The Karnstein family had the reputation for the past few hundred years as being vampires. The belief was so widely entrenched that the local villagers raided the family cemetery and drove stakes through the hearts of all the corpses and burned the bodies. All except for that of Millarca, whose body was never found. Millarca, it is said, was in love with her cousin Ludwig and he moved her body to safeguard it. The family legend also says that Ludwig went on to become engaged three different times and that each time his fiancés died. Some believe that it was Millarca who killed them in order to keep Ludwig to herself.
Carmilla De Karnstein (Annette Stroyberg) is the last in line of the De Karnstein family and, supposedly, a direct relative of Millarca. Carmilla is in love with her cousin Leopoldo De Karnstein (Mel Ferrer), but he is engaged to Georgia Monteverdi (Elsa Martinelli).
Leopoldo has a masked ball to celebrate his engagement to Georgia. In a peak of jealousy Carmilla wears a white dress that she found in the attic. The dress is the same one that Millarca is seen wearing in a portrait that hangs in the drawing room of the estate. She makes her entrance to the party. As a surprise Leopold has hired Carlo Ruggieri (Alberto Bonucci) to prepare a firework display for the guests’ entertainment. Everyone runs outside to see the display.
Carmilla wanders around the estate and ends up near the abandoned abbey where the fireworks are being set off. Suddenly a huge explosion occurs that destroys part of the abbey. Apparently, an old stash of German ammunition that had been hidden in the abbey since WWII got triggered and exploded. The explosion sends Carmilla flying. When the dust settles, she realizes that she has found the hidden crypt belonging to Millarca. After she finds the crypt, Carmilla’s personality shifts. Carmilla acts as if she is being possessed by the spirit of a woman that some believed was a vampire.
“Blood and Roses” AKA “Et mourir de plaisir” AKA “Il sangue e la rosa” AKA “und vor Lust zu sterben” was released in 1960 and was directed by Roger Vadim. It is a French and Italian horror and romance film. The film is one of many films that were roughly based on the 1872 novella “Carmilla” by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. For some reason, the version I have of the film is titled in German but French speaking with English subtitles.
It is an interesting little film with some nicely decorated sets. The film has the look and feel of a gothic period piece rather than a modern day story. Everything about it is beautiful.
Although many trash the film as being too slow, I found that the slow and steady pace of the film actually drew me into it more. The cinematography, the music score and the quality of the acting make the film dreamy. The actual dream sequence in the film adds a touch of horror to what would normally be just a romantic thriller and gives it a slight surreal feel. It also has a similar feel of being an erotic thriller but without a lot of sex or nudity. The vampire and lesbian undertones add additional mystery and flair to the film.
Director Vadim has a cameo as a passenger on an airplane. Annette Stroyberg, who played Carmilla, was married to director Vadim at the time the film was made. Some of the film was shot at Hadrian’s Villa in Italy. Millarca is an anagram of Carmilla.