Kiss Of The Vampire Film Poster Flashcards
Who was it produced by?
Hammer film productions
Who distributed this?
J. Arthur rank and universal
What was the kiss of a vampire a sequel of?
1958’s Dracula
When was kiss of a vampire produced.
1963
What occurred during 1963?
- Assassination of JFK
- Soviet Union launching first woman into space.
Who were usually the victims in monster movies.
Women. Damsel in distress.
Why were the audience in the 1960s used to the codes and conventions of monster movies.
They became increasingly popular around this time.
Some intertextual study posters could be;
The evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Blood from the mummy’s tomb (1971)
What could you say about the kiss of a vampires serif font?
Creates connotations linked to the vampire film genre with its ‘wooden’ styling (vampires coffin) and the blood dripping from the letter V’s ‘fang’.
What font did it use for the title?
Serif
Why is it significant in the fact it’s painted?
Painted posters were a normal thing for films in this period. The poster links to the poster of Christopher Lee’s Dracula. But the fact it’s in colour connotes that this is a modern telling of an old story.
What is significant about the colour palette?
It’s a gloomy grey, black and brown colour palette reinforces the film’s dark, scary conventions while the red highlights colour. And it draws attention to the attacking bats, the vampire and the blood.
All signifying the genre.
What’s significant about the stars listed?
The stars are listed with the more highly paid male actors first and in order of fame, Clifford Evans having starred in Hammer’ 1961 hit Curse of the werewolf.
How could you apply semiotics? (Ronald Barthes)
Suspense created through the enigmas surrounding the connoted relationship between the male and female vampires (emphasised by the “kiss” of the title) and the fate of their two victims. (Barthes hermeneutic code)
Barthes semantic code could be applied to..?
Images of the bats and their conventional associations with vampirism and horror in general.
The symbolic codes. How does it connect with a kiss of a vampire?
(Barthes) the symbolic codes of horror, darkness and fear are more widely reinforced through signifiers which as the moon and the male victims ‘submissive sacrifice’ gesture code.
Structuralism is what? And how can you apply it
The idea that texts are constructed through the use of binary opposites could be applied to the opposing representations of the vampires and their victims, and the romantic connotations of “kiss” opposed in the film’s connotations of “kiss” opposed in the films title to the stereotypical “vampire” monster.
The 1960s is often seen as the start of women’s sexual liberation, aided by events like…
The introduction to contraceptive pill in 1960s
More women were entering the…
Paid work force.
Sixties feminists were campaigning for…?
Equal pay, an end to harassment and more equality between men and women.
When were equal pay legislation passed?
1963
What older stereotypes could be seen on the film poster?
Women being passive victims of men.
Modern ‘male fears’ of women challenging male dominance
What was significant about what the women were wearing?
Both women were wearing pale dresses. This could reinforce their femininity by highlighting their curves and revealing the flesh on the chest and upper breast.
The gesture code of the women on the left is that of the stereotypical…
Passive victim of the monster his power highlighting by the fact that he’s holding her by just one arm.
The second woman’s gestures are different? How?
She is baring her teeth and with her arm raised almost fist like as she’s being bitten by the bat. The woman’s gesture codes are more aggressive and the submissive pose of her male victim. (He is on his knees and his throat is exposed) showing her non stereotypically dominant way
The male vampire seems…?
Uncharacteristically fearful in his gesture codes with his arm thrown across his body in a defensive gesture, perhaps protecting himself from the female vampire.
Stuart Hall’s representation theory comes into play when…
The images of the castle, bats,the vampires, cape and dripping blood from 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.
David gauntlets theory of identity.
Perhaps 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 it environment
Liesbet van zoonen’s feminist theory
By assuming this ‘co-antagonist’ role the female vampire is perhaps contributing to social change by representing women In non traditional roles (Van Zoonen,1988) though the passive female victim does reinforce these.
