In the area surrounding Karnstein Castle, the forces of good are represented by the grim, puritanical Gustav Weil and his witch-hunting group of religious fanatics called the Brotherhood. On the side of evil is Count Karnstein, an evil, depraved man in league with the Devil. As Weil’s twin nieces, Frieda and Maria, come to stay with him after the death of their parents, the Count is staging a Satanic ritual, during which he resurrects the long-dead vampire Mircalla Karnstein. She initiates him into vampirism, setting off a spate of bloody killings. Then, one night, Frieda, the more adventurous of the twins, can no longer resist the temptation to go to the castle to see if all the debauched things she has heard about the place are true…..
![3- TOE 1 3- TOE 1](https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/3-TOE-1-550x250.jpg)
Production Details
A Hammer production presented by The Rank Organisation alld released through Rank film Distributors limited Copyright MCMLXXI Hammer Film Productions Limited – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate
The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the flame, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional
Made at Pinewood Studios, London, England
Colour by Rank Film Processing 87 mins
Filming Began: 22nd March 1971
UK Release: 17th October 1971
Studio:
Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire
Centralni Filmski Studio Kosutnjak, Belgrade, Serbia
Stills from film
Click an image for enlarged slideshow
Cast & Crew
Red = Uncredited
Crew | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Hidden | Death | Age | Hammer Credited | Hammer Uncredited | Total Hammer |
Art Direction | Vladislav Lasic | 32 | 28 Feb 1939 | 28.02.1939 | 85 | 1 | 1 | ||
Art Director | Roy Stannard | 40 | 1 Jan 1931 | 1 Mar 2008 | 77 | 10 | 10 | ||
Assistant Director | Patrick Clayton | 36 | 1 Jul 1935 | 1 Mar 2023 | 87 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Based on characters created by | J. Sheridan Le Fanu | 157 | 28 Aug 1814 | 7 Feb 1873 | 58 | 2 | 2 | ||
Camera Operator | Dudley Lovell | 56 | 11 Jun 1915 | 7 Jul 1998 | 83 | 1 | 1 | ||
Casting | James Liggat | 51 | 1 Jan 1920 | 28 Sep 1981 | 61 | 29 | 2 | 31 | |
Colourist | David Block | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Construction Manager | Arthur Banks | 18 | 29 | 47 | |||||
Continuity | Gladys Goldsmith | 45 | 1 Jan 1926 | 1 Jan 1979 | 53 | 6 | 6 | ||
Dialogue Coach | Ruth Lodge | 57 | 13 Aug 1914 | 11 Nov 1973 | 59 | 1 | 1 | ||
Director | John Hough | 29 | 21 Nov 1941 | 21.11.1941 | 82 | 6 | 6 | ||
Director of Photography | Dick Bush BSc | 39 | 2 Dec 1931 | 4 Aug 1997 | 65 | 3 | 3 | ||
Dubbing Mixer | Ken Barker | 53 | 1 Jan 1918 | 13 Feb 2001 | 83 | 10 | 10 | ||
Editor | Spencer Reeve | 47 | 10 Dec 1923 | 15 Dec 1975 | 52 | 8 | 2 | 10 | |
Focus Puller | Ronald Anscombe | 39 | 01 Jan 1932 | 01.01.1932 | 92 | 1 | 1 | ||
Hairdressing | Pearl Tipaldi | 23 Aug 1993 | 7 | 7 | |||||
Make-up | George Blackler | 59 | 7 Mar 1912 | 30 Oct 1986 | 74 | 7 | 1 | 8 | |
