Carmilla Adaptations

[Zahir]

Just started a project on my blog to review all the filmed adaptations of LeFanu's vampire classic Carmilla.

First up...Hammer Studio's 1970 flick The Vampire Lovers.

zahirblue.blogspot.com/2010/01/carmilla ... eview.html

The Vampire Lovers marked a new mini-franchise for Hammer. Instead of linking the story (however slightly) to Bram Stoker's famous novel, instead they went after LeFanu's atmospheric tale of tortured love . Of course the lesbianism of the tale got maximum attention (or at least as much as they thought possible under the eyes of the censors), along with pleasantly copious amounts of partial nudity by lovelies such as Ingrid Pitt and Madaline Smith. No complaints there! But they also did what one expects in a Hammer film...

[dANdeLION]

Partial nudity, eh? Excellent review!

[Montresor]

Nice project. I'm a fan of both Le Fanu and Hammer, so I enjoyed your review a lot. I'll keep my eyes posted for the other reviews.

I've only seen Carmilla once, and that was about fifteen years ago. There's a copy sitting on my desk waiting to be re-watched when I get the time. From my recollections, I liked it, though didn't love it. However, the snippets I've seen from it since have increased my interest, and I have half-memories of some quite evocative stuff in the movie.

[Zahir]

Behold my second review: That of 1989's Nightmare Classics.

zahirblue.blogspot.com/2010/01/carmilla ... eview.html

This time, 1989's edition of Nightmare Classics transporting the characters to the American antebellum South. Yet again Laura is given a name change, this time to Marie for some reason (played by Ione Skye) with Meg Tilly as the title character. A Van Helsing-stand-in named Inspector Amos is included but sans any personal stake in tales of vampires--quite unlike Baron Hartog of The Vampire Lovers or Baron Vordenburg of the novella. Rather Roddy McDowell's character is there to (rather surprisingly) piece together clues about what is going on with some explained deaths--including one from a swarm of bats!

[Zahir]

Next up: Crypt of the Vampire with Christopher Lee:

zahirblue.blogspot.com/2010/02/carmilla ... eview.html

How is it? Well, a mixed bag overall. Despite the DVD cover, the entire film in fact is black and white, used to generally good effect. The castle itself turns out to be an odd blend of shadow and stark open spaces. Certainly the dream sequences work without resorting to special effects, just atmosphere and acting. Many shots are quite beautiful.

[Zahir]

The polish t.v. version which none of you have ever heard of--too bad, imho.

zahirblue.blogspot.com/2010/02/polish-tv-carmilla-review.html

What I can say, having watched it, is this might be the single most faithful version yet made. It begins with the prologue missing from every other filmed Carmilla. Then we view Laura's household as it is when the events of the story proper begin. For once Carmilla does indeed have two governesses, the older and no-nonsense Madame Perradon along with the more elegant and imaginative Mademoiselle de la Fontaine. We actually see the dynamic between them and Laura as well as Laura's father. We get a sense, for example, of the class differences between them. More (in fact, vital) a sense of Laura's place here is only too clear.