by Mark Murton

Director: Roy Ward Baker

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Seductive vampire Carmilla Karnstein (Ingrid Pitt) and her family target the beautiful and the rich in a remote area of late eighteenth-century Germany.

Purr Blur: Carmilla’s first victim, Laura Spielsdorf (Pippa Steel), has a nightmare featuring the eyes of a cat and tells of ” . . . a huge cat . . . and it was choking me!”

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): After Laura dies, Carmilla moves on to the Morton family and daughter Emma (Madeline Smith) who has the same nightmare about a cat (“it was grey and as big as a wolf.”) But Emma’s governess Mme. Perrodot (Kate O’Mara) is able to placate her by suggesting it was the longhair grey tabby house cat, Gustav, casting shadows on the wall.

Near the end of his scene, Gustav meows and forgets to put his tongue away, giving us an adorable blep.

Oddly enough a completely different cat, a blue British shorthair in extreme close up, is featured in the trailer for the film.

Final Mewsings: Cat lovers are much less deadly than vampire lovers.

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