Et mourir de plaisir
The ancestral von Karnsteins were rumored to be vampires. So strong was that belief that the peasants revolted in 1765 and, led by the village priest, invaded the Karnstein cemetery, drove stakes through the hearts of all the inhabitants and burned every corpse."One survived," Carmilla von Karnstein [Elsa Martinelli] tells the story while pointing to a portrait hanging on the wall. "Don't you think I look like her?" The lady in question is Millarca von Karnstein, saved on the eve of the massacre by her cousin and lover Ludwig von Karnstein who swore undying love for Millarca. But Ludwig proved to be unfaithful. Over their lifetimes, he became engaged to three women. Each of them died shortly before the wedding."If Millarca were to return, how do you think she would feel about me?" asks Georgia Monte Verdi [Annette Vadim], fiancée of Carmilla's cousin Leopoldo von Karnstein [Mel Ferrer]. "After all, doesn't (Leopoldo) resemble Ludwig von Karnstein? Will she kill me like the others?""Maybe this time she has come back for Ludwig," says Carmilla.Leopoldo breaks in. "Carmilla, enough," he says, "you are frightening Georgia. You play the game too well."Whether it is a game or whether Carmilla believes the story, it is obvious that she is in love with Leopoldo, so much that she arrives late to his engagement party. She also arrives in Millarca's white wedding dress, much to the dismay of all who know the Karnstein history. When fireworks set off from the deserted family cemetery accidentally ignite ammunition left by the Germans, Carmilla is drawn to Mircalla's unearthed crypt. An exchange of souls seems to take place. The sight of Carmilla now makes animals frightened, flowers wither in her cold hands, she recognizes 17th century music, the sun hurts her. Each night Carmilla goes to Millarca's grave to rest. One night she is spotted by one of the hired hands. The next morning, a young servant is found dead. Talk of vampirism begins, and suspicion falls on Carmilla.When the wedding plans are suddenly moved from the family estate to Venice, Carmilla seems to snap. The next morning, Georgia awakens with two bites on her neck and memories of Carmilla attacking her. That afternoon, as the army detonates the remaining ammunition left by the Germans in the Karnstein cemetery, Carmilla is blown off a cliff and becomes staked on a tree branch. The diagnosis is that Carmilla escaped into a dream world where she became Mircalla and that she hoped, by killing Georgia, to become the one loved by Leopoldo.Georgia and Leopoldo finally marry and, as the honeymoon jet carries them from Rome to Paris, Millarca narrates. No one suspects that Georgia is dead and that her body now belongs to Millarca. As proof, the rose in Georgia's hand withers. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl.]
psychedelic, haunting