Spielsdorf George Cole as Roger Morton Dawn Addams as the Countess Kate O'Mara as the governess, Mademoiselle Perrodot Douglas Wilmer as Baron Joachim von Hartog Jon Finch as Carl Ebhardt Ferdy Mayne as the doctor Kirsten Lindholm as the First Vampire (the blonde woman) John Forbes-Robertson as the Man in Black Shelagh Wilcocks as the housekeeper Harvey Hall as Renton, the butler Janet Key as Gretchin, the maid Charles Farrell as the landlord Production The film was a co-production between Hammer and American International, who were interested in a vampire movie with more explicit sexual content to take advantage of a more relaxed censorship environment. It was decided to adapt Carmilla. Harry Fine and Michael Style were the two producers. Before production, the script of The Vampire Lovers was sent to the chief censor John Trevelyan, who warned the studio about depictions of lesbianism, pointing out that a previous lesbian film, The Killing of Sister George, had had five minutes excised by his office. In response, Hammer replied that the lesbianism was not of their doing, but was present in the original story by Le Fanu. Trevelyan backed down as a result. Production of The Vampire Lovers began at Elstree Studios on 19 January 1970 and used locations in the grounds of Moor Park Mansion, Hertfordshire (standing in for Styria, Central Europe). Produced on a relatively low budget of £165,227, it was the final Hammer film to be financed with American money—most of the later films were backed by Rank or EMI. While filming the scene in which Carmilla attacks Madame Perrodot, Ingrid Pitt's fangs kept falling out of her mouth and dropping into Kate O'Mara's cleavage, prompting gales of uncontrollable laughter from both actresses. Finally, Pitt grabbed some chewing gum from the mouth of one of the crew members and used it to secure her fangs. Critical reception The Vampire Lovers has received mixed reception from critics. Variety's review of the film was mixed, claiming the story was not great and it had "fairly flat dialog," but the script had "all the needed ingredients." A. H. Weiler of The New York Times called it "a departure from the hackneyed bloody norm... professionally directed, opulently staged and sexy to boot." The Monthly Film Bulletin declared, "Rather below par, even by recent Hammer standards, this involves the customary heavy breathing, lusty fangs and tolerably luxurious sets, with the innovation of an