The atmosphere was there, the characters were there, although not fully fleshed out, but the vampirism was not. I couldn't even completely grasp what Carmilla was doing to Laura, considering she never feeds on Laura or really does anything to cause Laura's illness. The whole film plays with the fact Carmilla is odd but never gets to the root of what she is or what she does. A lot of kissing between the two main characters which should have technically been vampire bites (this would have substituted for so many unanswered questions and filled in the plot holes). There is a scene towards the end where Carmilla walks into the room with Laura and we see her reflection. It would have been much better if we didn't see Carmilla in the reflection and she would have startled Laura instead. It's the minute details that would have aided to perfecting this movie to me. Miss Fontaine finds a book, possibly satanic in nature from Carmilla's carriage but we never learn what power she harnesses, if any. In the end Carmilla gets staked in the heart as Laura watches. It's as if the director purposely took out all the key elements and answers from the original story and we are left with a shell of what could have been. If you don't compare it to the novel and view it as stand alone film it's not bad by any means but as I stated earlier if you use the title "Carmilla" and have everything present except the main premise.....it just doesn't click. I am biased for this story however regardless of it all and the cinematography was gorgeous, as was the cast and atmosphere. I stand by a rating of 5/10. Let's just hope it comes out on blu ray.
Review of Carmilla
