Kiss of a vampire Flashcards
Who produced the film?
Hammer film productions
Which companies distributed the film?
Universal and J. Arthur Rank
KOTV was the third film in which franchise?
Dracula in 1958
What previous films had the production company had success with?
The mummy and Frankenstein
What significant world events happened at the time of the film’s release?
‘swinging sixties’, ‘beatlemania’ , JFK assassination, Union Soviet launching the first woman into space 1963
What typical elements of monster movie film posters does KOTV contain?
The capitalised, serif font of the title
creates connotations linked to the vampire
film genre with its ‘wooden’ styling
(referencing the vampire’s coffin or the
stake needed to kill him perhaps) and the
blood dripping from the letter V’s ‘fang.’
• The use of a ‘painted’ main image is highly
conventional of films of the period and links
to the poster for Christopher Lee’s Dracula,
but the fact that it’s in colour (anchored by
the text “In Eastman Color”) connotes that
this is a modern telling of an older story.
• The gloomy grey, black and brown colour
palette reinforces the film’s dark, scary
conventions while the red highlight colour draws
attention to the attacking bats, the vampire and
the blood – all key visual signifiers for the genre.
• Conventionally, the stars are listed with the
more highly paid male actors first and in order
of fame, Clifford Evans having starred in
Hammer’s 1961 hit Curse of the Werewolf.
How are enigmas used on the poster?
The title of the poster ‘kiss’ connotes a relationship between the male and female vampires and the fate of their two victims which creates suspense for the audience (Hermeneutic code)
What other ways might Barthes consider this poster?
Semantic code- bats has an association with vampirism and horror genre and symbolic code horror, darkness and fear are more widely reinforced through signifiers such as the moon and the male victim’s ‘submissive sacrifice’ gesture code
What binary opposites exist on the poster?
opposing representations of the
vampires and their victims, and the romantic
connotations of “kiss” opposed
IN relation to gender, what was the social context of the time?
Start of the second wave of feminism, introduction to contraceptive pills, start of women’s sexual liberation, more women entering the workforce and sixties feminists were campaigning for equal pay, an end to sexual harassment & in America, equal pay legislation was passed in 1963, more equality
How is this social context reflected in the poster?
‘Older’ stereotypes of women as passive
victims of men and more modern ‘male fears’
of women challenging male dominance could
both be seen to be encoded in this film poster.
What significant ‘dress codes’ generate representation of femininity in the poster?
Both females wear pale dresses made of light materials and in a sense is objectifying women by highlighting the curves of their bodies and revealing their skin of their upper chest and arms
What significant ‘gesture codes’ reinforce traditional gender roles?
The gesture code of the woman on the left is that of the stereotypical passive victim of the ‘monster’ where his power is highlighted due to the fact he’s holding her by just one arm.
What significant ‘gesture codes’ subvert traditional gender roles?
the second woman’s gesture codes are more aggressive, and the submissive pose of her male ‘victim’ (including being on his knees with his head back and throat exposed) represent her in a non stereotypical dominant way
According to Hall, what familiar elements of the poster help to reinforce the audiences ‘Shared Conceptual Roadmap’?
Stuart Hall’s theory of representation –
the images of a castle, bats, the vampire’s
cape and dripping blood form part of the
“shared conceptual road map” that give
meaning to the “world” of the poster. The
audience is actively encouraged to decode
this familiar generic iconography
