Styria

Made by Foreign Directors, Mauricio Chernovetzky, Mark Devendorf, in a Foreign Land, this Update of Carmella looks and Feels Foreign when Compared to Stateside Movies of its Type.

It is Better because of it. The Film is Dark, Dank, and Depressingly Decaying with its use of a Remote Castle in a Far Away Land of an Era Gone by. The Good Cast also Lend some Eeriness to the Proceedings.

The Organic Sets, that needed No Embellishment, and the Classic Story of a Lesbian Vampire is right at Home in the Undergrowth. The Movie always seems Disconnected from Modern Times, even though the Soundtrack, the Troubled Teen, and other things are Distinctively Today.

More like a Crack in Space-Time Existing Simultaneously. This lends the Film an Other Worldly Template that befits the Gothic Subject Matter. It Echoes Universal and Hammer Horror at Times.

The Third Act opens up to some Serious Bloodletting and the Storytelling may Lose a bit Over the Course of the Movie. But, Overall it is an Oddity of a Film that is surely Worth a Watch for Vampire, and Horror Movie Fans in general.

Others Might Even Enjoy it because it is Anything but Typical.

Note...Also known as "Angels of Darkness".

I just saw this movie on Hulu Plus. I hadn't heard of it. But I love Stephen Rea, so I decided to see what it was all about. Needless to say, I was not disappointed! This is not your typical supernatural horror movie. It's a slow burn. But there's so much beauty in every image. And there are a lot of visual references and historical layers. I very taken by Eleanor Tomlinson's performance as Lara. And after watching I did some research and realized it is an adaptation of a novella called Carmilla. Now I know what I'll be doing this weekend! I wish more movies were made like this today, atmospheric, beautiful, and full of interesting details!

For shame!!! I can honestly say that if it wasn't for those two suspicious film "reviews" (who both seem to coincidentally promote Hulu) that were heaping unending words of praise and wonderment for this "film", I would have let this snooze-fest pass me by without allowing it to steal any more time from me than it already has; however, every time I see a fake review, I get so angry so as to allow that emotion to motivate to write my own. At least this way, people have access to at least one review not promulgated by a shill or anyone else with a pecuniary interest in promoting a film.

So I felt as though the story was lacking in any substance which kept my interest. Characters underdeveloped, nothing in the plot which got me to care what happens next. In fact, the only redeeming part of this endeavour was Stephen Rea, although methinks that he is the type of actor who always shines no matter where he's put. Long story short, I quit watching about halfway through. So to be fair, it is possible that the last half of the film could have been the greatest cinematographic event of a lifetime, but I wasn't in the mood to stick around and find out.

This starts reasonably enough, an academic travels behind the then Iron Curtain to undertake a restoration project on what in the UK would be a listed building. Travelling with him is his daughter, who is a troubled young woman, not the least on account of the razor blade she carries around with her which has been used to, well, just look at the scars on her arm.

Then there is Carmilla; she is real enough on account of her escaping from a crashed car, but exactly how real are her nocturnal visitations, and is she a vampire or a witch?

The former, 'twould appear, because this is an update of the novel "Carmilla", a precursor to Bram Stoker's "Dracula". Alas, unlike the 2013 adaptation of "The Monkey's Paw", our Gothic lesbian femme fatale does not age well, and is more than a little confusing, as is the end of this extremely disappointing film.

An occasionally wooden Stephen Rea plays studious Dr. Hill, whose daughter Lara (Eleanor Tomlinson) glares at people from beneath thickly made-up eyelids: she listens to Joy Division and attempts, in quiet moments, to self-harm (Lara's mum suffered from post-natal depression and committed suicide). During one such time, she witnesses a car crash, in which another young girl is ejected. That her name is Carmilla should get alarm bells ringing. Carmilla (Julia Petruchia) is bewitching and, as you might imagine, somewhat sinister.

'Angel of Darkness', or 'Styria' as it is sometimes known, is a retelling of the Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu vampire story that pre-dates even 'Dracula', but that's not to say interesting new things aren't done with the theme of vampire seduction.

Directors Mauricio Chernovetzky and Mark Devendorf really lay on the atmosphere here, from the beautifully decaying Hungarian castle in which Hill is hurriedly conducting his experiments in the short amount of time available to him, to the wonderfully gothic surrounding gardens and woodlands. This is a modestly budgeted film - in fact I understand it was completed thanks to a Crowdfunding campaign - but it looks superb throughout, with the effective scares taking second place to rich ambience.

The two girls tread that line between mischievous and dangerous, but so skillfully are they played, they never come across as bratty which would be the case in less talented hands.

Sluggish in places it may be, but this is a highly enjoyable excursion into rich, atmospheric horror and provides a very worthwhile and enjoyable new take on the Carmilla story. My score is 8 out of 10.