In early 1970, rumours began to circulate that a vampire was stalking London's Highgate Cemetery. The ensuing furore lead to a local media frenzy, a near-riot, a prison term and the birth of a legend that refuses to die five decades later.

For this presentation, film and cultural historians William Fowler and Mark Pilkington explore how London's Highgate Cemetery became a locus of supernatural horror, through the confluence of folklore, fiction and cinema. They will look at how horror films, from mondo madness like WItchcraft '70 and no-budget exploitation flick The Bodies Beneath to one of Hammer's finest productions – Taste the Blood of Dracula – and one of their most infamous – Dracula AD 1972 – both shaped and then reflected the developing vampire tale.

Heavily laced with film clips and dramatic illustrations, this is a gloriously eerie venture into the macabre world of cult films, and the even stranger, and more outrageous, real-life events that they inspired.

Tickets £15 including a delightful Victorian punch and a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Kensal Green Cemetery

William Fowler
William Fowler is curator of artists’ moving image at the BFI National Archive and co-author of The Bodies Beneath, with Vic Pratt.

Mark Pilkington
Mark Pilkington runs Strange Attractor Press and is a writer and musician.