Blood Spattered Bride

 

Blood Spattered Bride directed by Vicente Aranda. Starring Maribel Martin (1972).

            Blood Spattered Bride is Giggly Guy approved, that’s the only information I needed to proceed, who may you ask is the “Giggly Guy?” Check out the insane trailer (with commentary by Eli Roth to see what I’m talking about). http://www.trailersfromhell.com/trailers/400

            This is the film that drove him to ravenously giggle for all eternity, lose his teaching job and drink Woolite in an alley somewhere. He sat through the double feature of terror (Blood Spattered Bride/ I Dismember Mama) and it could have been I Dismember Mama that caused him to go insane. Blood Spattered Bride is no trashy dud like Dismember (which is very tasteless) and they are totally unrelated and shouldn't be on a double bill together. It has a Bava-esque Gothic quality. A newlywed couple (Maribel Martin and Simon Andreu) check into their honeymoon suite and immediately after the wife is raped by a guy with pantyhose on his face. Was it a fantasy or real? The wife doesn't seem that distraught by the vicious assault. A lot of things in this film are psychodrama of the mind. She sees a vampish looking blonde behind the wheel (who will later show up and seduce her). If you've seen The Karnstein trilogy (Twins Of Evil, The Vampire Lovers and Lust For A Vampire) then you know that last name means satan worshiping vampires are waiting around every dark corner. This film is based on Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, a lesbian vampire tale (which pre-dated Bram Stoker).The Hammer Films are all based on the Le Fanu story and I guess you could add this onto the trilogy of Karnstein films.

            Carmilla's shrouded figure is seen again in the garden, she is a descendent of The Karnsteins. The wife has lesbian tendencies and intimacy issues with her husband. Susan is totally grossed out by straight sex and runs away from her poor husband to either lock her self in a pigeon coop or stare ominously at the ghostly figure of the Karnstein bitch. There's a nice Morricone like party theme that shows up from time to time on the soundtrack. The Vampire female portraits are all down in the cellar among blood soaked coffins and spooky paintings. At one point Susan runs toward the ground and almost eats grass (is this remedy for people or dogs)? She refuses her husband's sexual advances for the billionth time and then is finally visited by Carmila who drinks her blood and leaves a sacrificial knife on her bed. The cycle of bridal destruction is passed onto her (ghosts always want you to murder for them). The husband in a bizarre surrealistic moment, finds Carmila naked underneath the sand. She gets Susan all hot and bothered and drinks her blood, vampirism and lesbianism are synonymous in this film. The stupid husband should get the message and leave the two women alone to be happy, but refuses to acknowledge the reality: that he’s no longer needed. Carmila as a ghost or a vampire is as confusing as Jean Rollin’s Living Dead Girl who walks around mute, but can feel pain. Fans looking for extreme gore should sit out this thought provoking Gothic tale. However fans of Serling, Hammer Films or interesting lesbian/ vampire stories will enjoy it and it’s got the Giggly Guy seal of approval!

Available at BMOVIES.COM 

Just doing some Sand diving

So should I come back then?