La Novia Ensangrentad, or The Blood Spattered Bride a sit's more commonly known amongst English speaking audiences, starts as a man (Simon Andreu) & his newlywed wife Susan (Maribel Martin) move into his large ancestral home that come complete with servants (Angel Lombarte & Monsterrat Julio). At first things seem perfect but it's not long before Susan starts to see a mysterious woman (Alexandra Bastedo) in her dreams who seems to leave a dagger for her on her bed one night, a dagger that keeps turning up no matter how hard her husband tries to get rid of it. While doing some detective work Susan discovers that the woman in her dreams resembles one of her husbands ancestors, Mircalla Karnstein. Meanwhile her husband has found a naked woman named Carmilla buried on a beach so he decides to take her home, as you would. Straight away Susan notices that Carmilla looks exactly like the woman in her dreams, now her dreams are about to turn into nightmares...
This Spanish production was written & directed by Vincente Aranda & I thought it was OK but a bit confused. The script is based on the novel Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu which I have not read so I cannot compare them. The plot is a bit of a mess in this one, lots of scenes come from nowhere & frankly go nowhere. There are some really strange scenes in it as well, the strangest of which has to be the bit when the guy finds Carmilla buried a few inches under the sand on a beach with just her fingers & snorkel sticking out of the ground. As he digs her up he discovers she has a pair of goggles on & nothing else as he pays close attention to unearthing her bare breasts. I'm sure she was grateful. Now, most of us in his place would find the whole situation somewhat odd but this guy just takes it in his stride & takes her home. There's all sorts of nonsense about the servants child & her putting the dagger in Susan's bed which she may or may not have but it's all very vague. I could go on like why does Susan fall under the spell of Carmilla so easily? Is it because she has been bitten & Carmilla is a Vampire? Well Carmilla is never shown with fangs, she quite happily walks around in the daylight & no mention of Vampires is ever made although she does sleep in a coffin, with Susan. Having said that I thought it was watchable in a strange sort of way.
Director Aranda does an OK job, the film is split between visually dull & extremely stylish. The scene set in a pigeon cage with the birds fluttering around is particularly cool although I can't get that bizarre beach scene out of my head. For some reason Susan's husband is never referred to by name during the film, not one person calls him by name, strange. There is some nudity & sex plus a rape in a dream, the gore was disappointing as a few stabbings is all we get. For the animal lovers out there there is a scene when a fox is snared in a trap in obvious distress which is then shot dead at almost point blank range.
Technically the film is alright, it's generally well made throughout. The acting seemed OK but it's pretty obvious that it was dubbed.
La Novia Ensangrentada is a strange film, it's something a bit different but at the same time I didn't exactly love it. Worth a watch if you like Euro horror but there are better films out there.
This Spanish production was written & directed by Vincente Aranda & I thought it was OK but a bit confused. The script is based on the novel Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu which I have not read so I cannot compare them. The plot is a bit of a mess in this one, lots of scenes come from nowhere & frankly go nowhere. There are some really strange scenes in it as well, the strangest of which has to be the bit when the guy finds Carmilla buried a few inches under the sand on a beach with just her fingers & snorkel sticking out of the ground. As he digs her up he discovers she has a pair of goggles on & nothing else as he pays close attention to unearthing her bare breasts. I'm sure she was grateful. Now, most of us in his place would find the whole situation somewhat odd but this guy just takes it in his stride & takes her home. There's all sorts of nonsense about the servants child & her putting the dagger in Susan's bed which she may or may not have but it's all very vague. I could go on like why does Susan fall under the spell of Carmilla so easily? Is it because she has been bitten & Carmilla is a Vampire? Well Carmilla is never shown with fangs, she quite happily walks around in the daylight & no mention of Vampires is ever made although she does sleep in a coffin, with Susan. Having said that I thought it was watchable in a strange sort of way.
Director Aranda does an OK job, the film is split between visually dull & extremely stylish. The scene set in a pigeon cage with the birds fluttering around is particularly cool although I can't get that bizarre beach scene out of my head. For some reason Susan's husband is never referred to by name during the film, not one person calls him by name, strange. There is some nudity & sex plus a rape in a dream, the gore was disappointing as a few stabbings is all we get. For the animal lovers out there there is a scene when a fox is snared in a trap in obvious distress which is then shot dead at almost point blank range.
Technically the film is alright, it's generally well made throughout. The acting seemed OK but it's pretty obvious that it was dubbed.
La Novia Ensangrentada is a strange film, it's something a bit different but at the same time I didn't exactly love it. Worth a watch if you like Euro horror but there are better films out there.