Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Scream Queens of 1971

Thanks to recent pivotal roles portrayed by Ingrid (Vampire Lovers 1970) Pitt and Mia (Rosemary’s Baby 1968) Farrow and the changing times, actresses begin to find stronger and more important roles in genre movies of 1971. At times these roles would be more meaningful, such as Zohra Lampert in Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, but many, while given more screen time, would be more sensational, such as Hammer’s leading ladies Yutte Stengaard in Lust for a Vampire and Madeline and Mary Collison in Twins of Evil. Others would balance the extremes, such as Ingrid Pitt in Countess Dracula and Martine Beswick in Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (in which she would take half the leading role from Ralph Bates). Even in supporting roles, screen sirens find meatier material, such as Mariette Hartley in Return of Count Yorga, Rosalind Cash in The Omega Man and Jacqueline Bisset in Mephisto Waltz. Below are six scream queens from 1971 that made an impact on the face of horror.

INGRID PITT as COUNTESS ELIZABETH BATHORY in COUNTESS DRACULA

After reinventing the femme fatale with Vampire Lovers in 1970, Ingrid Pitt returns to Hammer studios to film Countess Dracula. Again, she would take the lead role and the lead monster. Female leading monsters have been few and far between; even the bride (Elsa Lancaster), in The Bride of Frankenstein, wasn’t the lead in her own film. Hammer is no stranger to bringing female monsters to the screen with such beasts as The Reptile (1966), The Gorgon (1964) and Frankenstein Created Woman (1967); but, even then, Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee would be the leading actor. Not so with Ingrid Pitt, in Countess Dracula the picture is all hers; she is the lead, the monster and the story. Ingid Pitt, as Countess Elizabeth Bathory, is villainous, vivacious and voluptuous. She would also appear in The House That Dripped Blood (1971) and The Wicker Man (1973).

ZOHRA LAMPERT as JESSICA in LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH

As Jessica in Let’s Scare Jessica To Death, Zohra Lampert commands the screen, not only with her performance but with her haunting narration provided throughout the movie. The film is entirely hers; it’s her story and her mental deterioration that is explored. The audience is also viewing the events through her eyes, seeing and experiencing what she sees and experiences. Throughout the movie, it is unclear if what is seen is fact or hallucination. In this, her role is very much like Mia Farrow’s role in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). As Jessica, Zohra Lampert makes a rare appearance in a genre movie, her next would be in the underrated Exorcist III (1990) playing the wife to George C. Scott’s portrayal of Lt. Kinderman.

JESSICA WALKER as EVELYN DRAPER in PLAY MISTY FOR ME

As Evelyn Draper in Play Misty For Me, Jessica Walker is the antagonist opposite Clint Eastwood as Dave Garver. Evelyn is obsessed with Garver, the famous disc jockey, continually calling in requesting he play the song Misty for her. Dave and Evelyn meet resulting in a one-night stand. Not satisfied with casual outcome of the affair, Evelyn becomes a psychotic stalker causing havoc on Garver’s career and home life. She ruins his business lunch, attacks his maid, invades his house and destroys his belongings, and finally threatens to brutalize his girlfriend Tobie (Donna Mills) Williams. The Golden Globe nominated role of Evelyn Draper would be the model for such deranged femme fatales in such features as (most notably) Fatal Attraction (1987), Basic Instinct (1992) and Single White Female (1992).

MARTINE BESWICK as SISTER HYDE in DR. JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE

Hammer films puts a bizarre spin on Robert Louis Stephenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by changing Mr. Hyde’s gender creating Sister Hyde. Ralph Bates’ Dr. Jekyll creates a toxin that supposedly cures all common diseases but instead transforms him into Sister Hyde, portrayed by Martine Beswick. Much like Countess Dracula and Play Misty For Me discussed above, the female is again the villain. Here, Director Roy Ward Baker and writer Brian Clemens make Sister Hyde the evil side of the male protagonist, Dr. Henry Jekyll. Throughout the Seventies, woman would either be the instrument of evil or just evil itself in many features such as Exorcist (1973), Beyond the Door (1974) and Carrie (1976).

ROSALIND CASH as LISA in THE OMEGA MAN

Director Boris Sagal and writers John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington cast Rosalind Cash as Lisa, one of the non-mutated survivors in The Omega Man, based on I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Rosalind Cash stars opposite, and holds her own against, the legendary Charlton Heston as Dr. Robert Neville. She starts off as a leader of a small team of survivors who encounter Neville, who is struggling to discover a cure, as they both fight off the mutated, vampire-like, survivors of an apocalyptic virus. Unfortunately, she would mysteriously and unexpectedly mutate and become one of “The Family” revealing Neville's hideout and sabotaging his safety. However, even in the end, having declared her allegiance to “The Family,” she revolts to stand by Neville, watching over him as he succumbs to his wounds.
   
MARIETTE HARTLEY as CYNTHIA NELSON in RETURN OF COUNT YORGA

In 1971, Robert Quarry’s Count Yorga would return to find Mariette Hartley as Cynthia Nelson the object of his affection and the instrument of his demise. Mariette Hartley, who would rise to fame playing in a series of Polaroid TV commercials opposite James Garner, portrays as the attractive, desirable lead, the damsel in distress and, finally, the victorious heroine. In a rarity for vampire features, there is no “Van Helsing” character to destroy the Count, Hartley’s Cynthia Nelson steps up during the finale and stakes Count Yorga with an axe. While the typical “Van Helsing” character is a loner, driven, with nothing to lose, Cynthia has to tragically sacrifice much of what she loved, her sister, her little brother and her fiancée.