Customer Reviews

Blood and Roses [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

..... and Vadim Created Stoyberg!

ANNETTE STOYBERG billed as Annette Vadim in this beautiful tribute to womanhood glows under Vadim's Direction.

This IS a negected masperpiece, released by Paramount. It's an odd piece of technology - about 1/2" of tape [don't let this deter you], but the sound : hi-fi Dolby is tremendous! Image transfer bleeds [whoops, had to add that], yep, it bleeds slightly. PLEASE restore this to it's original widescreen concept, set the color, keep the sound as it is [enhance with surround?].

It's [dubbed?] in English - with sometimes a funny result - lines like : "How big is it?" [raising a chuckle or two], AND is the "f" word used? Maybe bad diction? No, it's not what you think - it's very clean! The lesbian overtones? Something by an overzealous mind - read the homoerotic overtones in "Interview" the Cruise/Pitt movie.

Elsa Martinelli, Annette Stoyberg/Vadim and Mel Ferrer are the beautiful people circa 1960. Without giving too much away, it's kind of a love triangle between the three - based on a story by Sheridan LeFanu. The composition reminds me Fellini's work, costumes and sets have never been better [or more elegant for that matter], interesting erotic tones for 1960.....also a teensy bit daring, oh yes, there are one or two boobies slipped in for good measure, but it's all very artictic [in the best sense] and tasteful!

The black and white dream sequence [sigh! intact!] still models as inspiration for the newcomers!

Beautiful score by by Jean Prodomides.

Now, about the two little kitchen girls - Martha and Marie - looks like they graduated direct from "The Shining" to this abbey!

If you own "Daughters of Darkness" and "The Hunger" this is the missing sister of the group - a MUST!

A beautifully photographed, horror-art film/vampire romance based on the Carmilla novella. Directed by Roger Vadim, who later directed the horror-art film Spirits Of The Dead (an anthology of Edgar Allan Poe tales).

A woman is possessed by her artistocratic/vampire ancestor, both of whom are in love with the same man (yet the film also has lesbian overtones).

Languid pace and little gore, as one would expect from European art cinema, but enjoyable on its own terms. The sudden switch to black & white (and blood red) film in the hospital sequence is surreal and unsettling.

Beautiful actresses, as befits a vampire romance.

ANNETTE VADIM REALLY CAPTUTRED MY INTEREST AND SO DID THE STORY. THERE'S NOTHING BORING ABOUT THIS FILM.THE LESBIAN SCENES ARE BEAUTIFULLY PHOTOGRAPHED IN GREAT TASTE. IT'S VERY MUCH A WORK OF ART FROM LA BELLE EPOQUE. I RECOMMEND IT TO THE OPEN MINDED MATURE PEOPLE WHO LOVE EROTICISM AND ARE NOT OFFENDED BY TWO PEOPLE OF THE SAME SEX MAKING LOVE IN A TASTEFUL MANNER.ROGER VADIM WAS AHEAD OF HIS TIME. YES, I WILL ADD IT TO MY COLLECTION, AS I WORE OUT THE COPY I TAPED FROM ''UP ALL NIGHT''.

Vadim walked a very thin line at a time when it was very unconventional to, 'push the envelope' as one might say.
But, push the envelope hi did, and he erased the line with his cinematic genius and lust for life, which he brought to the screen as no one had ever dared to do before.
All progress was made by those of us who dared to be different.And Dare...Vadim did.
This particular movie was beautifully erotic and artistic. If you are a student of cinema, Vadim will give you a fellowship on the artistry of filming.

i first saw this film on tv a few years ago and could not forget the melancholy music score and the beauty of the 2 lead actresses. the film,itself, is a bit silly but i think i'm a fan!there's a lot of atmosphere but the dubbing of elsa martinelli's voice is a joke.she sounds like marilyn monroe?

This is definitley one of the best horror films i have ever seen. It is beautiful, lush, and a bit scary at some parts. Its more of a gothic romance than a 60's horror. I only wish they would transfer this awesome film onto DVD someday soon... its to good to be stuck on VHS. I'm giving it 5 stars for the movie itself, not the fact its on VHS.

