Ghoulish, Gory, Ghastly

'Lust For A Vampire' was the second film in Hammer's 'Karnstein' trilogy, and was released in 1971. Whereas the first film, 'The Vampire Lovers', had been bloody and sexy enough to bother the censors, 'Lust', despite it's racier title, is much tamer and almost completely excises the lesbianism of both the literary source material and its predecessor. If it's any compensation, it is, however, much, much funnier.

The star is Danish actress Yutte Stensgaard, who is very pretty but not much of an actress, and Michael Johnson, who resembles a clean shaven Peter Wyngarde but without his presence and sense of humour. There are also parts for Suzanna Leigh and Ralph Bates, as well as an outing for ex-DJ and aspiring horror ham, Mike Raven. Raven looks the part, but was dubbed because his performance was so poor.

In an interesting aside, Yutte Stensgaard auditioned for the role of Jo Grant in 'Doctor Who' but lost out, of course, to Katy Manning. Katy had the right idea and did things in the right order: kids show first, then nudity.   

Love Is Strange

Lust for a Vampire

Disciple of Death

There's really not very much to say about Mike Raven's magnum opus 'Disciple of Death' apart from it's one of the worst films ever made. In fact, that's all I'm going to say, and just back away slowly. Inevitably, though, I will come creeping back to it at some point.   

A Mind So Evil

'Crucible of Terror' is a curious film that, unfortunately, hinges on the acting talent of Radio 1 DJ turned thespian, Mike Raven.

Raven, who makes crappy old Christopher Lee look like Sir John Gielgud, lurches from scene to scene throwing elaborate gestures not seen on screen since Tod Slaughter hung up his top hat, all the while emoting unconvincingly in a booming, hollow sounding voice.

It's one of the most pathetic performances in film history, and I've seen that Bond film where Denise Richards is supposed to be a nuclear physicist.

Crucible of Terror