Kiss of a Vampire

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'Hammer Film Productions in 1963. It was directed by Don Sharp and was written by producer Anthony hinds. 'The Kiss of a Vampire' is part of a long line of horror films in the Hammer Film Productions' repertoire which were produced during the 1950s-1970s. These Gothic horror productions had it's large audience as a result of the baby boom that occurred after WWII, the babies born were now in their teenage years which was a large audience that enjoyed this Gothic horror style.


The poster has very typical language, representation and attitudes for the time period and the film genre that contrast to today's attitudes. Firstly the women in the poster are wearing very little clothing, furthermore the first woman (left) looks somewhat helpless and the man drawn on the left is possessively holding the first woman. This representation of women being 'damsels in distress' who can only be saved by a men is very typical 1950s-60s attitude as men were seen to be superior and women helpless and submissive. This can link to the target audience as these women are dressed and sexualised this way for the pleasure of men rather than for any other function. It could also be pointed out that only one of the women are credited in the poster -the male cast takes the majority of the cast list.

However, although the first woman enforces the 1950s attitude, the second woman (right) is seen to be much more aggressive. She bares her teeth and her right hand is in a fist. The beginning of the 1960s was often seen as the beginning of the women's sexual liberation as it was the introduction to the contraceptive pill and there were now more women in the workforce than ever before. David Gauntlet's identity theory could be applied to this as she could be seen as a role-model for women who struggle with male oppression or who would like to be seen as equals to men of the time, whatever the narrative environment. Liebst van Zoonen's feminist theories could be applied as by assuming the 'co-antagonist' role, the female vampire contributes social change in a non-traditional role.

Bell Hooks, a feminist and activist for black peoples rights, talks about how the media effects peoples perception of class. In her book 'Reel to Reel' she talks about how people of color are lowest in social class during the 1950s. This poster supports her theory.

The poster shows very typical attributes of the Gothic horror genre. The use of a cloudy background with a full moon is use of pathetic fallacy, it creates the idea of something supernatural. The choice of font in Hammer production posters are usually original font texts that have an art style that has relevance to the film's story line. For example the 'V' of vampire has blood dripping from it like a vampire's fang.

Roland Barthes's five codes can be applied to the poster. Firstly the hermneutic code is used through the enigma of a "kiss" in the title, this puts emphasis on the relationship between male and female vampires. There is further use of this through the enigma of the fate of the two victims. Barthes's semantic code can be applied to the images that link to vampire-ism e.g: bats, the castle and the exposure of peoples necks. The symbolic code can be applied to signifies of the supernatural and horror e.g: darkness and the full moon.