Yutte Stensgaard and Ralph Bates dominate this striking original Belgian theatrical design for Lust for a Vampire (1971), combining Bates’ commanding portrait with the dramatically inverted image of Stensgaard as Mircalla Karnstein and additional vampire imagery beneath the oversized title. Saturated greens, purples and blood-red accents give the composition an unmistakably provocative identity rooted in Hammer Horror’s early-1970s Karnstein vampire cycle.

The artwork is built around deliberate visual contrasts. Ralph Bates’ face occupies the upper right with an intense, almost confrontational expression, while Yutte Stensgaard appears inverted below, transforming the poster into a deliberately disorienting piece of Gothic advertising. A cloaked vampire figure and smaller narrative imagery deepen the supernatural atmosphere without overwhelming the central character portraits.

The title treatment is equally forceful. LUST FOR A VAMPIRE appears in large yellow lettering edged with red, creating immediate theatrical impact while reinforcing the heightened sensuality and danger at the heart of the film. The vertical Belgian format allows the figures and typography to stack dramatically, giving the campaign a dense, almost feverish visual quality.

Released in 1971, Lust for a Vampire was directed by Jimmy Sangster for Hammer Film Productions and stars Yutte Stensgaard as Mircalla Karnstein, alongside Ralph Bates, Suzanna Leigh, Michael Johnson and Barbara Jefford. The film continued Hammer’s exploration of the Karnstein vampire mythology introduced in The Vampire Lovers (1970).

Inspired by the world of Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, the story resurrects Mircalla Karnstein and places her within the setting of an exclusive girls’ school, where romance, seduction and supernatural danger become increasingly intertwined. Stensgaard’s appearance as Mircalla gave the film one of Hammer’s most recognizable female vampire images of the period.

The production became the second entry in Hammer’s Karnstein cycle, following The Vampire Lovers and preceding Twins of Evil later in 1971. Together, the three films helped define a distinct branch of Hammer vampire cinema built around female vampirism, erotic Gothic imagery and increasingly provocative marketing.

This Belgian campaign artwork captures that identity especially well. Rather than presenting a restrained portrait of the cast, it emphasizes sensuality, inversion, vampire menace and lurid color, turning the poster into a concentrated expression of the film’s most marketable themes.

KissMeMonster’s 15x22 fine art poster is professionally reproduced on archival Moab Lasal Photo Matte paper, a substantial 21-mil, 310gsm professional-grade stock selected for high-quality photographic and fine art presentation. The matte surface preserves the artwork’s rich greens, deep shadows, vivid yellow-red title treatment, painted facial detail and vintage Belgian theatrical character while giving the finished poster a substantial gallery-quality appearance.

For collectors of Yutte Stensgaard, Ralph Bates and Lust for a Vampire, this is an exceptionally striking piece of Hammer Horror poster art—a provocative Belgian theatrical design in which Mircalla Karnstein’s inverted figure, Bates’ intense portrait, cloaked vampire imagery and oversized title lettering capture the sensual Gothic atmosphere of Hammer’s Karnstein cycle, making it especially desirable for collectors of Hammer Films, vampire cinema, Belgian movie posters and classic 1970s British horror artwork.