15. The Blood Spattered Bride (1972)
A Spanish film by Vicente Aranda, The Blood Spattered Bride is an adaptation of Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. It used to be shown on a double bill in the grindhouses with I Dismember Mama, but it has won a cult following of its own - for its mix of horror, vampires and lesbianism. Susan is a new bride who arrives at a hotel with her husband. There seems to be a woman tracking them from afar. When Susan is left alone in the hotel room, she has a vision of a man leaping out of the closet and raping her. She asks hubby if they can leave the hotel and they wind up in a house her husband grew up in. Susan sees the woman from the hotel but doesn't tell her husband about it. Susan remarks on the fact that there are no paintings of female ancestors in the house. She spies one with the woman's head cut out and her husband tells her this painting is Mircalla - who brutally murdered her husband on their wedding night as he forced her to do terrible sexual things. Mircalla appears to Susan in her dreams and gives her a dagger to kill her husband with. While out strolling on the beach, Susan's husband discovers a naked oman buried in the sand. He takes her home and we find out her name is Carmilla. Susan falls under Carmilla's spell. Carmilla is a man hating lesbian who lets Susan drink her blood. The husband realises Carmilla is Mircalla and his life is in danger. Susan and Carmilla go on a bloody spree - killing the doctor, the guardian of the house, and attempting to kill Susan's hubby. He decides enough is enough and kills Carmilla, Susan and a servant girl. A sexy and stylish Spanish vampire flick - The Blood Spattered Bride - has everything that makes a great Euro Horror vampire picture. There are extremely surreal moments in the film - for example Susan's husband coming across Carmilla on the beach. There are beautiful women getting down to lesbian action, although it must be said, the nudity is rather restrained in this film. The cinematography is wonderful and this is definitely one of the higher end, classier Lesbian vampire movies.