HANNAH QUEEN OF THE VAMPIRES
US/Spain, 1973, 85 minutes, Colour.
Andrew Prine, Patty Shepard, Mark Damon.
Directed by Julio Salvador, Ray Danton
Hannah Queen of the Vampires (Crypt of the Living Dead) is a conventional American attempt at a vampire film. Set in Europe with medieval overtones, the film has all the ingredients of horror. It is quite veil done in its own way. It was directed by actor Ray Danton, who was in such films as The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond. Not as good as its British counterparts.
1. The appeal of the vampire stories, mythology, horror, symbol living evil and the confrontation with good?
2. The success of this particular film? The ideas, the screen special effects?
3. The title, the focus on Hannah, her relationship with the vampires? The original American title vas 'Crypt of the Living Dead’. More appropriate?
4. An American attempt at a vampire film? How well were the basic conventions of the genre transferred to an American atmosphere?
5. How well did the film present the conventions of the plot, for audience interest and involvement: the Professor investigating, death of the good Professor, the background of the legend , the noble son as hero, the secretary who then betrays? Hannah, the legend, her role in the medieval past, her persecution in the present? Mary as heroine? The digging up of the tomb, the releasing of the vampire, the deaths and their violence? The worship of the vampire? The various attempts at killing her? The build-up? The importance of leaving one vampire on the island?
6. How well drawn were the characters: Chris, Nita, Mary? Well delineated? Types for this kind of horror film?
7. The portrayal of Hannah, the legend and its meaning, her role the middle ages, how evil? As a, person, in the present, murderous? The ugliness of her death and its retribution?
8. How well did the film add in themes from the werewolf tradition? blending with the vampire?
9. The importance of the island and its atmosphere: the people and the irony of the people remaining?
10. How much value in this kind of reworking of vampire legends? Entertainment? Symbolism?
