Customer Reviews

The Blood Spattered Bride

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

 

 

You won't find a better 1972 Spanish-produced vampire movie (the dialog is in English). I first saw it in a revival theater in LA during a "Grindhouse" month for which Quentin Tarantino had selected all the films; he made it a double feature with a Mexican gem titled "Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary" (1975).

"Bride" concerns a young bride and her boorish husband, and the ghostly woman who comes between them. No one morphs into a bat or carries garlic, though, and the supernatural threat is never fully explained, so very literal-minded people might avoid the word "vampire." This movie is its own thing.

It is worthwhile chiefly for its many haunting images (some even surreal), and I like that it takes a real stab (pun intended) at ideas and characters who are more than one dimensional (though not 100% successfully). There's a little nudity, but the pacing is more concerned with atmosphere than action. Some of the scares fall flat -- but there are also some truly startling moments.

If you appreciate unique, atmospheric horror that is very 1972 in its ideas and execution, then buy this DVD. It is a minor classic.

Unfortunately, there are no special features.

Now this is my type of bloody insanity! The Blood Spattered Bride is one bone-chilling and inducing piece of horror cinema. The kind of film they don't even try to make anymore, unfortunately. It's extremely creepy, atmospheric, erotic, and totally bizarre. Anybody who rates this only 3 stars must be a Twilight lover.

It starts off in alarming fashion. A pair of newlyweds check into the hotel, ready to consummate their marriage I assume. Things don't go quite as planned. The Bride gets viciously attacked, stripped and mounted by an intruder who was hiding in the closet. It's so freaking disturbing to see this women totally exposed in unruly fashion. Luckily, this just happens to be a dark figment of the imagination. Or a hidden desire, perhaps? This early sequence sets the tone, plus it is a bit of foreshadowing.

The couple eventually settle in at a different hotel, and a battle of the sexes begins to ensue. Their sexual desires seem to completely clash. To top it off, the hotel itself has quite a tainted past. So when another beautiful, mysterious woman starts to stalk the bride, nightmares begin to surface as reality gets distorted. It's estrogenic madness!

There is plenty of sexual tension that just oozes off the screen, while the violence steadily simmers towards its boiling point. I for one really love the pacing and bizarre plot developments of this story, but it's not for everyone. It includes gallons of blood, full frontal female nudity, misogyny, lesbianism, vampirism...man, it's total horror heaven! Only from the almighty 70's.

The film is inspired by Le Fanu's story Carmila. Pretty much the same identical story: a castle, a curse. It is a very slow movie for today's criterion, but this makes the innovative imagery even more shocking and surprising, most of the film's credit must go to the performances of the lovely leading ladies. The movie isn't a very close version of Sheridan Le Fanu's pompous novel "Carmilla" and it has got nothing to do with Matthew G. Lewis as far as I can tell. The "vampire" intimacy in this film is tied to themes of virginity and rape - most other vampire flicks sort of hint at this but none that I can remember spell it out so clearly. It is exceedingly Freudian in this film. The lesbian vampire catalyst is fueled more by hatred for men than a hunger, a need for blood. The killing is to vindicate, the blood drinking is an aside. The film does a good stint of keeping the audience off balance by cleverly smudging the line between reality and Susan's fantasies and delusions.

The film is a little outstretched, but the plot is complex. After all is said and done the film actually has significance (unlike many films in the genre). It would be notable if someone remade this film and tightened the pacing a bit.

An interesting bit of a horror film. The bewitching Ms. Bastedo takes the movie, with her cool, yet seductive, portrayal. If they could ever find it, and if it's uncut, Kashmiri Run, would be another fine example of her work. Her eyes, her lips, and her demeanor, draw the viewer in. Enough said.

