emphasizes that that it is the Husband, not Su- san, who both symbolically and literally unearths Mircala, the manifestation of violent hatred that his wife has attempted to repress (or “bury”). Finally, it is critical to remember that the majority of the film is shot from Susan’s perspective, making it clear that the audience is meant to sympathize with her. Only when Carmila arrives does the perspec- tive change to that of the Husband, providing the viewer with an intimate view of his discomfort and panic as the balance of power shifts. This change in perspective should not be confused, however, with an invitation to feel anything but revulsion to- ward him, as is made clear by his final act of the film—the cold and brutal execution and mutilation not only of his wife and Carmila, but also of a submissively kneeling 14-year-old girl. Sadly, the film appears to be a victim of its own complexity and willingness to populate its story with characters who do not conform to two-dimen- sional stereotypes. The Husband is not a monster who is incapable of demonstrating love and ten- derness toward his wife; he simply chooses not to, as he assumes is his right. While Susan does in- deed harbor fears about losing her virginity, and at first tries to excuse her husband’s behavior, this does not make her either frigid or a submissive. Mircala is indeed cruel, but her cruelty emerges only in response to a history of masculine vio- lence—a history that continues right up until the end of the film and beyond. For when Carol states “They will come back; they cannot die,” she makes it clear that the cycle of violence in the family will continue—and Mircala, out of necessity, will undoubtedly return.
“Besides, how can you tell that your religion and mine are the same; your forms wound me.”
ALUCARDA
Alucarda, la Hija de las Tinieblas 1975, Mondo Macabro, $24.95, DVD-0
On its surface, Juan Lopez Moctezuma’s ALUCARDA seems to have little in common with Le Fanu’s novella, especially when compared to the more literal adaptations examined here. Although it does contain a few overt allusions to vampirism, the plot focuses instead on the effects of demonic possession on two orphans and the convent that shel- ters them. Yet Moctezuma, who previously adapted Poe’s “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor
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Fether” for screen (as THE MANSION OF MAD- NESS aka DR. TARR’S TORTURE DUNGEON), was a voracious reader of horror literature, and those familiar with CARMILLA will recognize that the film’s numerous references to the work are staged with a fidelity and care that evidence true reverence for the source material. ALUCARDA does not simply trade on the CARMILLA name to establish its hor- ror pedigree or to justify the exploitive depictions of Sapphic fantasy scenarios, but rather employs the novella as a springboard for a radical revision of the conventions of both the demonic posses- sion story and the horror film in general. In the process, Moctezuma also offers an alternative to the pessimistic worldview depicted in Le Fanu’s collection IN A GLASS DARKLY. In order to under- stand Moctezuma’s intent, it is useful to examine the plot of the film in some detail.
The film’s prologue depicts the mysterious birth of Alucarda in an open grave, her removal to a local convent for safekeeping by a creature resem- bling a dryad, and her mother’s (Tina Romero) subsequent demise at the hand of the demon that impregnated her. This scene, set in a coffin-strewn crypt in some ways typical of the traditional “vampire’s lair,” confounds audience expectations with its strikingly organic set design. While clearly the den of some dangerously malignant force, the crypt resembles a brightly-lit natural grotto, with plants sprouting from the walls and a shrine to Pan dominating the background. In this odd setting, birth and death, cruelty and kindness co-exist. The next scene takes place fifteen years later, with the young orphan Justine (Susana Kamini) being delivered to a convent orphanage after the death of her parents. The convent, like the crypt in the opening scene, resembles a natural cavern far more than a man-made structure, but it also ap- pears to be the mirror image of the crypt—almost identical, yet diametrically opposed. Where the crypt is brightly lit and verdant with plant life, the convent is dark and barren. While the crypt is adorned with female bas relief figures depicted from behind, the figures on the convent walls are pri- marily male and facing toward the viewer. The habits the sisters wear are equally odd—resem- bling blood-stained bandages or menstrual pads, with the large red stains stemming from the pu- bic area seeming to symbolize the rejection of still-present reproductive potential. In this setting, Justine encounters the two
women who will vie for possession of her soul: the warm and maternal Sister Angelica (Tina French) and the now-adolescent Alucarda (Tina Romero, again) who seems to materialize from the darkness
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