Make-up | John Webber | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Music Composer | Harry Robertson | 38 | 19 Nov 1932 | 17 Jan 1996 | 63 | 26 | 26 | ||
Music Engineer | John Richards | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Musical Supervisor | Philip Martell | 64 | 6 Oct 1907 | 11 Aug 1993 | 85 | 104 | 1 | 105 | |
Producer | Harry Fine | 59 | 20 Feb 1912 | 1 May 1997 | 85 | 6 | 6 | ||
Producer | Michael Style | 38 | 1 Jan 1933 | 1 Jan 1983 | 50 | 4 | 4 | ||
Production Design | Dragoljub Ivkov | 40 | 1 Apr 1931 | 8 Jul 2007 | 76 | 1 | 1 | ||
Production Manager | Tom Sachs | 42 | 10 Apr 1929 | 10.04.1929 | 95 | 8 | 1 | 9 | |
Production Supervisor | Roy Skeggs | 37 | 1 Apr 1934 | 29 Dec 2018 | 84 | 45 | 1 | 46 | |
Re-Recording Mixer | Graham V. Hartstone | 27 | 01 Jun 1944 | 01.06.1944 | 80 | 6 | 6 | ||
Re-Recording Mixer | Otto Snel | 33 | 7 Dec 1937 | 18 Dec 2022 | 85 | 11 | 4 | 15 | |
Screenplay | Tudor Gates | 41 | 2 Jan 1930 | 11 Jan 2007 | 77 | 4 | 4 | ||
Second Assistant Director | David Munro | 28 | 24 Oct 1942 | 24.10.1942 | 81 | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
Second Unit and Special Effects Photography | Jack Mills | 24 Mar 2005 | 3 | 3 | |||||
Sound Editor | Bill Trent | 34 | 9 Jul 1937 | 4 Jul 2018 | 80 | 1 | 1 | ||
Sound Recordist | Ron Barron | 47 | 9 Dec 1923 | 15 Dec 1973 | 50 | 4 | 4 | ||
Stunt Coordinator | Joe Dunne | 35 | 27 Oct 1935 | 14 Jan 2022 | 86 | 2 | 2 | ||
Third Assistant Director | Christopher Carreras | 21 | 01 Jan 1950 | 01.01.1950 | 74 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
Wardrobe | Rosemary Burrows | 36 | 5 | 41 | |||||
Cast | Name | Age at Release | Birth | Hidden | Death | Age | Hammer Credited | Hammer Uncredited | Total Hammer |
Alexa | Maggie Wright | 27 | 23 Jan 1944 | 23.01.1944 | 80 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Anton Hoffer | David Warbeck | 29 | 17 Nov 1941 | 23 Jul 1997 | 55 | 3 | 3 | ||
Boy on Tree | Rupert Style | 13 | 16 Jul 1958 | 16.07.1958 | 66 | 1 | 1 | ||
Brotherhood Member | Peter Stephens | 51 | 3 Jan 1920 | 17 Sep 1972 | 52 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Chief Priest | Gareth Watkins | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Count Karnstein | Damien Thomas | 29 | 11 Apr 1942 | 11.04.1942 | 82 | 2 | 2 | ||
Countess Mircalla | Katya Wyeth | 23 | 01 Jan 1948 | 01.01.1948 | 76 | 3 | 3 | ||
Dietrich | Dennis Price | 56 | 23 Jun 1915 | 6 Oct 1973 | 58 | 5 | 5 | ||
Dying Man | Roy Boyd | 33 | 18 Aug 1938 | 27 Apr 2024 | 85 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Franz | Harvey Hall | 40 | 27 Jun 1931 | 11 Apr 1997 | 65 | 3 | 3 | ||
Frieda Gellhorn | Madelaine Collinson | 19 | 22 Jul 1952 | 14 Aug 2014 | 62 | 1 | 1 | ||
Gaoler | Peter Thompson | 46 | 01 Jan 1925 | 1999 | 73 | 1 | 1 | ||
Gerta | Luan Peters | 25 | 18 Jun 1946 | 19 Dec 2017 | 71 | 2 | 2 | ||
Girl on Tomb | Cathy Howard | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Gustav Weil | Peter Cushing | 58 | 26 May 1913 | 11 Aug 1994 | 81 | 24 | 1 | 25 | |
