Carmilla (Annette Stroyberg) fancies her cousin Leopoldo De Karnstein (Mel Ferrer), so she is mightily upset when he announces his engagement to her friend Georgia Monteverdi (Elsa Martinelli). Carmilla's emotional turmoil causes her to believe that she is her ancestor Millarca, who was rumoured to be a vampire. Or perhaps Millarca has returned from the grave and replaced Carmilla...
Roger Vadim's Blood and Roses, based on Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novella Carmilla, is artfully executed, with excellent use of colour and beautifully shot compositions, but it's also incredibly boring, the glacial pacing and uneventful story making this the cinematic equivalent of Zolpidem. It's hard to believe that a vampire story with lesbian undertones, made by a Frenchman known for his ways with beautiful women, could be so dull and soporific. The film spends most of its time teetering on the brink of arthouse, before going full on surreal for a wholly pretentious dream sequence towards the end.
Hammer would do the sexy premise justice the following decade with the entertaining Lust For A Vampire.
N. B. I watched the subtitled French language version of the film. The US version eliminates several scenes and features a different ending, although I doubt that makes much of a difference.
Roger Vadim's Blood and Roses, based on Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novella Carmilla, is artfully executed, with excellent use of colour and beautifully shot compositions, but it's also incredibly boring, the glacial pacing and uneventful story making this the cinematic equivalent of Zolpidem. It's hard to believe that a vampire story with lesbian undertones, made by a Frenchman known for his ways with beautiful women, could be so dull and soporific. The film spends most of its time teetering on the brink of arthouse, before going full on surreal for a wholly pretentious dream sequence towards the end.
Hammer would do the sexy premise justice the following decade with the entertaining Lust For A Vampire.
N. B. I watched the subtitled French language version of the film. The US version eliminates several scenes and features a different ending, although I doubt that makes much of a difference.