Rosas de Sangue

A school chum and I saw this film only one time - when it was first released in 1960. During a recent reunion we realized that neither of us has ever forgotten the spellbinding qualities of the movie as a whole! I very clearly remember the impression of having walked into a renaissance-era painting accompanied by a musical score that along with the visuals, created an almost hypnotic state. Elsa Martinelli was a familiar face at that time, but the mysteriously beautiful other actress was not. I now realize she has to have been Annette Vadim. I clearly remember the undercurrent she portrayed with such seemingly effortless skill that it almost felt like watching two separate characters. The other actors and characters seemed to be almost like props in comparison to these two players in the story. I do hope I can see it again.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic horror short story “Carmilla” (which I own and have read) spearheaded the trend for cinematic tales of lesbian vampires. This is the second film adaptation of it – the first, a very loose one, was Carl Theodor Dreyer’s magnificent VAMPYR (1931; soon to be regaled with two fully-loaded SE DVDs on both sides of the Atlantic) and it was followed in quick succession by the Spanish/Italian co-production CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (1963; starring Christopher Lee, a quite good version, of which I foolishly erased a VHS copy I had recorded off Italian TV – the only edition currently available is the Retromedia R1 DVD which, unfortunately, presents the film dubbed in English), the Amicus/Hammer collaboration THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970; starring Ingrid Pitt and Peter Cushing) and Vicente Aranda’s eerily erotic THE BLOOD-SPATTERED BRIDE (1972).

Director Vadim is better-known for having had great tastes in women (counting Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve and Jane Fonda among his discoveries/lovers) than for his film-making talents; I myself have only been truly impressed by one of his movies – THE GAME IS OVER (1966) – out of the seven that I’ve watched so far (including this one). BLOOD AND ROSES could well have been the second…were it not for the fact that the edited 74-minute version I watched – prepared for U.S. home video consumption and sporting the Anglicized original title AND DIE OF PLEASURE – is a bit of a mess (the full-length French version is 87 minutes long), English-dubbed (naturally), panned-and-scanned (of course), and preceded by one of the phoniest credit sequences I’ve ever witnessed (that said, a reasonable photo gallery was included with the DivX copy I acquired, which starts automatically soon after the main feature). Needless to say, I’d long wanted to watch this – but, bearing in mind the state of the edition I ended up with, in spite of its many pictorial rewards, it wasn’t an ideal viewing experience…and one can only hope that, given the amicable relationship between Paramount (who owns the U.S. rights for BLOOD AND ROSES) and Criterion, the film will turn up someday – in the original French language and uncut – on a decent official DVD (after all, the latter’s vast and considerable collection already numbers Vadim’s debut feature …AND GOD CREATED WOMAN [1956] among its releases).

Anyway, the cast is an interesting combination of international movie stars (Mel Ferrer – who, coincidentally, has just died aged 90 – and Elsa Martinelli), newcomers (Annette Vadim nee' Stroyberg) and even a director (Marc Allegret, who had given Vadim an early start when he engaged him as his assistant). The film makes a fair attempt to update the LeFanu original to contemporary times – though, rather than make Carmilla and Millarca one and the same, we get the former being possessed by the latter: this is quite subtly done (at least in this reduced form) as Millarca’s personality in Carmilla manifests itself in her suddenly knowing the steps to an ancient dance and her incongruous preference for a classical record! As a matter of fact, this medieval quality permeates the whole film – thanks also to Jean Prodromides’ haunting melancholy score (which is then effectively speeded-up during the ‘horror’ sequences). Incidentally, the film was clearly intended for the Art-house crowd (resulting in being fairly talky for the first two-thirds) – even if it’s not quite in the same league as Georges Franju’s EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959), an altogether more accomplished and successful marriage of the highbrow and the exploitative.

