At a funeral in small village, an old man interrupts the vicar and horrifies the gathered mourners by plunging a spade into the coffin. But it is the woman’s scream from inside the grave and the bubbling pool of blood from the broken coffin lid that sends them all running. Meanwhile, after their new-fangled horseless carriage breaks down, newlyweds Gerald and Marianne Harcourt (Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel) become stranded while on their way to their honeymoon. They are spied on by a creepy creepster with a telescope (they called them “vision tubes” back in the olden times) in a nearby castle who practically salivates over delicious Marianne.

The creepster is Dr. Ravna M.D. (Noel William), the patriarch of a family of vampires with devious plans cooking in their unwholesome brains. It isn’t long before the Harcrourts have fallen under their seductive (and totally not obviously evil) charms. Only Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans) can save them now. Remember him? He’s the freako who stabbed his own daughter’s coffin at the beginning of the movie. All of this vampirized excitement culminates when Ravna and his family host a costume ball and all of the real weirdos come out to party.

From its haunting and ghoulish opening to its wacko conclusion, The Kiss of the Vampire is a real treat. Hammer Studios initially intended for this project to be another Dracula film (sans Christopher Lee) but it turned into something even moodier and ultimately, a little stranger. The cast is excellent and breathe so much life into this fun and spooky ooky horror film. Director Don Sharp’s sharp direction -patting myself on the back for that one- coupled with Anthony Hinds’s enthralling screenplay and James Bernard’s bombastic music score, makes this a fine entry in Hammer’s staggeringly awesome early 1960s output. I can’t recommend this film enough if you haven’t gotten to it yet.

Scream Factory’s Blu-ray of The Kiss of the Vampire is one of the most densely packed discs I’ve come across while reviewing films. First off, there are two different gorgeous widescreen options for viewing Kiss of the Vampire, one in 1.85:1 and another in 1.66:1. There’s also a full frame version of the film under its television re-titling, Kiss of Evil. This version was sourced from a TV broadcast but is rather watchable all things considered. When this film was sold to TV in the US, it was cut so heavily that new scenes had to be filmed with American actors to pad out the running time. Seeing how it was butchered and made even weirder is just so damn cool.

There are not one, not two, but three freakin’ audio commentaries on this release. First up is Steve Haberman (author of Silent Screams: The History of the Silent Horror Film) and film historian Constantine Nasr on the 1.66:1 version of the film. Next is author Troy Howarth and film historian Nathaniel Thompson, who discuss the Kiss of Evil cut of the film. And finally, the Harcourts themselves, Jennifer Daniel and Edward de Sousa with moderator Peter Irving, discuss working on the film on the 1.85:1 version of the film.

But that’s not all. Don’t you dare think that is all, bro. There’s the theatrical trailer for the film, a TV spot, and trailer for the Kiss of Evil version as well. There are also two awesome featurettes under The Men Who Made Hammer series, one about composer James Bernard and another about production designer Bernard Robinson. These are must watches and full of awesome insights into the heyday of Hammer Studios. Is that it? I think that’s it. Jeez. That’s a lot. This is why Blu-rays weigh more than 50 pounds these days.