Baring the fangs | Vampires in film

Organised by Euro Media Forum, an upcoming talk at Xara Lodge, Mdina, will delve into the significance of the vampire - and other, related supernatural figures from the realm of the Gothic horror genre - in British cinema from the late 1950s to the early 70s.

Speaker Dr Krista Bonello Rutter Giappone, along with moderator David Pace, will be exploring the importance of the influential UK-based Hammer Studios within the horror genre, while also comparing them to 'rival' studios Amicus and Tigon and certain American counterparts, particularly the films of Roger Corman.

Hammer Film Productions launched its series of horror films with the Quatermass films, and established its horror credentials with Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958). Over the next few years, it cemented its reputation as the primary horror production company in the UK. Hammer took on the classic monsters and often gave them its own spin - for example, in Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) and Frankenstein Created Woman (1967).

There can be little doubt, moreover, that Christopher Lee's Dracula has become as iconic as Bela Lugosi's and that the Hammer gallery of monsters is one of the most striking and influential in the history of cinema. The discussion will centre on Hammer's distinctiveness and the phenomenon of the crystallisation of horror around particular studios (foreshadowed by Universal), with a more or less consistent and identifiable pool of actors - including Lee and Peter Cushing, the two stars of Dracula. The wider implications for the idea of a 'horror genre' and, more specifically, in relation to vampires will also be considered.

Bonello Rutter Giappone will also touch upon how belonging to the horror genre affected the reputation of these films, both positively and negatively... a discussion which she hopes will be taken up when the talk is opened to questions.

The evening will be rounded off by a Hammer Dracula 1958 quiz.

Vampires in Film: Revisiting Hammer's Dracula will take place at Xara Lodge, Mdina, on August 5 at 19:00. Entrance is at €10 per person, including wraps and a glass of wine. More information is at [email protected], 99 454066.