Vampires walking around in daylight. David Bowie's character John getting older and sickly although apparently still feeding on fresh blood. What exactly happened to Catherine Deneuve's character in the end? Why did she die?

She didn't die and neither did he that was the curse, in her case she was head or starter of the egyptian blood for life drinkers, from the ankh that pulled apart to beome a edged weapon. If she didn't fall all the way down after being frightened by her former lovers. Being out of action with so many broken bones, she kept yelling Sarah, Sarah her female lover (Susan Sarandon) from the coffin she would still be alive in for centuries.

Sarah becomes the new head of the drink blood for 'youth' and could give that temporary gift to another man or woman, but only she could remain alive forever walking talking etc. as long as nothing physically happened to her like being run over by a truck or falling down a flight of stairs. Yet again in the progressive cycle of after a time her lover would develop the same symptoms of what David Bowie went through. She would then pick a new lover and on and on through the centuries it would go on. Lover after lover then they would go to the attic to be alive in a very old stage of life, but not be able to regenerate their youth, it was a one way trip. In this tale sunlight or stakes, didn't have no part of killing nor did silver in any way, shape, or form.