CARMILLA ★ ★
( Cert 15, 94mins. In cinemas now and on digital from Monday)
EDITOR- turned- director Emily Harris has transformed Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 vampire story into a handsome but glacially paced art house romance. Lonely teenager Lara ( Hannah Rae) is living under the rule of her strict governess Miss Fontaine ( Jessica Raine) when a carriage crashes outside her home. The driver is killed but its teenage passenger ( Devrim Lingnau) survives without a scratch. The girl claims she has no memory of her identity, is given the name Carmilla and forges a close and passionate relationship with Lara. The film is beautifully shot but fatally lacking in bite. Taking the supernatural element out of a vampire tale is a brave move but there’s a good reason why no one has attempted it before.