The Carmilla Movie

I saw this at the theatre last year and just re-watched it this week on my computer. As someone who was a big fan of the first season of the series as a teenager, this film feels special to me, and since I already love the characters, seeing them again on the big screen, and in a new environment, was exciting and fun. That being said, some of the classic pitfalls of Carmilla are here -- some cheesy dialog, questionable cinematography, etc. But, if you're already a fan of the series, you're sure to enjoy this! 8/10

I was hoping for either a modern setting adaptation of Carmilla or a version of the book where lesbianism isn't the big evil. I mean, it ticked one box. Lesbianism wasn't portrayed in a negative light. That being said, the acting is on par with a high school play and this isn't the story of Carmilla. It's the story of a web series based off of Carmilla and this movie is a sequel to the web series. I'm glad we're getting lesbian and enby representation and I know some of the issues could be solved with a bigger budget or a different mindset coming into it, but it's hard to watch.

Honestly this movie is the greatest film in queer cinema history. It has everything from romance to action to spooky ghosts and vampires. Elise Bauman and Natasha Negovanlis shine as respectively Laura and Carmilla and their romance develops and continues to thrive despite the many obstacles they face. The creators have done a fantastic job in avoiding LGBT+ tropes and the movie does a great job of being just that, an amazing movie that just happens to be hella gay. The representation in this film makes up for any past mistakes done by the media (and that is saying something!). Whether you have been a fan since the beginning, started watching more recently or have never even seen the Carmilla series. This film can be enjoyed by everyone from all walks of life.

This movie is listed as a comedy, a horror, and a romance. The romance aspect is ok. It's not scary at all. The funniest gag is in the credits. Overall, the whole movie is incredibly stupid, and not worth watching, except maybe if you're a diehard fan of the web series.

The script is absolutely terrible. There are a lot of concepts that sound cool, but when you try to think about them and how they fit into the abstract plot they don't work. This feels like a first draft of something that could've been good. Nothing interesting happens over the course of the movie. It's not quite boring, but it is pretty cringeworthy at times. There's nothing that entertaining about characters being stupid. The story is kind of predictable as well, and there is very little tension.

The acting is also pretty bad. While Laura isn't quite as annoying as she is in the webseries (mostly thanks to the movie dropping the gimmick of her talking to the audience all the time (she is relegated to an exposition dump at the beginning)) she's still not good. Barely anyone's acting is good in this. There are so many scenes where it could've been somewhat dramatic if it didn't feel like the actors were just reading their lines. Anything potentially impactful is ruined by terrible performances. Not that there is much to ruin.

Probably the best thing about this movie is the visuals, and that is only because I'm comparing it to the web series. In the series, the whole story is told through Laura's webcam, making the visual experience so bland that it might as well just be an audiobook or something. Having the camera move around a bit makes it look better, but nothing too interesting or impressive is done with the visuals. Everything - not just the effects - looks really cheap. I wouldn't have minded that much but pretty much everything about this movie is unprofessional.

Overall this is a really, really stupid movie. The only people who will call it good are those starved for representation. Honestly I wish that more time had been spent on doing more than one take for each seen or maybe on rewriting some dialogue to make it more interesting or entertaining. It could've been good. If you really want to see the story of Carmilla, then watch the webseries on YouTube. Or watch any other adaptation. Or read the book.

I got through half this movie, that is billed as a horror/comedy and found no redeeming quality whatsoever. It was boring, unfunny, and predictable. Now, maybe I should have watched the whole thing, but I gave it half way and figured I was wasting my time. Can anyone tell me why I should watch the second half? And no, it has nothing to do with the two women being lesbians, I could care less, but everything to do with the movie stunk.