Joseph Sheridan LeFanu's superb novella "Carmilla" becomes the basis for this visually sumptuous movie. Roger Vadim has played up the fantasy element of the original text, and relocated it to modern-day Rome. It's about a jealous girl who is possessed by the spirit of her vampire ancestress, and goes on to seduce her beloved cousin and his wife. The acting's a bit stiff, and the dubbing is poor, but the sets are stunning and the imagery (particularly in the dream sequence)memorable. See it, if only to catch Elsa Martinelli and Annette Stroyberg enjoy a rainsoaked kiss.

Vadim's take on Sheridan le Fanu's tale Carmilla is a somewhat languid chiller, updated to modern (1960) Italy and starring the lovely Annette Stroyberg as Carmilla and Elsa Martinelli as Georgia. Pitched somewhere between the supernatural and the psychological Vadim draws us into a lushly coloured but oddly crepuscular landscape in which Carmilla may indeed be possessed by the spirit of her vampire ancestor Millarca or alternatively a depressive caught in the spell of an overwhelming romantic imagination. Mel Ferrer is Leopoldo, the less-than-sympathetic, almost sexist object of her spurned affections. The film's reputation hinges on two scenes of intense dream-like claustrophobia; the first is a rain-soaked kiss in a hot-house replete with a heady lesbian suggestion and the second is a nightmare in monochrome and red inflicted upon Georgia toward the climax. Beautiully filmed but terribly marred (in fact almost ruined) by the studio 'need' to engage the Exposition Fairy, destroying Vadim's careful mood with Carmilla's constant voice-overs needlessly 'explaining' to the audience exactly what is happening. Deserving of a DVD Director's re-cut (removing all the awful exposition, ala Bladerunner) and presented in its original Technirama format, no doubt something not very likely to happen.

YES I AM ADDING THIS TO MY COLLECTION. BOY, THIS ROGER VADIM REALLY KNOWS HOW TO PICK THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SEDUCTIVE BABES FOR HIS MOVIES. IT'S A MOVIE I CAN WATCH OVER AND OVER BEAUSE THE WOMEN ARE SOOO SEDUCTIVE EVEN WITH THEIR CLOTHES ON. THE FILMS BY ROGER VADIM ALL HAVE A HAUNTING UNFORGETTABLE QUALITY.

Roger Vadim's Blood and Roses is a leisurely-paced, atmospheric vampire film which has almost no violence in it (just a good dose of allusions). Mel Ferrer plays aristocrat Leopoldo de Karnstein who is engaged to lovely Georgia (Elsa Martinelli). They are planning a wedding at the Karnstein Estate, and are accompanied by Leopoldo's alluring cousin Carmilla (Annette Vadim) and a male family friend. It soon becomes apparent that Carmilla is deeply in love with Leopoldo, a fact that both Leopoldo and Georgia are aware of, but choose to ignore.

The legend of the Karnstein's vampiric history haunts the estate, and Carmilla, heartbroken at the thought of losing Leopoldo to Georgia, wanders off into the family crypt where she is possessed by the spirit of the vampire Mircalla, who was also her ancestor. Carmilla/Mircalla takes to wandering around at night, dressed in a white gown, and her thirst for blood soon puts the residents of the estate at risk.

Mel Ferrer is the perfunctory male prop here. The two female leads deliver credible performances. Annette Vadim mesmerizes as the lovestruck Mircalla/Carmilla Karnstein, while Elsa Martinelli is beguiling as the hapless, naïve Georgia. The plot is rather predictable, and I wished there was more character development. Despite these flaws, I loved watching the beautiful cinematography, the costumes of the period, and the surreal dream sequence at the end. High on atmosphere, this reminded me of a well-executed arthouse horror movie. Recommended for fans of atmospheric horror films, though at present it is only available on VHS (I watched it on a movie rental site I subscribe to).