There is probably no less appreciated and poorly-utilized character in cult cinema history then Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla. The novella is in it's own way nearly as classic and influential as Dracula in vampire lore, single-handedly creating the female vampire genre as it continues today. Heck, even the undead king himself has taken to using anagrams of his name on occasion, which originated in "Carmilla". But while Drac is a household name and has had countless high-profile adaptations that nearly always treat his character with great weight and respect, his sister-in-undeath is seldom utilized with any effectiveness. While Hammer's excellent The Vampire Lovers very successfully adapted the story while accentuating the thick feminine sexuality that permeated the novel but was not expounded upon, it seems every adaptation since has treated the story and character flippantly. From the terrible love scene in Lust for a Vampire featuring Carmilla at the mercy of a human man who seduces and conquers her to the absolutely godawful recent "film" Vampires Vs. Zombies, which poorly attempted to modernize the tale and added zombies for no reason other then to utilize the attention-grabbing title, Carmilla has been to cinematic hell and back.

"The Blood Spattered Bride" has a lot of strikes against it, but a lot going for it as well. As an adaptation of "Carmilla" -as it purports to be- it fails miserably. Hell, they didn't even spell her name right. But as a 70's grindhouse cult classic it definitely succeeds. I'll tell you right now that if they had left Le Fanu's name off of this, it would have gotten an extra star. The film is dark, unique in tone and theme, and sometimes explosively violent. One scene in particular is sure to make men and women alike seriously uncomfortable. The premise is somewhat similar to the original work, but centers on a newlywed who seems quite uncomfortable with her new husband, whose attitude and sexual appetites are a bit gruff. She is stalked from afar by a mysterious woman in white, who begins appearing in her dreams. A strange dagger begins appearing around the house, and the dreams intensify and begin driving the girl mad as she is plagued by visions of her using the blade to slaughter her husband. Then one day, the man happens upon a beautiful woman buried in the sand on the beach. This is among the oddest scenes I've ever seen, by the way. I'm not sure what makes it so; maybe it's the fact that the legendary vampire queen was using a freaking snorkel to breath from under the sand or the way that the man quickly clears the sand away from her breasts leaving us to stare at an angelic blue-eyed face behind a snorkeling mask with only her [...] visible beyond that. Who the hell came up with this? Anyways, long story short: with the bride under the thrall of the she-vamp the girls form a bit of an anti-male crusade. But can two super-sexy immortal supernatural beings possibly overcome a viral and boorish embodiment of testosterone? Not in a Spanish movie in the 70's, sorry. Boo.

For a film that has 3 (okay maybe 2 1/2) instances of full frontal female nudity in the first 20 minutes or so, the rest of the film is sexually tame in comparison. One would think that an opportunity would be taken to juxtapose the rough sexual approach of the husband with a more sensual approach from the lesbian vampire to highlight the gender war, but the girl-girl sexual element is small; real small in comparison to the initial assault of brutish male conquest in the early scenes of the film. There are serious pacing and balance issues all around on this one. Also of note is a scene where the male characters shoot an agonized fox with his leg caught in a trap in the head. This scene is not fake. It is thankfully recalled in a scene later in the film so as not to make such a sickening spectacle as completely pointless as it appeared to be, but I simply do not enjoy seeing something like that. Fake violence, people; I like my violence fictitious. Still, the film gains a lot of exploitation points for it's brazenness. And if you think the fabulously evocative title sounds familiar to you, one Quentin Tarantino utilized it in the homage-heavy exploitation-fest Kill Bill.

So while the results are a bit disappointing considering what could have been, "The Blood Spattered Bride" is certainly worth a peak if you're a 70's vampire fanatic. It may be artistically half-baked, but it delivers plenty of cheap thrills and chills and has at least one scene that is an absolute must-see classic of violent imagery. The men vs women approach is pretty fresh from this perspective and I just wish it had been handled a little better because this film had "potential classic" written all over it. It's almost nothing like the supposed source material, but as a stand alone story it's pretty damn good. Sadly, it should have been great, but seems to have been weighed down by the misogyny of the time and place it was made. Pity.

The blood splattered Bride was an awesome feature film. I highly recommend this for those who truly enjoy Classic Film Noir!!!!!

