This will be (mostly) spoiler free.
If you want to be 100% spoiler free, then my review is simple: Watch the movie, you’ll like it. The Carmilla Movie is awesome. It’s fun, it keeps the charm of the Carmilla series, and it’s well worth the $10.
Want more? Read on!
Breaking Free of Vlogs
The series was written and filmed in a vlog format, which had serious limitations as to what could be shown. Everything had to be framed in a way that made sense for the format, which meant action scenes and more were simply off limits. In addition the shoestring budget restricted what could be done, and much of the exposition had to happen via dialogue or the sassy closed captioning.
The movie, however, is a ‘traditional’ movie. It has embraced the freedoms without loosing a bit of the charm, sap, and camp that made the show so much fun.
History Without Burden
Unlike movies like The X-Files, or even Veronica Mars, the team behind The Carmilla Movie has managed to craft a film that actually can stand alone. The most important aspects of the series are covered in a wrap up, and the other tidbits are fed as appropriate during the movie. By using their token white man, Kirsch, as sidekick-exposition, they were able to share the confusing in ways that don’t overwhelm and distract from the plot.
At the same time, the entire point of the movie is to embrace the history of the characters and bring new questions to light.
An Open, Happy, Ending
While the movie ends with the particular adventure wrapped up, it leaves us with hope and a possibility for a sequel. It leaves us with questions about how did that one thing happen and why did that other thing happen? And who was that [censored] at the end? While some people may find the ending unsatisfying, I found it refreshing to have an open, happy, ending without all the answers. But I’m also a fan of Veronica Mars and I didn’t mind the cliffhanger ending of the original series.
Watch the Movie
If you have the opportunity to and means to watch the movie, please do. You can buy it for $9.99 at http://carmillamovie.vhx.tv or gift it to someone else to #gayitforward. We don’t often get to see a lesbian themed movie that has a happy ending, much less a supernatural themed one. But here, today, we have Carmilla.
Watch it.
