This movie is a loose adaptation of Camilla - maybe the oldest vampire book (predating Dracula) - it's not outright stated, but it's clear to me. Trouble is _Crypt of the Vampire_ is a terrible mess. This has elements of old dark house, gothic vampire, murder mystery, even ghost story. Too many times, I had to yell at the screen, "what is happening?!"
The major issue here is the writing: the film is just one act, there is no build, the story goes nowhere.
Christopher Lee has a starring role here, but he is completely underutilized. The acting from the entire cast is utterly flat. The best we get is from Adriana Ambesi, but all she's doing is throwing herself around the castle, like a weepy goth girl.
Another big problem is the movie is in an awkward stage of being post-Universal horror, but not willing to step into the next phase of neo-gothic films that would come from Hammer or Mario Bava. Case in point: _Crypt_ very much implies a lesbian story, while never having the courage to be overt with it.
The best way I could describe this is that it's very European. Unless one watches several horror movies, this will mean nothing, but if you know, you know.
The music is so on-the-nose creepy, it's almost parody.
As for imagery, the best moment - or maybe I mean the only good moment - was when a severed hand was used as a candelabra, where each digit had a candle affixed. That was cool. If nothing else, that will stick with me.