VIDEO WORLD: Rewinding back to my childhood haven

Recently, after waking up at around half past noon, I decided to do a little lite cleaning in my bedroom (I had already wasted half of my day, so why not feel as though I've done something productive).  As I wade my way through the pile of clothes I've stacked into piles since February, the quietness of the situation struck me.  The idea of organizing my life to nothing was just too depressing to bear.  I made my way over to my movie shelves to see what would be the ideal background movie when right in front of my eyes was my big box copy of Blood Feast.  Oh what a wonderful world we live in where such a film exist!  Let alone such a video cover!  The image of a young blonde in nothing but her bra with a mouth covered in blood as the hands of some unseen maniac hold her freshly removed tongue...I shed a tear every time I look at it.  As I was about to pop Herschell Gordon Lewis' masterpiece of schlock into my VCR, I paused when I noticed a sticker for Video World on the tape.  If anybody who grew up in Trumbull, Connecticut, does not know what Video World was, you didn't really grow up in Trumbull.  For some, Video World was probably nothing more than an alternative to their weekend festivities or the place to go because Blockbuster had run out of copies of a particular new release.  But to weirdo kids like me who obsessed over Disney villains and endlessly thought about Joan Collins' monolog in the "Hansel and Gretel" episode of Faerie Tale Theatre while the normal kids did whatever it was they did, Video World was much more than a video store...it was pure childhood bliss.

I like to think I resemble the globe in the logo...

The happiest of moment of my early childhood was whenever my parents would tell me that they were going to take me to the "video store".  I would become overwhelmed on the car ride down as I endlessly tried to decide what movie I wanted to rent.  Did I want Ghostbusters or Addams Family Values?  Or did I want to play it safe and just get Big Top Pee-Wee again?  Of course when I actually walked through the door to this little metropolis, everything I planned for myself was gone as I looked over each and every option that was available to me in the small little room in the back of the store that housed the children's videos.  I saw everything from Little Nemo to The Princess and the Goblin (with an orange Nickelodeon video thrown in for a dash of color) and was the happiest anti-social child in all of Trumbull...if not the east coast.

But this was all child's play.  Once I turned four, I got serious and it was Video World that began my education in the realm of horror films.  Like all the aisles dedicated to their own genre, the horror aisle of Video World housed everything one could possibly want and then some.  I would stand there and look up at the endless rows of tapes that stretched from one end of the store to the other.  I came across movies like The Monster Squad and Saturday the 14th and through them I gained a love for haunted houses, monsters, bats, bad girls and bad boys, wolf man's nards, Jeffrey Tambor, Paula Prentiss, lurid VHS cover art, 80's music montages, horrid 70's fashion, and special effects that were mediocre at best.  I would stare at the cover of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and daydream about being the sultry vamp, and at the same time shudder at what horrific crime scene must have been left by Santa Claus as I fearfully looked at the famous big boxes of Silent Night, Deadly Night and its sequels.  I was too much of a chicken to rent movies like Hell Night or Dolls (nor would I have been able to convince my parents to rent them for me) but the image of those and other amazing covers carried over into my teenage years to the point that once I finally saw these films, I really regretted the fact that they hadn't been apart of my life sooner.  There are some videos that I first saw in Video World that I still think about but I refuse to watch as I know they'll never live up to what I envisioned them to be in my little warped mind (although The Amityville Curse is tempting me these days).

While the horror section was my home, I simply loved Video World as a whole.  The strange but satisfying stench of cardboard, stretched rubber bands, and styrofoam hitting you immediately as you walked through the door was the equivalent to the smell of cookie's baking in grandma's house (or if it were my grandma's house, a scent of Kools and mothballs with a touch of Budweiser).  Behind the counter was an entire wall of VHS tapes labelled numerically in white and silver marker for easy access when Carla, the queen of Video World, pulled them out and rang you up.  Oh Carla...how I miss that woman so.  A beautiful older woman, Carla knew everything she had in that store and got to know my face after I spent so long roaming the aisles.  She and my mother would chat as I pushed my picks of the day onto the counter.  She would tell my mother about how she recently lost a bunch of weight before yelling to one of her employees to order a new copy of Jaws because the store's old copy was on its way out, all the while waving to one of her pervert customers as he walked into the "back room".  She was always so sweet to me and I would assure her that once I was of legal working age, I would get a job at Video World.  As I write this piece, I see an image of Carla standing behind the raised counter with rows of labelled videos behind her and it makes me want to bow down and give thanks to the good woman that made my childhood so pleasant.  I have no idea where Carla is now or what she's doing with her life but I only hope for the best and can wish she is having a positive affect on another damaged child.

It was a tragic day when Video World shut its doors.  Once DVD came onto the scene, nobody gave a shit about the VHS anymore.  Whereas big name retailers like Blockbuster or Hollywood Video were able to cater to the new medium, Video World was just too small to compete.  Not long after the video tape died, so did Video World.  The going out of business sale is still something I regret not taking full advantage of.  Being the dumb, indecisive little shit that I was then (and still am to some degree), I maybe bought three videos out of everything Video World had to offer me.  I was in my angsty stage of puberty where all I did was listen to music.  Movies weren't cool anymore as far as I was concerned, unless they were about Kurt Cobain.  Trust me, if I can go back in time and kick my own ass, I would.

And I will always love yooooouuuuu...

