I picked this up when I did, as it seems to be going out of print.