La novia ensangrentada (1972)

Inspired by LeFanu's immortal story of blood lust "Carmilla", The Blood Spattered Bride is one of the
better examples we have of Gothic romanticism, homo eroticism, & taboo desires which is readily available for purchase or rental. Vicente Arande directs this unflinchingly beautiful yet haunting film which will demand repeated viewings & your undivided attention. This is more than just a pleasant surprise for me this season. It was, by far, one of my favorite gifts & I've enjoyed this moody film immensely.

Sadly, no one makes this kind of film anymore & I daresay no one would even attempt a retread of familiar grounds without cramming their version with CGI effects that are completely unnecessary. Bride is heavy with atmosphere yet uses gore in moderation although there is enough blood here to satisfy the curiosity seekers or those who prefer their banquet of terror to be lightly brushed with ketchup. Arande obviously knew the desired effect he would have on his audience & puts to good use the lighting, Gothic castle settings, & liberal doses of sexuality which are neither too constrained nor overly graphic. Overall, it's a fine mixture indeed & the musical score is magnificent! There are about two or three scenes of female nudity but most of the sex scenes are basically implied as very little is shown rather than merely suggested.

According to what I've read on line, BSB was completely dubbed in English in hopes of cleaning the Spanish accents of the actors/actresses who attempted to speak English throughout the entire film. Sad to report, the English dubbed version may be the only known copy to exist at the present but who cares? If we like the film, why should it matter to us?

In many ways, I was reminded of Bunuel's Belle De Jour although the atmosphere here is far more creepy & even a tad more bizarre. The concept of being afraid to explore or tap into ones sexuality during a honeymoon may not be a new concept nor anything revolutionary given the films we've most likely seen by Bunuel, Kumel, or Rollin but Arande handles the script very professionally & still manages to obtain solid performances from his cast. Alexandra Bastedo is simply marvelous as the lesbian vampire Mircalla who tries to lure Susan (played by the beautiful Maribel Martin) away from her husband. As one can expect, murder cannot be too far behind.

Susan is a rather frigid if not uptight newlywed who seems to object to her husband's sexual domination & would appear to be more than just a bit uncomfortable. In a vain attempt to run from her husband, Susan becomes drawn inexplicably to a young woman completely draped in her bridal wear. At first, the woman appears only in dreams or nightmares but then somehow manifests in the flesh. Susan does manage to draw pictures of Mircalla while exploring the castle & finding portraits of all the women ancestors. Naturally, the face of the blood spattered bride is missing from the portrait.

Husband (Simon Andreu) notices wife has been acting rather strangely after he tells her the the legend of a blood spattered bride. Not knowing which direction to take with the unusual or bizarre recurring nightmares & a strange dagger which always seems to be appearing, he seeks the vital help of doctors as well as considering the possibility of a psychiatrist. Convinced that Susan does love him but may just merely be under a spell of terrible Freudian dreams which could use some professional assistance. What he fails to realize is Susan may be well past the point of no return.

While there are plenty of trashy European vampire flicks which capitalize on shocking their viewers which tons of explicit sex or gratuitous nudity, Blood Spattered Bride seems to be content with taking the feminist route with even a indirect hints of misogyny or spouse misconduct. It would almost seem that Arande wanted to make a statement about marriages which are failed from the get go or how hard we try to make relationships work that aren't meant to last. Then again, perhaps I am reading into this way too far. Who knows?

I've read that Blood Spattered Bride may not be completely faithful to LeFanu's legendary tale but I do not think that should alter your final decision on whether or not to watch. In fact, I'm surprised that more people have not grasped this one with the re-surging interest in the immortal Lilith. Orlok, are you reading this? There are pretty cool chicks here who I think you might want to check out.

Oh, special nod & thanks to Chris Blackshere. Hugs & happiest of holidays! Thanks for this piece of blissful holiday joy. Hope yours was something special as well. Wishing you well as always!