Carmilla Hyde (2009)

Director	Dave de Vries
Writers	Dave de Vries
Starring	Anni Lindner, Nina Pearce, Georgii Speakman, Cameron Hall, Sam Tripodi
Genre	Revenge
Tagline	You want me like this? Then, so be it!
Country

Talk us through it

Millie is a virginal student living in share accommodation with Sara. The put upon Millie, Sara isn't exactly up to date with the rent, spends her time reading and writing what I think are English lit papers, and keeps pretty much to herself. Sara's friend Britt wants to move into the house but Millie isn't keen on renting the spare bedroom for whatever reason. Britt hatches a plan involving date drugs, Nathan who is attracted to Millie, and humiliation as a method of forcing Millie out of domestic bliss. A night Millie will wish never happened takes place.

The following day Millie checks her email and discovers a video of herself getting heavily into the wild thing with Nathan, the only problem is Millie can't remember the night before. She goes to see Dr Charles Webster, a Psychologist with a line in hypnosis, seeking help in remembering. Everyone gets more than they bargained for when Millie's alter ego Carmillia Hyde decides to make the scene after Doc Webster unlocks Millie's memories.

Ready to check out an Aussie Indie that dares to go deep mental probe on us?

Review

Director/Writer Dave de Vries sent me a review copy of his multi-award winning movie Carmillia Hyde after I enquired about the movie's release date for a forth coming article on must watch Down Under horror flicks in 2010. So cards on the table face up, we got a freebie here and I'm going to be unapologetic in stating I loved the movie from first frame to last frame. Let's get down to it and see if I can't support my view.

Director de Vries starts his movie with a scene of some dude tied to a chair with tape over his mouth and a head injury. It's a striking beginning and drags you directly into the movie pretty painlessly. We next find chair dude is at the mercy of a vampish woman who, and this probably isn't a good sign for the dude checking out the AFL final this year, is wielding a cut throat razor. Immediately noticeable are excellent use of close ups to frame the two characters, we have them firmly set in our mind and effortlessly de Vries has established his protagonist and antagonist. Of course the obvious questions are, which character is the victim, and how did the current situation happen. The Director spends the rest of his movie covering those two questions and getting us into the room. Excellent opening gambit, de Vries has the audience hook, line, and sinker. I'm a sucker of a movie that presents a current situation and then journeys back in time to explain it at the best of times, and David de Vries has that beat down effortlessly.

The opening credit sequence is worth noting, we are presented with a kaleidoscope of images ranging from religious icons, through comic artwork (am assuming this is some of David de Vries' work), to a poster for the novel Carmilla (Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1872), one of the original vampire books that was published prior to the more renowned Dracula (Bram Stoker 1897). Surprisingly we find all images exist in Millie's bedroom, a clear indication of a fractured mind. Catholics will recognise a classic Virgin Mary icon that perhaps indicates the Director is throwing all sorts of hints at us.

Mercifully de Vries spends some time introducing us to his leading characters and their increasingly complex relationships. Millie is nerdish and timid, Sara is out going and comes across as the most complex character to define, she exists in a sort of gray area, Britt is out for herself, and Nathan sort of hangs around and is attracted to Millie while not knocking back any invitation from either Sara or Britt. The group dynamic is central to the movie and how it changes is an indication of the psychological revenge Carmillia is extracting for the treatment of Millie. It's all together very clever writing and subtle in presentation. The Director doesn't push it into your face, you need to concentrate to get the nuances going down.

What is coming at you is one hell of a twist that I didn't see coming and a resolution that will knock your socks off. Carmillia is leaving no stone unturned in her quest for vengeance and gives back exactly what Millie received previously. I actually liked this approach and applaud David de Vries' skilfully use of psychological retribution rather than stooping to a simple blood fuelled rampage in the suburbs.

While this might sound all dark and deep there are lighter moments in Carmillia Hyde and you don't need a degree in psychology to understand what's going down. In one scene Millie is inspecting her statue of Jesus while some pretty loud rooting is going down in the next bedroom, and yes this sort of juxtaposition of ideas occurs regularly through the movie. In another scene the timid Millie erupts into a <<..torrents..>> syndrome like verbal rampage when Camellia first emerges, both unexpected and totally striking.

