An American-Spanish coproduction that was shot in
Europe, with leading actors from the U.S., this underwhelming horror flick has
been distributed under several different titles, including Crypt of the Living Dead—and it’s even been distributed in two
different color schemes, because some prints are in black-and-white and some
are in color. Such are the fates that befall movies in the public domain.
Anyway, Hannah, Queen of the Vampires
is standard shock fare, somewhat in the Hammer Films mode. After an archeologist
is killed while exploring a crypt on a remote European island, his intrepid
son, Chris (Andrew Prine), travels to the same location in order to investigate
his father’s death. Abetted by skittish local schoolteacher Mary (Patty
Sheppard) and her spooky brother, Peter (Mark Damon), Chris learns the crypt is
occupied by the corpse of Hannah (Teresa Gimpera), a 700-year-old vampire whom
the island’s residents fear has been resuscitated. After the usual perfunctory
scenes of Chris scoffing at the superstition of provincial types, Chris splits
his time between romancing Mary and answering hypnotic calls to visit Hannah’s
tomb. This repetitive business goes on for a while. Then the villagers do their
pitchforks-and-torches bit. Seen in its original color version, Hannah, Queen of the Vampires is so dull
and trite that even calling it ordinary would be a compliment. However, there’s
something to be said for the scratchy black-and-white print that’s in
circulation, because the monochromatic incarnation of the movie has a Bergman-esque
quality. Seriously. Turn off the sound, and it’s possible to groove on moody
low angles of angst-ridden people drifting through clouds of mist and walking
around graveyards. However, noting that Hannah,
Queen of the Vampires is best appreciated without its color or its
soundtrack says everything you need to know about the movie’s inherent virtues.
Hannah,
Queen of the Vampires: LAME
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