‘When the honeymoon was over the terror began’
The Blood Spattered Bride – original title: La novia ensangrentada – is a 1972 Spanish horror feature film written and directed by Vicente Aranda (Las Crueles), loosely based on the vampire story, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
The movie stars Simón Andreu, Maribel Martín, and Alexandra Bastedo.
A well-known US trailer advertising a double feature paired with the 1974 film I Dismember Mama was filmed in the style of a news report covering the “story” of an audience member who had gone insane while watching the films.
On February 13, 2018, the film was released on Blu-ray by Mondo Macabro with a host of special features.
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- Brand new 4k transfer from film negative
- English/Spanish audio choice
- Newly created English subtitles
- Audio commentary by Diabolique magazine staffers
- Interview with cinematographer Fernando Arribas
- Two part interview with actor Simón Andreu
- Interview with Euro Gothic author Jonathan Rigby
- Original trailers and radio spots
- Deleted and alternate scenes
- Mondo Macabro previews
Reviews:
“The perfect film for backward-thinking goths who are interested in lesbian relationships that involve vampires and shooting fox hunters in the crotch with shotguns, The Blood Spattered Bride, with its eerie organ score by Antonio Pérez Olea, manages to create an ethereal atmosphere with an effortless elan.” House of Self-Indulgence
” …what motivated all the cuts in the original American version wasn’t so much the excess or outrageousness of the deleted footage, but rather the distributor’s fear that American audiences (and more to the point, state film censorship boards) were so uncomfortable with the very idea of lesbianism that to release the movie in anything like its original form would be the kiss of death at the box office.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
“The Blood Spattered Bride’s really-not-very-sub subtexts and eerie visuals – ruined palace estates; wandering veiled women; the wings of frightened, fluttering birds – make it a compelling watch for horror devotees. However, its indulgence in ham-fisted shock tactics (never more so than at its abrupt, bullet-ridden conclusion) and its ultimately murky gender politics make it a very weird watch too…” Notcoming.com
“On a directorial level, The Blood Spattered Bride is perfunctorily made. Everything is straightforward – there is little subtlety or anything that works on any other level. However, the film is not entirely without occasional moments of interest. Director Vicente Aranda throws in intermittent images of surrealistic appeal…” Richard Scheib, Moria
“Although sluggish in pacing, the film still succeeds and is a favorite amongst Euro horror buffs. Most of the meat is in the third act, but the discovery of the vampire Mircalla — buried in the beach sand, breathing through a snorkel and having her bare breasts dug out — is unforgettable. A dream sequence where a man has his heart torn out is also particularly nasty.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In
“I’m glad this project is Aranda’s. He seems interested in grounding the everyday cruelties of the husband in the reality of the off-handed way of how badly some men can treat women. This is important because it takes the gay panic angle of the narrative and provides a contrast between his abuse and the tender scenes between the wife and Carmilla.” Braineater
“The Blood-Spattered Bride is bizarre, yet cohesive; interesting and entertaining. The dubbing is decent, and while the cinematography isn’t especially stunning (not like another well-crafted Carmilla tale Blood and Roses, which predates this version by a decade) it’s nicely done and reveals some of stranger scenes (like the one below) with a good deal of fetishy-suspense.” Horror.com
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“The film itself will not appeal to all tastes, thanks to the slow pacing and disorienting storyline, but game viewers will be rewarded with a unique vampire tale graced with hefty dollops of eroticism. The strange, jittery music score creates unease from the opening scene, and the evocative imagery of director Aranda wouldn’t look out of place in one of Jean Rollin’s vampire sagas.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital
“With Susan vulnerable and violent by turns, and her partner overbearing and thoughtful in similar switches of character, it’s hard to see whose side we’re meant to be on, so by the end Aranda looks to have thrown his hands up as if noting both are as bad as each other, leaving us with a succession of striking images but none the wiser about our conclusions.” Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image
Cast and characters:
- Simón Andreu as the husband – Beyond Re-Animator; Death Carries a Cane; Death Walks at Midnight; Death Walks High-Heels; Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion
- Maribel Martín as Susan – Bell from Hell; The House That Screamed
- Alexandra Bastedo as Mircalla/Carmilla – The Ghoul
- Rosa Maria Rodriguez as Carol
- Dean Selmier as the doctor
Pressbook for Europix International Ltd. U.S. release
British cinema poster on a double-bill with Mario Bava’s Shock
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