Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Absolutely brilliant

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

I missed the first half hour of this horror film that I guess is an updated version of Sheridan LeFanu's precursor of "Dracula", so these few comments must be qualified.It's a gloomy and atmospheric film, shot with deliberate artiness in a cold and inhospitable castle in wintry Hungary. The land is sparsely populated with superstitious villagers who always dress in black and are hostile to the point of menace. There are few daylight scenes and they're photographed through a chill fog. It makes you not want to visit Hungary and to hell with the tokay.Living in the castle for some reason are Steven Rhea and his daughter Eleanor Tomlinson. The castle also appears to be the home of Carmilla, Julia Pietrucha, who befriends Tomlinson and more or less seduces her. Don't worry -- no nudity, alas. Nobody else seems to be able to see Carmilla so she may be a ghost.The general idea is that if you kill yourself you become a vampire -- or something. I missed that half hour but I'm not sure it would have cleared up this turgid plot.Steven Rhea has always had an expressively droopy face, but time seems to have carried his features closer to the Platonic ideal of droopiness. It's a magnificent face.Eleanor Tomlinson's face is pretty good too. She's innocent, winsome, and it adds to her charm. But there is so much cutting with glass, cannibalism, spades through the hearts of corpses that then spout blood, that I can't explain how Tomlinson wound up with blood smeared across her lips as she and Rhea manage to escape the tumult at the end.The atmosphere is great but the plot is even more elliptical. I couldn't see watching it just in order to capture than missing half hour.

For shame!!! I can honestly say that if it wasn't for those two suspicious film "reviews" (who both seem to coincidentally promote Hulu) that were heaping unending words of praise and wonderment for this "film", I would have let this snooze-fest pass me by without allowing it to steal any more time from me than it already has; however, every time I see a fake review, I get so angry so as to allow that emotion to motivate to write my own. At least this way, people have access to at least one review not promulgated by a shill or anyone else with a pecuniary interest in promoting a film.So I felt as though the story was lacking in any substance which kept my interest. Characters underdeveloped, nothing in the plot which got me to care what happens next. In fact, the only redeeming part of this endeavour was Stephen Rea, although methinks that he is the type of actor who always shines no matter where he's put. Long story short, I quit watching about halfway through. So to be fair, it is possible that the last half of the film could have been the greatest cinematographic event of a lifetime, but I wasn't in the mood to stick around and find out.

I just saw this movie on Hulu Plus. I hadn't heard of it. But I love Stephen Rea, so I decided to see what it was all about. Needless to say, I was not disappointed! This is not your typical supernatural horror movie. It's a slow burn. But there's so much beauty in every image. And there are a lot of visual references and historical layers. I very taken by Eleanor Tomlinson's performance as Lara. And after watching I did some research and realized it is an adaptation of a novella called Carmilla. Now I know what I'll be doing this weekend! I wish more movies were made like this today, atmospheric, beautiful, and full of interesting details!

One of the most beautiful cinematic experiences I have had in ages, "Styria" is a film like no other. It is at once a creepy little Gothic romance and a psychological drama - a rich and complex film that flirts with death, guilt and suicide, but does so in such a seductive way that it makes it utterly irresistible. The performances firmly ground the film in an emotional reality, whilst making the ancient metaphors, dreams and nightmares flesh. But like all great films it remains a mystery and far more than the sum of its parts. Like the castle in which the story plays out, "Styria" begs us to return back to it and go deeper, beyond the layers of history and narrative, into something very primal and very beautiful.