The Blood Spattered Bride (1972)

Director: Vicente Aranda

Starring: Simon Andreu, Maribel Martin and Alexandra Bastedo

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The revenge of a young bride on her wedding night!

Plot: A young husband's sexual fantasies frighten his new wife and cause her to seek advice from Carmilla, a descendent of Mircalla de Karnstein. Carmilla seduces the young bride and forces her to commit gory acts of mutilation.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? That's a real tough one. Maybe. Ask me again in about ten years after I've watched every 60s/70s European lesbian vampire movie ever made.

#8 of 31 Days of Horror 2010.

#5 on 42nd Street Forever Vol. 1 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)


I think this is at least the fourth film based on the story of Karnstein I've seen in the past three years. Three others were Hammer productions and were better done (and a bit shorter, too). Pretty much everything in this version works except for the pacing. It's realllllllly sloooooooow. It took three attempts for me to finish this, nodding off each time. The funny thing is I saw this a few years ago and I remember liking it.



If it didn't drag so much it'd be great. I don't mind movies that move at a leisurely pace but this one is just plain lethargic. The occasional organ music cheapens it a bit, too. The camerawork is nice and it really is a good looking film but there's just not enough of interest to keep me alert and hanging on. Things started to pick up at about the halfway mark and from there on, it's pretty damn good (but it still has a leisurely pace).



Except for the WOW FUCK ME SIDEWAYS last two minutes which was welcome, the standout scene is when the husband finds Mircala Karnstein buried at the beach. THAT was cool and wonderfully surreal.












Outside of that, you may find very little in this Spanish production to hold your attention enough for you to appreciate that hidden in all of those 100 minutes is a good film.