ruben-heim

Nice 70s Hammer flick, fitting the subgenre "Lesbian Vampire" as it is based on the "Carmilla" tale by Sheridan LeFanu. Trivia information say this was the first Hammer flick to include scenes of nakedness related to sex. You come to sympathize with Carmilla, which is not a bad thing. I watched some adaption of the Erszebet Bathory tale by Hammer some time ago. Again, Ingrid Pitt starring, yet that film was totally boring, with stupid, uninteresting characters and a low quantity of killing or sex (which, naturally, meets perfectly in the act of bathing in blood for the resurrection of beauty). Therefore, I was surprised to see such a convincing plot (though the end, as it is the case very often, could have done better). Suspense is maintained very well and Carmilla's character really raises some interest. Well done.

7 out of 10

The beginning could have been so disturbing... had there not been the explicit shot of a violent penetration, penis into vagina, in, out. An absolutely superfluous picture that destroys the horrific character of this rape scene. Just for the cheap effect of "explicit showing". Yet the shown incident of penetration is not nearly important as the physical and psychic abasement of the victim. A face speaks more of it than a penetrating penis ever could. But it is getting confusing just now. One victim shoots her brother and enjoys killing since. She teams up with a girl constantly smoking pot, hanging around. That one makes her living by occasional prostitution and loves masturbating to porn. She just killed her landlady in a quarrel. A woman is next in line because of her credit card. From now on there is killing without restraint. In most cases, not without having had sex with the male victims. You have not seen that much d*** sucking in any cinema - except for Blue Movies. (it was absolutely amazing watching this film in German cinemas ... totally uncut, immediately after its release ... we would never have bet on that). Those pornographic parts weren't the big problem if they lead the film anywhere. Yet they do not make it better. There is no logic dramaturgy, e.g. so that both women have their revenge on men in (ab)using them sexually and killing them afterwards. Sometimes they get it on and do not kill (probably, sex was o.k. and the man a bastard not that big), sometimes a playmate bites the dust or there is execution at once and no sex at all. The range of possibilities exhausts in occasional murders of women (why? They did not abuse those killer babes.). Just because they have money or happen to be present in a sex club giving some guy a blow job.

A flick without rhyme or reason. Half consisting of real pornography (both main female characters are part of the porn biz), half consisting of violence, but lacking any stringent plot, not to mention logic. The authors seem to have watched to much `Thelma & Louise', `Pulp Fiction', `Natural Born Killers' and diverse pornos. After, they decided to be able to do the same. Unfortunately, they were mistaken. This flick is nothing, not one of the things he wants to or that he could have been: accusation of sexual exploitation, porno, action flick, gangster ballad. Setzen, Sex!

{first stated in: Legacy 1/01}

2 out of 10

This film was published in Germany on DVD, now playing the full 87 minutes including audio comment by Jean Rollin. You can buy it relatively cheap at Video/DVD markets (5-10 Euro). It is worth seeing if you have a taste for atmosphere. Yet it is not as surrealistic as other Rollin films. As mentioned in other comments before, the Italian actress playing Helene is absolutely marvellous. Though scene footage and atmosphere range from nice to elegant and dreamlike, Rollin should have spent more attention to the unnerving dialogues. The German synchronization/translation s... big time. At first glance, I had inspected more, but if you focus on the beautiful images, this is a fair deal. BTW, there is an extended gore scene at the end which makes you feel like Rollin is going slightly over the top, overplaying. Though the end (which results from a twist in the storyline) seemed quite odd and ordinary to me after I finished watching, it is different now. Re-thinking the whole story, it adds a nice perspective to the usual image of the vampire ... a new shade, a new breed beyond tradition and clichée.

7 out of 10 (due to the weak dialogues)