What production company created KOTV?
Hammer Film Productions
In what year was KOTV released?
1963 (intended to be the second sequel to 1958’s Dracula)
What genre does KOTV belong to?
Horror , Hammer had success with other franchises like The Mummy and Frankenstein.
What significant cultural events occurred in 1963?
- Early stages of ‘Beatlemania’
- Assassination of JFK
- Soviet Union launched the first woman into space
What is the significance of the capitalised, serif font in the film’s title?
connotations linked to the vampire film genre, link to the blood dripping off writing
What does the gloomy grey, black and brown color palette in the film’s poster reinforce?
- Dark, scary conventions of horror
- red highlights the key visual signifiers like blood and bats.
According to Barthes’ what creates suspense in the film?
Enigmas surrounding the relationship between the male and female vampires, link to “kiss” in the title
What does Barthes’ associate with vampirism?
Images of bats = conevntional symbol of horror
What does Claude Lévi-Strauss’s structuralism suggest about the film’s representations?
Constructed through binary oppositions, like opposing representations of vampires and their victims
What social change is reflected in the 1960s regarding women’s roles?
- Start of women’s sexual liberation
- More women entering the paid workforce
- Campaigns for equal pay
- introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1960
How does the dress code of the women in the film poster reinforce their femininity?
- Highlighting the curves of their bodies and revealing flesh
- Both women wear pale dresses made of light materials.
What does the victim woman’s gesture represent?
Stereotypical passive victim, her power is highlighted by the Vampire holding her by one arm.
What role might the female vampire play?
link to Gauntlett’s identity theory
Role model for women struggling against male oppression, reflects a desire for equality in 1960s society
What does Van Zoonen’s feminist theory suggest about the female vampire’s role?
Contributes to social change by representing Vampire woman in non-traditional roles, But, the passive female victim reinforces traditional stereotypes.
