Éternelle

i'm probably being a bit generous with a 7, but with an average rating of 4.6.. i was expecting it to totally suck. i found it to be entertaining enough. the story and acting were decent. the cinematography and production design were pretty right on. the sound was off (dog is menacingly growling while his mouth is wide open tongue out, footsteps are off) which is a bit distracting if you're one to notice that stuff. i did, however, find the music and soundtrack effective. i agree with another reviewer who wrote that it couldn't decide what kind of movie it wanted to be and that is definitely problematic. decent though, if vamps, ladies and blood are your thing, there are far worse choices out there to see.

In Montreal, the wife of detective Raymond Pope (Conrad Pla) is killed in a sexual encounter with the mysterious and wealthy Elizabeth Kane (Caroline Néron). Pope investigates the disappearance of his wife, and finds a hint in an Internet site where she used the codename Wildcat and in her journal. When he meets the sexy and lesbian Elizabeth, his life turns upside-down and he is accused of murder of his lover Nancy and the babysitter of his son, Lisa. Pope follows and chases Elizabeth to Venice, where he discloses that she is actually the infamous Elizabeth Bathory, a.k.a. Countess Dracula.

"Eternal" is a very underrated vampire movie. This erotic story has a wonderful cinematography and locations, and a good cast, highlighting Conrad Pla and the gorgeous Caroline Néron. The vampires in this story do not have trouble with crucifixes, are reflected in the mirror, can enter in an apartment without invitation, die when stabbed, but I liked a lot this film. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Eterno" ("Eternal")

This movie wasn't certainly made to make a point; neither does it seem to fully satiate the lowbrow Dracula thingie - where the Dracula is a stunning woman; but it comes pretty close.

Before seeing the movie I was hoping that the film-makers had tried ingratiate themselves to the male audience with lots of naked flesh eye-candy and some Dracula biting and blood gore to top it off. Maybe my expectations were too high - maybe I was hoping for soft-core porn level but with this movies production values.

Anyway, the protagonist male has too much attention thrust on him. I mean he's only supposed to reaffirm our gawk and awe at the unbridled hedonism and provide curt one liners for humor and react in the manliest way possible - but those stabs at intelligent and seductive conversation is a total waste of time as it's done very very poorly. That time could have been better used for other more stimulating things.

I think this would have been excellent if it had stayed on it's main thesis: the Victorian and elegant lady-Dracula with lots of lesbian oriented eye-candy and goth fashion and props. But, the rather few strays from it sort of dulls the pleasure but still a good waste of time.

So this may not be the best acted movie, the storyline is a bit weak, and the flow can be disjointed at times, but I still really enjoyed watching this movie. It it's beautifully filmed, atmospheric, creepy, suspenseful and the character Elizabeth Kane is great. She is believable. Other characters, a little less so. It's well worth watching.

Again, don't expect an Oscar-worthy movie but this is far better than it's current general rating of 4.8. For a horror/suspense/vampire movie, this is a solid 6 - better than average. And the beautiful scenes and creepy atmosphere are among it's best attributes.

Eternal tells the tale of the second most well-known vampire, who has his or her origins in real historical people. In this case that person is Countess Elizabeth Báthory, a Hungarian noblewoman who reputedly bathed in the blood of beautiful virgin women in order to keep her youth. And like Dracula in many stories, she has survived to the modern day, hiding in the shadows cast by the world of man.

Unfortunately, just like many other vampire movies, it's not all that great. Mainly because of the poor quality of the script and the actors. Both are obviously doing their best, but it's not enough and the harsh reality that you're watching a movie always shines through. The story also never rises above clichéd murder mystery and the needless change to exotic locations feels more like pandering and following the dotted line than it feels like an actual way to move the story forward.

The biggest problems however is that the story is dull. It has no bite behind it, no soul that would hook you in. And frankly that might have been avoided if they had had the guts to make an honest N-17 film. And I'm not saying that just because I want to see more naked ladies - although I do. But the original story itself is heavy with sexual themes, many many horrible murders and the utter corruption of a mortal woman. To put it another way, look at the cover of the film and tell me that it wouldn't feel more at home in a N-17 movie. That way the film would at least have more crunch to arouse the interest of its audience.

All that being said, I've seen worse vampire films in my lifetime. The actors are not very good, but they're not horrible. The script is lackadaisical, but it's trying. There is some good imagery, the sets are nice and I don't regret seeing it.