At the very end of the movie you see a newspaper clipping "Man Cuts Heads Off Three Women" It always struck me that it could all have been the husband's jealous mind, and that his friend which introduced the Vampyre theory just fueled his craziness. I know it was based on a novel, but I just like the idea that it could have been this way.
shareThat's a legitimate possibility for sure— the film is heavy on sexual politics, and the husband's jealousy over his wife's relationship could be a metaphor for the hostile reception of feminism during the period. All three of the women in the film are killed at the end (I believe the newspaper article reads "Man cuts hearts out of three women"), so I feel that's a valid theory.
shareI just watched a print of this in the theater, and it does say he cuts the hearts out of three women, not the heads off.
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