Carmilla

Excellent film that uses the framework of a gothic novel to tell a different and much more ambiguous tale (Who is the monster?).

This is a film much more interested in female intelligence and desire and the crushing of female intelligence and desire than it is in lurid Jess Franco-esque titillation or squelchy Roberto Rodriguez-esque gore.

The ambiguity of whether there is anything supernatural going on or even if there is anything homoerotic going on is pitched very well and brings up other aspects of life such as the propensity for a witch-hunt. Jessica Raine is excellent in her supporting role.

Reminds me of 'Lady Macbeth' in all the best ways. Emily Harris is another director to watch.

I have seen and own the Hammer trilogy that is famous for being one of the first to adapt the story, and I would call them tame by 1980 standards, but yet still interesting to view. I would say the same for this adaption. Being 60, I grew up in the era of plot driven stories that at drama and so do not believe that every movie is non stop action as it has been since 2000. It is not a porn flick either, it is an attempt to understand the author point of view. There are other adaptions from this time period that I have not seen. I found a new Blu Ray and paid less than $30 for it and will add to my library of fine films and movies as well as B movies that I love.

So yeah. I have no idea why they used Carmilla as the "basis" for this film. It trades the baggage of eroticism and exploitation from many previous films and tames it down into a feminist lesbian love story. I'm not saying that a feminist lesbian love story is a bad thing or that it shouldn't be told. Everyone has a right to be heard.

I came into this cold merely because of the title and to say the least I was left underwhelmed. Maybe the filmmakers had the purest of motives I. E. "We shall take this gothic novel and rehabilitate it to remove the stigma of exploitation and objectification". But it ends up seeming like a cynical exploitation of those previous films just for the purpose of making money.

There are some redeeming qualities to this film. It looks absolutely stunning. A real visual treat. The acting is not bad. The score isn't terrible.

But what it doesn't really have is a heart. The "love story" is rather banal and honestly boring. Direction is very stiff. The writing is honestly bland and uninspiring. There isn't anything to make me feel any emotion except irritation. A perfect example of style over substance.

In short it's much too tame and contrived. In fact there isn't really much vampire in this vampire movie. I think what they were trying to say had something to do with "Carmilla was persecuted for being a lesbian". But who knows? The exact same ending could be the work of someone trying to say lesbianism is evil.

One of the characters believes that after death, there are "deserts of eternity". I experienced these while watching this beautifully shot but so, so, so slow-moving film.

The acting by Jessica Raine and Hannah Rae is good. However, the story fails to get out of first gear. While there are some great moments, there is no suspense, and you won't remember much about the film a week after viewing. Slow and beautiful like Kubrick does it but without any message.

I LOVE vampire movies, i've seen as many as i can get my grubby little hands on, and i really loved this one. This one has a very beautiful ambiguity that i really really love. At lot of these other reviews seemed to hate that, but in this adaptation you don't know of carmilla really a vampire, you just know something isn't right with her, and i loved that. It's still visually very beautifully gothic, but if you want candelabras and fangs on necks this isn't necessarily a traditional vampire flick.

In the original novel, lara doesn't reciprocate carmillas advances but this one is this very strange, romantic love story between the two of them that i think works much better than original antagonist carmilla.

There is a bit of gore in this one, it's mildly graphic, but i think it works really well especially in the context of the whole movie.