Hermann | Alex Scott | 42 | 18 Sep 1929 | 25 Jun 2015 | 85 | 1 | 1 | ||
Ingrid Hoffer | Isobel Black | 28 | 15 Dec 1942 | 15.12.1942 | 81 | 2 | 2 | ||
Joachim | Roy Stewart | 46 | 15 May 1925 | 27 Oct 2008 | 83 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
Katy Weil | Kathleen Byron | 50 | 11 Jan 1921 | 18 Jan 2009 | 88 | 3 | 3 | ||
Lady in Coach | Shelagh Wilcocks | 61 | 21 Jun 1910 | 1 Jan 1992 | 81 | 3 | 3 | ||
Maria Gellhorn | Mary Collinson | 19 | 22 Jul 1952 | 23 Nov 2021 | 69 | 1 | 1 | ||
Midget | George Claydon | 38 | 4 Sep 1933 | 4 Oct 2001 | 68 | 1 | 1 | ||
Puritan | Bill Sawyer | 47 | 18 Jul 1924 | 1 Jan 1996 | 71 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
Puritan | Derek Glynne-Percy | 40 | 26 Feb 1931 | 5 Nov 1977 | 46 | 1 | 1 | ||
Puritan | Fred Wood | 49 | 26 Oct 1921 | 25 Jan 2003 | 81 | 19 | 19 | ||
Puritan | Harry Fielder | 31 | 26 Apr 1940 | 6 Feb 2021 | 80 | 10 | 10 | ||
Puritan | Jason James | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Puritan | John Fahey | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Puritan | Kenneth Gilbert | 40 | 24 Jun 1931 | 29 Oct 2015 | 84 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Puritan | Sebastian Graham-Jones | 24 | 1 Aug 1947 | 18 Jul 2004 | 56 | 1 | 1 | ||
Schoolgirl | Annette Roberts | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Schoolgirl | Doreen Chanter | 21 | 01 Dec 1949 | 01.12.1949 | 74 | 1 | 1 | ||
Schoolgirl | Irene Chanter | 23 | 01 Jan 1948 | 01.01.1948 | 76 | 1 | 1 | ||
Schoolgirl | Jackie Leapman | 24 | 01 Jan 1947 | 01.01.1947 | 77 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Schoolgirl | Janet Lynn | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Schoolgirl | Maxine Casson | 1 | 1 | ||||||
Schoolgirl | Vivienne Chandler | 23 | 6 Nov 1947 | 6 Jun 2013 | 65 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Villager | Mickey Varey | 40 | 7 Jan 1931 | 1 Feb 1986 | 55 | 2 | 2 | ||
Woodman | Inigo Jackson | 38 | 19 Jul 1933 | 25 Aug 2001 | 68 | 3 | 3 | ||
Woodman's Daughter | Judy Matheson | 26 | 27 Aug 1945 | 27.08.1945 | 78 | 2 | 2 | ||
Young Girl at Stake | Kirsten Lindholm | 28 | 01 Sep 1943 | 01.09.1943 | 80 | 4 | 4 |
Original Poster
Click to enlarge
Footnotes
Hammer was originally going to make a film called “Vampire Virgins”. However producer Harry Fine saw a Playboy Magazine spread involving the Collinson twins, Madelaine and Mary, and decided to make a film focusing on them.
This film was made a mere two months after the death of Peter Cushing’s beloved wife, Helen, and it is surely no coincidence that he gives probably the grimmest performance of his career as the fanatical, but tortured, witch-hunter Weil.
In the horror genre, John Hough went on to direct The Legend of Hell House (1973). He was also the man at the helm of Peter Cushing’s last feature film Biggles (1986).
Madelaine Collinson died from emphysema in 2014 at the age of 62, and her sister, Mary, succumbed to bronchopneumonia in 2021 at the age of 69.