That said, it contains any number of striking sequences: the costume party (with a fireworks display for backdrop) in which Ferrer dons a bat mask fitted with a pair of wings!; Stroyberg’s wraith-like pursuit of her first victim (her stilted performance is actually just right for the character) – despite its being obviously shot day-for-night; the wilted rose on Carmilla’s white dress turning to a huge blood stain (incidentally, this vampire registers in a mirror!); Stroyberg’s seduction of Martinelli on a rainy night inside the Karnstein family greenhouse (both women also love Ferrer, though he and Stroyberg are related!); Martinelli’s surreal, erotic and blood-spattered black-and-white dream sequence towards the end (in which, among other things, Stroyberg as Millarca operates on her naked self as Carmilla!) – which is the film’s undeniable tour-de-force; Carmilla’s demise as she gets staked during an explosion (the location being a cemetery holding remnant shells from WWII); and the very last image when another wilted rose betrays the fact to the audience, but not the oblivious Ferrer, that Martinelli has herself been turned into a vampire (the latter starts off as an ingénue but slowly, and believably, matures through her attachment to Carmilla).

By the way, some weeks back I happened upon a recent TV interview with Martinelli; she seemed deservedly proud of her cinematic legacy (including a successful stint in Hollywood) but, unsurprisingly, this film – or another good one where she was also involved in lesbianism, Lucio Fulci’s giallo ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER aka PERVERSION STORY (1969) – wasn’t mentioned at all…

I saw Vadim's "Blood and Roses" in Germany while stationed there in the 1960's. I was captivated by its ethereal, romantic quality. The actresses were beautiful and the mixture of romance and vampires was unusual and hauntingly lovely. In my view, it is a classic. I particularly loved the musical score, which was outstanding. I cannot seem to find this musical score other than by ordering the VHS video.

I am particularly disappointed that I cannot find this film in DVD today, since I would like to have it in my library.

I thought that Mel Ferrar was perfect for his role since he was seemingly oblivious as one might expect a country gentleman to be to what was going on with the girls.

The film reveals a poignant story of unrequited love, with a fatalistic tone. It will be long remembered by those who have seen it. It does not get the popularity that it deserves.

I saw this film a long time ago in the television. I can still remember the atmosphere and gentle horror that permeate the film. "Et mourir de plaisir" is based on "Carmilla", an horror tale written by Sheridan Le Fanu. I had already read the book as a child and had liked it very much. Later on I saw this film on television and I was deeply impressed - the atmosphere, the castle and landscape surrounding it, the two girlfriends running together and laughing (one of them will die because the other one is in reality a vampire), beautiful flowers ... weave together a delicate tapestry.

Contrary to the Hammer film "The Vampire Lovers" in which the girls relationship is explored very briefly and superficially, "Et Mourir de Plaisir" shows in more detail the delicate love story between two girls lived until death did them part.

I don't remember so well the film after such a long time, but some images remained with me, and those images dictate the words I'm writing now.

Time is 1960. On a jet, a man tells his friends a story about an inexplicable medical mystery that happened in Italy. Count Leopoldo Karnstein (Ferrer) is making preparations for a masked ball to celebrate his wedding to Georgia Monteverdi (Martinelli). His cousin, Carmilla Karnstein (Vadim) is in love with Leopoldo, and jealous of Georgia. The night of the ball, Carmilla wants to be alone and wanders the estate. Odd events follow.

Director Vadim seems more interested in following the erotic possibilities afforded by vampirism than by following vampire folklore. Ferrer is good as Leopoldo, who treats the whole story of his family's vampirism as a joke, until it's too late. Martinelli is fine as Georgia, who's the imperiled Gothic heroine in a modern setting. Annette Vadim is very good as Carmilla, who at first doesn't know what's happening to her, and then thinks she's possessed by an ancestor.

The photography is by Claude Renoir, and his playing with colors, light, and shadows alone make the film worth checking out.

Movie is worth seeing because of the dream-like tone it sets, early on, and for Renoir's stunning photography.