The Velvet Vampire

This film has been selected by feminist collective Invisible Women for She’s a Maneater! Cannibalism, Consumption and Carnal Appetites, a curated programme of six repertory horror films as part of Dundead Film Festival 2026. DCA Supporters, Members and 18-25 Members get early access to tickets and passes (log in to access) with the festival opening for general sale on Fri 27 March at 10:00.

After a chance encounter in a Los Angeles art gallery, glamorous loner Diane (Celeste Yarnall) invites naive young couple Lee (Michael Blodgett) and Susan (Sherry Miles) to visit her remote desert estate. Stranded amidst the scorching sands in a chic mansion decked out in two-way mirrors, the pair soon realise that their hostess might not be all that she seems. Fuelled by psychedelic visions and strange dreams, the erotic tension builds to a fever pitch, and it becomes clear that Diane’s appetites stretch beyond the usual pleasures of the flesh.

Ancient vampire lore meets swinging 70s free love and subversive second-wave politics in this campily stylish delight. Stephanie Rothman, who apprenticed under legendary pulp producer Roger Corman before going independent, was one of very few women directors working within LA’s B movie industry during this period. Her attempt to cross over into mainstream filmmaking was ultimately scuppered by Hollywood sexism, yet despite tight budgets and difficult working conditions, the seven films Rothman did manage to complete are now widely celebrated as feminist landmarks of exploitation cinema. 

With its fabulously dressed, dune-buggy driving heroine, queer themes and arthouse-avant-garde-on-a-shoestring-aesthetic, The Velvet Vampire deserves its reputation as a cult classic.