Karmina (1996) User Reviews

Great sets, costumes, acting

[bunch-5 · 6/10 · 28 September 2001]

Just saw this last night on the Space channel. It was dubbed in English and like any dubbed movie you'll find that quite annoying, so if you understand French, by all means rent that version instead.

The costumes and sets in the beginning of the movie are great! Really gets you immersed. Overall the acting is quite good and there are some really funny characters that'll make you laugh.

If you're looking for a "From Dusk 'til Dawn" type film, this isn't it, it has a lot less action and is a good movie to watch with your girlfriend/wife/boyfriend/husband....you get the idea.

I gave it a 6/10. I also noticed that Karmina 2 is out (2001).

fabulous!

[threenorns · 10/10 · 26 March 2003]

this is one of my family's all-time favourites: the skewing of the costumes to the 80s ("big hair"; satin brocade; british-style punks; lounge-lizard, disco-ball pick-up lines; etc) took the edge off what could have been a really gory movie. the jokes are, at times, a bit lame but, on the whole, are funny -- sometimes even excruciatingly hilarious. (tip: pay close attention to the "transylvanian" spoken at the beginning and compare it to what's being said in the subtitles). the music is good, although the plot's a bit... well...

okay, the plot is *very* predictable -- but that's okay! seriously! everyone's having so much fun acting in the movie and we had so much fun watching it, that not having to wait in suspense for something out-of-the-blue and amazingly unique to happen was refreshing. it really can be nice to just sit back and enjoy a straight-forward romantic-comedy-with-a-twist. (tip: you'll love the scene where the cop tries to get sleazy with Our Heroine after the potion's worn off!)

Entertaining little horror romance comedy

[macnifico · 1 October 2003]

I just saw this picture and quite frankly, even if not a masterpiece, it is quite entertaining. Has great characters, some are realistic, some are cartoonish, all are entertaining.

Special kudos to Isabelle Cyr, who is really charming as Karmina. Great sets and atmosphere, great puns, all in all, a solid 7.

Adore this movie

[OkaBeach · 10/10 · 2 November 2006]

That said. If you don't speak French and you're not from Quebec (Canada), much of the humour will be lost on you. I'm not even sure how it would translate into English. The first scene is priceless when the Romanian vampires are speaking and the subtitles are supposed to translate what they're saying but if you listen closely, you'll find you understand what it is they're saying - it's just so much more funny than the subtitles.

There's lots of little pokes at the Quebec culture and many "in" jokes. However perhaps it would be worth for other French speaking people to give the film a whirl. It might just take a few sittings to get most of it! But that's OK because this is a film, I will watch again and again. I gave it a 10/10.

This film is great!

[kendallk073 · 4 October 2003]

I really like this film when I watched it. I don't know what it is about the movie, but I want to watch it again. I'm not usually into low budget, or Canadian films, and almost missed watching Karmina. I'm glad I did, it has humor that I like, and some of you may think I'm crazy for liking it. The effects aren't grande but the actors are funny. I really liked the character Vlad, his attitude and actions were hillarious. I've seen it twice, but I want to see it again. If anyone knows where I can find it, I would appreciate it if you could e-mail me. It's not a film for everyone, and having it dubbed in English is kind of annoying, but once you look past it all, it's rather enjoyable.

One of the Best and Funniest Vampire Movies from the 90's

[claudio_carvalho · 9/10 · 3 April 2022]

In Transylvania, the 140 year-old vampire Karmina (Isabelle Cyr) flees from the castle of her father on her wedding day arranged by her parents with Vlad (Yves Pelletier). She travels to Montreal to meet her aunt Esmeralda (France Castel), who is an ancient and powerful vampire that has broken her relationship with the Baron (Raymond Cloutier) and the Baronne (Sylvie Potvin). Soon she learns that Esmeralda has developed a potion that temporarily transform vampires in human again and she imposes that Karmina must use the potion if she wants to stay in Canada with her. Karmina uses the potion and falls in love with the organist Phillipe (Robert Brouillette), who loves Bach. Meanwhile, the Baron asks Vlad to travel to Canada and bring Karmina back, and he turns the costumer officer Ghislain Chabot (Gildor Roy) into a vampire to help him.

The underrated "Karmina" is one of the best and funniest vampire movies from the 90's. This is the third time that I watch this movie (unfortunately only released on VHS in Brazil) and it is still wonderful. The plot is highly entertaining and has not aged. Hard to indicate the best scenes. My vote s nine.

Title (Brazil): "O Mistério de Karmina" ("The Mistery of Karmina")