Ok, so what was Ernessa? - The Moth Diaries (2012) Discussion

[–] Gheelnory 11 years ago

SPOILERS in this answer:

As many have noted, Ernessa's true nature is never defined; it's left ambiguous. But my guess is that we're meant to see that the main character (Rebecca) believes this:

Ernessa "died unseen" in the early 20th century, and thereby became a vampire. When her vampire self was killed by the fire Rebecca set, she became a ghost (who reappeared inside the school/former hotel because she had died there).

Again, whether Rebecca's belief reflects reality (in the world of the movie), or whether we're to assume that Rebecca is mentally ill, is never made clear.

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[–] HippieDrillSealOfApproval 11 years ago

That makes sense.

What are words for when no one listens anymore

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[–] ajnemajrje 11 years ago

In the book Carmilla, Carmilla was a vampire but this was before the Bram Stoker version.

In carmilla vampires could go out during the day and seemed to be able to walk through walls, Appear and disappear from a locked room - not sure if physically or just a mentally projected image.

After bram Stoker wrote his version, he added a lot of things that we consider to be the definition of a vampire such as not being able to go out into sunlight

So Ernessa matches more closely to the original definition and not what we now consider to be a typical vampire today.

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[–] Mithrandir-Olorin22 11 years ago

Stoker's Dracula could go out in Sunlight, but he is the first to make it a weakness.

"It's not about money.... It's about sending a Message..... Everything Burns!!!"

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[–] MikePaul854 10 years ago

My opinion is neither. I'm still not 100% sure she actually existed. Becca clearly isn't the most stable character and who can blame her after having to have found her father's body. The library confrontation scene is proof enough that the girl was crazy.

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[–] sjrose_21 10 years ago

I thought the same thing that Ernessa never existed Rebecca was imagining things and still battling her father's suicide.

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[–] andromache3 10 years ago

If Ernessa never existed, how do you explain other peoples' reactions/relationships with her? Are we really supposed to believe that Rebecca created all the events in her mind? I don't buy it. It would make the whole movie meaningless.

Don't let anyone ever make you feel like you don't deserve what you want.

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[–] dazednconfuuzed8 9 years ago

**Spoilers** I agree with you andromache, I don't get what is so hard for people to understand... The Moth Diaries is basically just a modern adaptation of "Carmilla." They even include the fact that the girls are reading "Carmilla" in class to make it more obvious that this is a re-telling of Carmilla. If we had not witnessed almost every other character interacting with Ernessa, then I could believe the possibly that it was just Rebecca's delusions, but that is not the case. The depiction of Ernessa and her powers is very close to the way Carmilla was described in the book, so much so that it's impossible not to draw this conclusion. Any of you who are still questioning this, and have not read or are not familiar with Carmilla, wikipedia it at least.. It is my thought that after Rebecca burned her vampire body she set her free, and Ernessa was then allowed to pass onto the spirit realm, hence the reason Rebecca sees her for a moment and then she seems to disappear..it's because she's finally able to move on... Ernessa always wanted Rebecca, not Lucy, she was just trying to eliminate anyone or anything that made Rebecca happy, so as to drive her to commit suicide like Ernessa did, and Rebecca would become a vampire & then they could "be together forever." There is another updated Carmilla movie, "Styria" which is even closer to the original story but IMO is a lil bit more convoluted & confusing than "The Moth Diaries." However the setting in "Styria" is haunting and beautiful. \

It's a tragedy that everyone knows who Bram Stoker is and his Dracula, even though he basically ripped off "Carmilla" which was written 26 years prior.

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[–] DikaWolf 9 years ago

I just watched this movie tonight, and I liked it. The Carmilla similarities were so obvious (outside of the reference to the book in the movie), I had to look up whether or not I was watching a new telling of the story. I'm glad that's what it was, or at least heavily inspired by it. People often forget there were vampire stories told before Brahm Stroker's Dracula 1897, like Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla 1872 and John Polidori's The Vampyre 1814, which was actually credited as the first modern Vampire story.

As for my answer to the OP's question, both. The Vampire in Carmilla and The Vampyre were ghosts that appeared to all as living and drained the life essences of their victims.

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[–] Chara_Angel 9 years ago

I think Ernessa was suicide/depression embodied. She was bad memories haunting Rebecca, and danger threatening her friends. At least, that's how I saw it.

Little girls shouldn't look for four leaf clovers!

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[–] ASpeedy_Turtle2 9 years ago

dazedandconfuuzed8, you took the words out of my mouth. Thank you! Have a hard time seeing why this movie is confusing so many people. To me it's actually very simple.

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