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Lesbian vampirism is a trope in 20th century exploitation film that has its roots in Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novella Carmilla (1872) about the predatory love of a female vampire (the title character) for a young woman (the narrator):
- Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet overpowering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'You are mine, you shall be mine, and you and I are one for ever'. (Carmilla, Chapter 4).
In essence, this was a way to hint/titillate at the taboo idea of lesbianism in a fantasy context outside the heavily censored realm of social realism (Weiss 1993). Also, the conventions of the vampire genre — specifically, the mind control exhibited in many such films — allow for a kind of forced seduction of presumably straight women or girls by lesbian vampires.
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Films
Dracula's Daughter (1936) gave the first hints of lesbian attraction in a
Le Fanu's Carmilla was adapted by Roger Vadim as Blood and Roses in 1960. More explicit lesbian content was provided in Hammer Studios production of a trilogy of films loosely adapted from Carmilla. The Vampire Lovers (1970) was the first, starring Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith. It was a relatively straightforward re-telling of LeFanu's novella, but with more overt violence and sexuality. Lust for a Vampire (1971) followed, with Yutte Stensgaard as the same character played by Pitt, returning to prey upon students at an all-girl's school. This version had her falling in love with a male teacher at the school. Twins of Evil (1972) had the least "lesbian" content, with one female vampire biting a female victim on the breast. It starred real life twins and Playboy playmates Madeleine and Mary Collinson. Partially due to censorship restraints from the BBFC (Hearn and Barnes 1998), Hammer's trilogy actually had fewer lesbian elements as it proceeded.
Other notable lesbian vampire film titles include Jess Franco's Vampyros Lesbos (1971) José Ramón Larraz' Vampyres (1974) and Tony Scott's The Hunger (1983). The vampire films of Jean Rollin usually contain some kind of lesbian element or hint. Recently Seduction Cinema Productions have produced a series of erotic lesbian films, starting with The Vampire's Seduction (1997) and following on with numerous titles including The Erotic Rites of Countess Dracula (2001).
The genre was also spoofed in the "Lesbian Vampire Lovers of Lust" episode of Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, a comedy television series. Recent British vampire movie Razor Blade Smile (1998), which presents itself partly as a series of homages to and clichés from other vampire films, includes an erotic lesbian vampire scene, as well as similar heterosexual episodes. In 2001 movie Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, Jesus Christ fights vampires to protect lesbians from becoming a vampire. Another spoof of the genre, entitled Lesbian Vampire Killers, was released in 2009.[4]
Erzsébet Báthory, the historical true-life prototype of the modern lesbian vampire, appears as a character in several films—although not always with the lesbian element—including Daughters of Darkness (1971) by Belgian director Harry Kumel, Hammer Films' Countess Dracula (1971), Immoral Tales (1974) directed by Walerian Borowczyk, The Bloody Countess (Ceremonia sangrienta) (1973) directed by Jorge Grau, and
Other media
More recently, Pam Keesey edited two anthologies of lesbian vampire stories, Daughters of Darkness (1993) and Dark Angels (1995).
Perhaps curiously, there were very few lesbian references in television vampire series such as Dark Shadows (one female vampire bit a female victim, but not on-screen), Forever Knight (Janette showed some interest in a young prostitute, planning at one point on making her a vampire), or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Willow's lesbianism was foreshadowed in her recurring bisexual vampiric counterpart from an alternate universe).
In Stephen Sommers' film Van Helsing, the Brides of Dracula display some notable lesbian tendencies, especially Brides Verona and Aleera.
In 1984 Charles Busch premiered Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, a campy one-act play that went on to a long Off Off Broadway run.
Young adult vampire novelist Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has stated that many of the vampires in her canon are bisexual, having grown tired over the centuries of being romantically involved with a single gender.
Vampire Princess Miyu has some homoerotic tensions between the girlish vampire Miyu and the shamaness Himeko who attempts to fight against her.[5]
In Xena: Warrior Princess, a TV show with a heavy lesbian subtext, the episode "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" featured the main characters being turned into vampires.
See also
- The Celluloid Closet
- LGBT themes in horror fiction
- Homosexuality in speculative fiction
- Elizabeth Báthory in popular culture
- The island of Lesbos (from where the word "Lesbian" comes) had local traditions about the nature of Greek vampires: they were thought to have long canine teeth much like wolves.
- Tracey Wigginton, an Australian murderer nicknamed "The Lesbian Vampire Killer"
- Lesley Firestone, the subject of "American Vampire in London"
References
- ^ Tudor, Andrew (1989). Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 063116992X. p. 31
- ^ Breen, quoted in Worland, Rick (2007). The Horror Film: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1405139021. p. 126
- ^ Russo, Vito (1987). The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies (revised edition). New York, HarperCollins. ISBN 0060961325. p. 48
- ^ Lesbian Vampire Killers
- ^ Napier, Susan J.. "Vampires, Psychic Girls, Flying Women and Sailor Scouts". in Martinez, Dolores P. (in English). The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture: Gender, Shifting Boundaries and Global Culture. Cambridge University Press. p. 97. ISBN 0521631289.
- Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes (1998) The Hammer Story.
- Andrea Weiss (1993) Vampires & Violets: Lesbians in Film. Penguin
External links
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