Blood and Roses (1960)

Blood and Roses (Et mourir de plaisir)
Directed by Roger Vadim
Written by Roger Vadim and Roger Vailland; original story by Claude Brule and Claude Martin; novel by Sheridan Le Fanu
1960/France/Italy
Documento Film/Films EGE
First viewing/YouTube

[box] The strength of the vampire is that people will not believe in him. Garrett Fort [/box]

The erotic meets the supernatural in this story of a beautiful female vampire and her equally attractive female victims.

The ancestors of Carmilla De Karnstein (Annette Vadim) were reputed to be vampires in the 18th Century.  When Carmilla’s cousin Leopoldo (Mel Ferrer) gets engaged to Georgia (Elsa Martinelli), she becomes jealous and something snaps within her.  Suddenly her very presence begins to frighten the horses.  Next things we know a maid is found dead …

Vadim had found his new muse in then wife Annette Vadim, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Brigitte Bardot. The brunette Martinelli looks equally luscious.  The movie is nicely atmospheric and contains a few really striking shots in a dream sequence.  Folks looking for real scares should look elsewhere but I kind of liked it.

Trailer (the color was much more vivid in the version I watched on YouTube)