Carmilla

Rating:
Summary: Highly Influential Novella
Review: After seeing numerous films which all contain the Carmilla female vampire character, I was curious to check out the original material. As soon as I found out that the book actually predates Dracula I deiced it is a must read. As the phenomanly popular Dracula set ground rules for vampires which are so rarely deviated from in both literature and film, despite the fact that European vampyre lore varies dramticly in each region, I was curious to see how the vampire was portrayed before Bram Stoker.

Carmilla certainly is different. Both the vampire's appearnce and methods differ enormously from Count Dracula and his many spin offs. It is impossible to explain the story with out giving too much away as this is such a short story.

Carmilla is, I feel, influential in an interesting way. There are nowhere near as many direct film incarnations of Carmilla as there are of Dracula, 'Vampire Lovers' is a fairly direct adaptation of the novella (the Midnight Movies double feature disc Countess Dracula/Vampire Lovers has a special feature with actress Ingrid Pitt reading from Carmilla), the Carmilla character has a big part in 'Blood Spattered Bride' and also Carmilla makes a brief appearance in 'Twins of Evil'. However there is a heavy lesbian overtone present in Carmilla which while tame today was sure to be racy at the time of writing. It seems that this principle has being carried over into film just as faithfully as Bram Stoker's sunlight destroys vampires rule (in Carmilla vampires can walk around in the sun). Thus thanks to Carmilla, whenever there is a female vampire in any film she is automatically a lesbian! Some of my favourites are 'Vampyros Lesbos', 'Vampyres', 'Female Vampire', 'Shivers of the Vampire' and of course the previously mentioned Carmilla films.

I am glad I read Carmilla, it is an interesting and well written novella with a different take on vampires which is fresh and original due to it being older. In retrospect Carmilla has also spawned the beloved lesbian vampire film genre and it was awesome to read about the first lesbian vampire ever!

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Vampire Romp
Review: I first became acquainted with Carmilla from the Hammer Studios Karstein Trilogy of The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, and Twins of Evil. The Vampire Lovers is the only one that draws from this book. The book starts getting into the movie from about the fifth chapter. I recognised dialog and descriptions in the plots of both. It's quite a liberal adaption, but the essence of the story remains intact. For example, the dialog isn't verbatim. The single line from The Vampire Lovers of "You must die, everybody must die" is about a paragraph's length of dialog in the book. It's a fantastic tale. Most of the lesbian is implied, and I caught gratuitous nudity added to the movie, which does add to the movie's appeal. I love the short length of about 150 pages. It never drags, and the chapters are no more than 10 pages each, making for easy reading. I put Carmilla above Bram Stoker's Dracula. Carmilla is a must-have for people with more than a passing interest of the vampire myth. I highly recommend this book. It's excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Forget Dracula
Review: I had to read this story for a class I took a year ago on vampires in mythology, film, and literature and found it was too hard for me to put it down. After re-reading it, I truly began to appreciate it's significance. The story was highly addictive for starters and I loved the whole lesbian sub-plot line story to it. This would go great with a feminist studies class. I would like to read the stories that pick up where this one left off. Forget Stoker's "Dracula," this is vampire story to read.