Central to a horror movie is the notion that everyday normality will be disrupted and utter chaos will descend until order is either restored or the characters succumb to the situation they find themselves in. Carmilla presents the chaotic element, she is sort of a combination of Sara and Britt amped to the nth degree, and things do come to a head when the character of Ed enters the equation. There's a line that Carmilla isn't going to cross but getting to where that line may be drawn in the sand is going to take some doing. There's fatal consequences and psychological warfare being raged, but de Vries keeps audience sympathy with a couple of the characters. This is by no means a nihilistic movie.

Clearly Carmilla Hyde is informed by the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson 1886) and Carmillia. The nerdish Millie transforms into the overly confident and siren like Carmillia in a similar fashion to Dr Jekyll's transformation into Hyde. I Liked the modern update to the Doctor's famous formula with Carmillia emerging after Millie says "Carmillia Hyde" and tastes a particular red wine. Also notable is that like Hyde, Carmillia gets progressively stronger and comes to dominate the weaker Millie. De Vries operates his movie on multiple levels, who is the real person Millie or Carmillia for example, and the trick for the audience is to try and keep up with multiple ideas.

Running out of room here and I have a whole bunch more to cover. There's a good liquid motif going down, sea, wine, water etc. In the final resolution we have Carmillia versus Dr Webster versus Millie. Excellent use of lightening for the night time scenes. Be careful what you wish for, another staple of horror. And a whole lot more, sorry trying to cover all bases here. Both script wise and visually David de Vries has made a stunning movie.

Anni Lindner (Millie/Carmillia) is absolutely stunning. Lindner is all over her characters and is totally believable as either Millie or Carmillia, loved her change of expression when Carmillia emerged. All in the eyes. Nina Pearce (Sara) goes "girl next door" in a strong performance. Georgii Speakman (Britt) was a lot of fun and looked like she was really enjoying the role. Cameron Hall (Nathan) isn't pushed out of his safety zone and reminded me of a present Wallaby backline player in looks. And Sam Tripodi (Dr Charles Webster) is believable and simply flawed me at one stage with a change of expression that brought a whole new level to his character.

Gore hounds need not apply, this is a psychological horror thriller that doesn't need lashings of the red stuff to get where it's going. There's a degree of violence going down but it's not the focal point of the movie.

David de Vries must have looked up ozploitation in the dictionary and liked what he read, it's a T&A tsunami going down here folks. We get girl on girl action, boobs, chicks charging around in their undies, and the girls don't miss out with Cameron Hill showing he spends adequate time at the gym. I've probably just lost my teenage readership as on mass they have headed to the nearest DVD store. Actually I should point out the sexed up nature of the movie is crucial to the plot and defines the growing psychological aspect of Carmillia's revenge. Guess therefore David de Vries cannot be consigned to the exploitation bin as the wine and cheese set normally use the term "art" when it comes to required naughty bits.

Glenn Wagland provided the score which ranges from traditional horror to some real interesting takes on the visuals going down. There's even what I took to be a wink at the score for Psycho happening in one scene. I'm signing off on Wagland's composition here, it works like a brought one. Complementing is a fair number of rock numbers from various bands, including an on screen performance from The Vampire Project. I'm going to hunt out some of these bands as I was grooving to the heavier tracks. Fingers crossed we get a soundtrack CD, but I'm not holding my breath.

Summary Execution

As stated way up the top, I'm really blowing my word limit, ScaryMinds received a review copy of the movie which may not be the cut that ends up on commercial DVD and Blu-Ray. I watched the version that was entered in MUFF (Melbourne Underground Film Festival) in 2009 if that's any help. No word on a release date, we'll keep our eyes peeled and update our "Must Watch in 2010" article when one is announced. Almost forgot to mention that Carmillia Hyde also wowed the Judges at MUFF with solid wins in Best Supporting Female Actor (Georgii Speakman) and Best Guerrilla Film.

Full recommendation on Carmillia Hyde, the movie is rough around the edges, as you would expect from an Indie, but shows a solid degree of professionalism from both the cast and crew. If you aren't hip with independent Australian cinema, then this movie is the one that might just show you what you are missing. An absolutely stunning achievement, mark the name David de Vries down, can't wait to see what he does next.

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