The Film (4/5)

     When The Blood Spattered Bride appeared as an SD extras on Blue Underground's Blu-ray of Daughters of Darkness I'm going to admit I was disappointed. I didn't own a copy of the film at that point in time, so I was happy to have it back in my collection, but sad that a film this remarkable and significant in the lexicon of 70's European horror could not also have made its way to Blu-ray.  It also made me worry that MAYBE the materials to upgrade Blood Spattered Bride simply were not there for the upgrade. Fortunately, at the end of 2017 Mondo Macabro unleashed in a limited edition red case Blu-ray version of the film, and now in early 2018 are putting out a standard version allowing the film to be seen in the best possible way for the HD generation.

    Susan is a newlywed bride that is having visions of her husband raping her in their hotel room. The proposed solution to this, is not to get her counseling, but to change location, which they do. The pair of newlyweds relocate to the centuries old estate belonging to his family. However, signs around the property indicate the family name was formerly "Karnstein". One day while the husband is on the beach he finds a naked women buried there, who has been breathing through a snorkel under the sand(it is as amazing as it sounds). This woman has previously appeared to Susan in her dreams, and after the two meet they start to connect. As it turns out she is Mircella Karnstein,  and begins to help Susan come out of her shell against her misogynistic husband, and the two begin to wreak bloody havoc around the estate.

    The Blood Spattered Bride is one of, if not the best (it has a lot of competition) of the 70's lesbian horror films. The film has an enormous amount of depth, and is largely a slow burn affair that allows us to understand our characters and their plight before allowing the horror to unfold. The film has a strong feminist subtext (OK, it's more than a subtext) running through the film, that makes it all the more powerful in it's approach, and I was shocked to learn that the director and the film has accusations of misogyny against it in the past lobbied against the film, as the film’s message seems to be anything but.

    The performances here are quite solid and fit the material very well. Director Aranda creates some truly outstanding visuals that will truly stand out in viewers heads. There is one moment with the death of an actual fox that might put viewers off (OK, will LIKELY put viewers off), but overall most fans of the genre will find this a powerful, and moving piece of supernatural cinema.

Audio/Video (4/5)

    It is no shock that Mondo Macabro knocks it out of the park again. Their Blood Spattered Bride is extremely well detailed and practically pristine minus some print damage and speckling, most notable at the beginning of the film, especially during the opening few moments..

    Audio is handled by English and Spanish LPCM audio tracks and sounded fantastic. No issues here as well.

Extras (4/5)

    Mondo Macabro kick off their wonderful release of the Blood Spattered Bride with another fantastic and informative commentary by Samm Deighan and Katt Ellinger of Diabolique. They place the film in context of not only the lesbian vampire cycle of the time, but the Spanish horror and exploitation movement as a whole, and how it would go on to influence others.  There is an excellent interview with the film's cinematographer, and a 2 part interview with actor Simon Andrew.  Also an interview with Euro Gothic author Simon Rigby. Closing out the disc are trailers, deleted scenes, radio spots, and more.

Overall

    Mondo Macabro's Blood Spattered Bride is a tremendous disc of a fantastic film. The Blu-ray looks and sounds amazing, and has a wonderful slate of extras. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.