Sept. 9, 1963 - Opening Wednesday is “Kiss of the Vampire,” a British horror film made by the film studio Hammer Film Productions. The film was directed by Don Sharp and stars Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel. When car trouble strands a honeymooning couple in a small Southern European village, an aristocratic family in the area reaches out to help them — with horrific consequences. Originally intended to be the third movie in Hammer’s “Dracula” series (which began with 1958’s “Dracula” with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing and was followed by 1960's “The Brides of Dracula” with Cushing alone), the film represents another attempt by Hammer to make a “Dracula”sequel without Christopher Lee. The final script makes no reference to Dracula and expands on the directions taken in “Brides” by portraying vampirism as a social disease afflicting those who choose a decadent lifestyle. The film's climax, involving black magic and swarms of bats, was intended to be the ending of “Brides,” but the star of that film, Peter Cushing, objected that Van Helsing would never resort to black sorcery.
