Like many of the gothic tinged horror movies that came out of Europe in the 70's, this movie looked great. The cinematography, set design, colors, and women were all very pleasing to the eye but sadly the end result of a film being great cannot ride on visuals alone. Spain had a number of horror releases in the 70's with films such as the Blind Dead movies but Spanish films had a difficult time competing with the output and name recognition that came with horror films from Italy and England.

Vicente Aranda wrote and directed this tale based on the novella "Carmilla" from one of the original authors in the horror genre, Sheridan Le Fanu. This book has been translated to film a number of times and while some of the results have been weak, this movie and Hammer's The Vampire Lovers are the more notable adaptations.

Maribel Martin stars as Susan, a new bride who is brought to an estate by her creepy new husband (Simon Andreau). Wedded bliss is evident in the first few minutes until we realize that hubby likes to play rough and seems to have some issues. As the movie progresses, he becomes more of a prick who seems only to want to force himself on his new wife or act like a prick. This quickly has an effect on Susan who begins to have visions of a mysterious woman and slowly seems to develop a hatred of men. Dreams and reality intertwine through the movie and eventually join when hubby finds the mysterious woman named Carmilla buried alive on the beach wearing only a scuba mask and snorkel. He brings her home and the relationship between the Carmilla and Susan escalates into a final act that pays off on the movie's title.

Movies that cross from reality and fantasy have a tendency to grate on my patience. While the occasional fantasy sequence is fine, I do not like it when I am not sure if I am in a fantasy sequence or reality. This always makes me feel like I am watching a pretentious art film which I am definitely not a fan of. When I watch a film, I want to be entertained, or at least feel satisfied when the film is over. I found The Blood Spattered Bride to be rather difficult in this sense. The one saving grace is that I did find the movie to have some memorable scenes which can at least etch their way into my brain for the years to come. The abundance of naked flesh courtesy of the cute Maribel Martin didn't hurt either.

Overall this was a like a cross between Vampyres and Repulsion that probably gets better with repeated viewings if you have the patience as there appears to be more layers to the action than there are in the usual lesbian vampire tale. I found it to be much better the second time around but if you are looking for a quick fix of sex and violence, this is probably not the best choice. (Josh Pasnak, 5/13/05)

Directed By: Vicente Aranda.
Written By: Vicente Aranda.

Starring: Maribel Martin, Simon Andreu, Alexandra Bastedo.