Blood and Roses (1960)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Blood and Roses (1960) – R. Vadim

Roger Vadim’s take on Sheridan Le Fanu’s (lesbian) vampire tale, Carmilla, is a haunting widescreen fantasy, slower and more dreamy than most Hammer productions (although obviously there are similarities – Christopher Lee was considered for the male lead role that went to Mel Ferrer).  The vampire here, Carmilla, is played by Vadim’s then wife (and Bardot substitute) Annette Stroyberg – she is jealous that her cousin Leopoldo (Ferrer) is about to marry Georgia (Elsa Martinelli) and begins to fantasise about the family history that involves a vengeful vampire, Millarca, who kills the young fiancées of the cousin _she_ was in love with.  After a fireworks accident reveals a hidden tomb (Millarca’s, of course), Carmilla seems to become possessed by the ancient spirit, although we never quite know whether this is real or all in the mind of the jealous girl.  She does prowl around at night in a white dress amongst ruins – the cinematography by Claude Renoir (nephew of Jean) is quite sumptuous and worth the price of admission.  I watched the French version which is longer than the US cut and contains a woozy dream sequence (Georgia’s dream) as well as extra footage with peasant girls observing the action of the decadent nobles.  In the end, this is more style than anything else and proceeds at an arthouse pace, but at only 79 minutes, how can you go wrong?