Carmilla

The actors in this film are mesmerising and the film is beautifully shot. Definitely worth watching

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.

So the name Carmilla seems to be loaded. Or the character, but you associate the name with ... well you know what I mean. That being said, I am copletely free of that baggage, so I can't really relate if that is problematic for some. I can say that I liked the movie and the drama it build.

The oppressed, the not being able to express ones feeling(s). And the horror elements of it. Even if there were a few too many dream/nightmare sequences in it for my taste. But that is me - you may feel differently.

Good acting, good cinematography and overall very well made. The "old" setting, the sexual and occasional explicit violence is something you have to be able to dig ... go with the flow sort of. If you can the movie is quite rewarding.

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.

As soon as you see that word you know what you are in for. Why people feel the need to "reimagine" classic stories is beyond me. Just say it is a new story based around the source material. Read the book instead.