Kiss of the Vampire Flashcards
What production company produced Kiss of the Vampire?
Hammer Film Productions.
Who distributed Kiss of the Vampire?
J. Arthur Rank.
Universal.
What was the film intended to be?
The second
sequel to 1958’s Dracula, However, the film’s
script actually makes no reference to Stoker’s
character.
Why did the film’s script make no reference to Stoker’s character despite it being intended to be a sequel?
Perhaps to distance itself
from unfavourable comparisons to the superior Christopher Lee who starred in the original film.
What inferences could you make about the typography in the poster?
The capitalised, serif font of the title creates connotations linked to the vampire film genre.
Its “wooden” styling
referencing the vampire’s coffin or the
stake needed to kill him. The blood dripping from the letter V’s “fang”.
Is the use of a “painted” main image conventional of films of the period? What poster does it link to?
Yes.
The poster for Christopher Lee’s Dracula.
The “painted” main image is in colour. What could this suggest?
This is a modern telling of an older story.
What inferences could you make about the choice of colours in the poster?
The gloomy grey, black and brown colour
palette reinforces the film’s dark, scary conventions. The red highlight colour draws attention to the attacking bats, the vampire and the blood – all key visual signifiers for the genre.
How are the stars listed at the bottom of the poster? Is this conventional or unconventional?
The more highly paid male actors first and in order
of fame.
Conventional.
What enigmas are created?
What is the relationship between the male and female vampires?
(This is emphasised by the “kiss” of the title)
What is the fate of the two victims?
What could Barthes’ semantic code be applied to?
The images of the bats and their conventional
association with vampirism and horror.
What symbolic codes are reinforced through signifiers such as the moon and the male
victim’s “submissive sacrifice” gesture code?
Horror.
Darkness.
Fear.
How could Levi-Strauss’ theory of structuralism be applied to the poster?
The idea that texts are constructed through
the use of binary oppositions could be
applied to the opposing representations of the
vampires and their victims, and the romantic
connotations of “kiss” opposed in the film’s
title to the stereotypical “vampire” monster.
What is the 1960s seen as in relation to women?
The start of women’s
sexual liberation.
This was aided by events such as the introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1960.
What were feminists campaigning for in the 1960s?
Equal pay.
An end to sexual harassment.
More equality between men and women.
What “older” stereotype of women could be seen in this poster?
Women as passive
victims of men.
What modern “male fear” could be seen in this poster?
Women challenging male dominance.
What inferences could be made about the women’s outfits on the poster?
Both women wear pale dresses made of light
materials.
These dress codes serve to
reinforce their femininity by highlighting the
curves of their bodies and revealing the flesh
of their upper chests and arms.
What is the gesture code of the woman on the left of the poster?
That of the stereotypical passive victim of
the “monster”, his power highlighted by the
fact that he’s holding her by just one arm.
What is the gesture code of the woman on the right?
Baring her teeth and with her arm raised almost fist-like as she’s being bitten by
the bat, the second woman’s gesture codes
are more aggressive.
The submissive
pose of her male “victim” (including being
on his knees with his head back and throat
exposed) represent her in a nonstereotypically dominant way.
What is the gesture code of the vampire?
Uncharacteristically
fearful.
His arm is thrown
across his body in a defensive gesture, perhaps
protecting himself from the female vampire.
How could Stuart Hall’s theory of representation be applied to the poster?
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.
How could David Gauntlett’s theory of identity be applied to the poster?
The female vampire acts as a role model for
women struggling against male oppression or desperate to be seen as the equals of men,
whatever the narrative or environment.
How can Liesbet van Zoonen’s feminist theory be applied to the poster?
By assuming this “co-antagonist” role, the
female vampire is contributing to
social change by representing women in nontraditional roles.
