Meet Ingrid Pitt – A “Vampire Lover”!
She was called Hammer Films’ most seductive female vampire of the early 1970s, one of the most beautiful of the “Hammer Glamour Queens”, and star of many of the best 70’s horror films too!
My “Shocktober 2021” celebration continues with a look at Ingrid’s incredible career!
Ingrid Pitt was a Polish-British actress who had some of the most provocative scenes in Hammer’s horror catalogue – and she was a bestselling Author as well!
We’ll focus on several films that made her one of my favorite “Queens Of Horror!”
The Vampire Lovers!
As the ad screams:
“Caution: not for the mentally immature!”
Pitt got her start in horror in this classic tale of vampire lust from 1970 – check out the vintage trailer!
Pitt plays seductive vampire Carmilla Karnstein, who along with her family target the beautiful and the rich in a remote area of late eighteenth-century Germany.
According to IMDB:
While filming, Ingrid Pitt and the girls have a great deal of trouble getting through scenes without giggling. In the scene where Ingrid has to drink from Kate O’Mara, her vampire teeth kept falling out and into Kate’s cleavage. She eventually had to steal some gum from one of the stagehands to stick the fangs back in.
This was the beginning of the era of “erotic horror” – with empowered women who were the predators, and the films included a lot of nudity and sexual situations as well.
Madeline Smith also appeared in the film – she was a “Hammer Glamour Queen” as well – and you can see all of her most provocative work here:
Pitt’s next film in 1971 cemented her status as a Queen of Horror!
Countess Dracula!
How about this for a plot:
In 17th-century Hungary, elderly widow Countess Elisabeth Nádasdy maintains her misleading youthful appearance by bathing in the blood of virgins!
Hammer’s foray into erotic horror was proving to be a huge box office win for the studio.
Here is the vintage trailer:
While the film was a huge hit, IMDB says that Ingrid Pitt’s voice was dubbed. Supposedly, she was so furious at director Peter Sasdy that she vowed never to speak to him again!
That same year she was part of an ensemble cast in one of horror’s first – and best anthology films!
The House That Dripped Blood!
The film is a collection of four stories about strange happenings inside this house…here is the trailer:
Interestingly, Pitt wasn’t nude in the film, and it gave her a chance to extend her range a bit. She was, however, certainly willing to bare all in her films:
She had a small role but revealing role in the British classic “The Wicker Man”:
You remember this one: an Inspector goes to a small island to check out reports of a missing girl…but the “locals” don’t want to help him out much…check out the trailer:
Aside from its shocking finale, the film is also known for the nude dance scene with Britt Eklund:
Except it wasn’t her! Click her for the whole story, plus a look at Britt’s REAL nude work in film:
A cult classic…as you see, Pitt had no problem with nudity at the time:
To the dismay of cult horror fans, she turned her back on film and left the business for almost a decade.
She left us with some great 70’s horror films to enjoy over Halloween, and a lot of provocative photos as well.
In 1999, more than twenty years after her horror heyday, she published her autobiography, “Life’s a Scream”, where she revealed many private details about her life.
The autobiography detailed the harrowing experiences of her early life—in a Nazi concentration camp, her search through Europe in Red Cross refugee camps for her father, and her escape from East Berlin…a she said:
“I always had a big mouth and used to go on about the political schooling interrupting my quest for thespian glory. I used to think like that. Not good in a police state.”
Other writing projects include a bedside companion for fans of “The Vampire Lovers!”
Pitt died in 2010, but leaves behind a rich treasure trove of great horror films!
Halloween is always a great time of year to dip into some classic cult films and remember some of the great cult movies like this one:
This one is on Amazon Prime, and stars Ann Michelle – it’s filled with scenes of satanic rituals and sacrifice – all nude of course:
You can click here to see the trailer and more revealings pictures from the film:
It’s also a great season to look at some of the more recent horror classics like this one:
“Species” is a classic film, and the debut of Natasha Henstridge, who plays the alien seeking a mate with gusto!
You can see the trailer and more pics from the film by clicking on my story here:
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Bravo to Ingrid Pitt for all of the great movies she left us, and Happy Shocktober 2021!
Categories: 70's Films, Books / Media, Camp Cult Classics, Classic Horror, Cult Classics, Euro-Sleaze, Exploitation Films, Extreme Cinema, Grindhouse, Horror films, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Sexploitation Films, Talent / Celebrites
The Queen of the Hammer Beauties, IMHO
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In my teens, I used to go to the local cinema and watch every Hammer Horror film. Even though some were corny, you always knew they would be worth a couple of hours in a cheap seat. Ingrid seemed to be in every one of them, and she was a household name in England back then.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yes Pete, I also have history with “midnight movies” when they’d charge $2 and give you a couple of classic horror films to tear the seats up to!
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