So many great things slipped through my fingers during the length of that sale and I still regret that fact that I did not just bring a shopping cart and pile it with anything I could get my hands on.  It's not a time I like to think about.  Thankfully a friend of mine was not brain damaged and was able to get a good lot before Video World shut down forever, including the big box copy of Blood Feast I spoke of earlier.  When she gave it to me a few Christmas' ago, you would think she was giving me an actual ABBA turd.  Now that it sits nestled between my copies of Dynasty of Fear and Poor White Trash, Blood Feast offers me the comfort in knowing that Video World is still with me.  I'm sure anyone who reads this is probably saying to themselves "This poor bastard needs himself a life or a pistol" and I'm okay with that.  They never got to experience the joy I did as a child in strolling down those long aisles and the excitement I got out of discovering a gem amongst the hundreds of titles that called out to me.  I may have been obsessive, but it's everyone else's loss that never understood the true beauty of Video World.  

Jess Franco 1930-2013

Jesus "Jess" Franco died on Tuesday, April 2nd.  When I heard of his passing, I was instantly upset but I wasn't too sure why.  I had never met the man and it's only been about a year and a half ago since I've really started digging deep into his endless pile of work.  In that short amount of time, however, I came to view Franco as a man who truly loved everything about cinema.  So long as he had a camera in his hand, he was unstoppable.  Following the death of his longtime lover and muse Lina Romay back in February of 2012 and preceding his own demise, Franco was able to turn out one last sleazefest in the form of Al Pereira vs. the Alligator Ladies; proving true his statement that death would be the only reason he would stop making films.  Franco directed over 180 films in almost every genre with works that range from the mezmorizing, to the average, to the shitty; but every single one of his films has that unique Franco touch.  Franco was a master of horror and eroticism, and the combination of these two thematic elements created some of his greatest works.  From Venus in Furs to A Virgin Among the Living Dead to Vampyros Lesbos to Lorna The Exorcist, Franco could create truly delirious, memorable, shocking, beautiful, exploitative, and artistic images all within the same film to the point where I've questioned if what I had just watched was good or bad.  There are times where I've watched a Franco film more than once and have had completely different reactions with each viewing.  I feel that's what a true artists' work should do.  From gothic masterpieces like The Awful Dr. Orloff, to erotic morality tales like Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac, to the truly bizarre like The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein, Jess Franco was a man who lived every moment of his life for the sake of cinema.  His loss is a great one but at least he made sure that we'll have more than enough to remember him by.  Wherever Jess Franco is, I hope he's finally shooting a long over-due lesbian vampire epic with both Lina Romay and Soledad Miranda as his seductive countesses.  Thanks for the movies Uncle Jess.  

The Resurrection of the Bare Breasted Countess: Jess Franco's FEMALE VAMPIRE reissued on Blu-Ray and DVD!

Jesus Franco...the name seems to intrigue some and send others running.  I'm one of a small cult of followers who actually loves the man and his films!  I mean really, any man that the Vatican can call "the most dangerous director in the world" deserves my attention.  Franco has directed over 180 films of almost every genre.  A lot of them leave something to be desired (Oasis of the Zombies, Devil Hunter, The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle) but some are downright incredible (The Diabolical Dr. Z, Succubus, Vampyros Lesbos, A Virgin Among The Living Dead, etc.).  Regardless of what his critics say, Franco is a master of eroticism and horror.  Pair those two elements together and you get some of his best works, like his 1973 masterpiece Female Vampire!

FEMALE VAMPIRE

Countess Irina (Lina Romay) is a beautiful, mute vampire forced to live a lonely existence.  Anybody she makes love to has to die.  You see, Irina is not your average vampire.  She's on a liquid diet that comes from below the belt (yep, it's that kind of movie).  Returning to her ancestor's home on the island of Madeira, Irina seduces a few unfortunate looking European men before literally sucking the life out of them.  Even the ladies aren't safe from her methods!  Things get more difficult for Irina when she meets and falls in love with a lonely poet (cult favorite Jack Taylor), who wants to join her for enternity among the undead.  Will Irina ever know true love or will her insatiable appetite for oral pleasure ruin it yet again?

This has to be the saddest porno ever made.  Well, the film is not exactly a porno (although a hardcore version was released under the title The Swallowers) but rather a horror tale with a lot of atmosphere and even more softcore sex scenes.  Still, despite its ridiculous plot and slow pacing, there is something about Female Vampire that I think makes it a truly beautiful film.  I guess I feel this way because of the story behind the film.  Apparently Female Vampire (or La Comtesse Noire as it was originally titled) was supposed to star Franco's original muse and starlet, Soledad Miranda.  After her tragic death in a car accident at the age of 27, Franco began turning out more bizarre and personal films before finding new inspiration in Lina Romay.   After appearing in several small roles for the director, Romay was cast as the lead in Female Vampire and she and Franco continued a 40-year relationship (both working and physical) until her death from cancer in February of this year. 

Lina Romay is the main reason to watch this film.  A true exhibitionist, she was the perfect match for a voyeur like Franco.  Regardless of if the film was good or terrible, Romay commanded your attention with her remarkable beauty in every frame.  Along with Franco's depraved masterpiece Lorna...The Exorcist, Romay gives her finest performance in Female Vampire; and considering that her character is mute throughout the film, that's saying something!  A lot of screentime is dedicated to showing Romay simply rolling around on her bed completely nude (with the exception of a pair of black leather boots...and they are nice boots!) or Franco repeatedly zooming into her crotch without bothering to focus the shot afterwards; but even so, Romay is able to convey complete sensuality and sadness so well, you'll be sheding a tear while being turned on all at once!  Try and pull that off Meryl!

Continuing their line of EuroCult classics in HD presentations, Kino Lorber and Redemption Films bring Female Vampire to Blu-Ray and DVD in a beautiful transfer.  Previously available on DVD from Image Entertainment, this new anamorphic widescreen transfer (which offers both the original French audio track with subtitles and the English dub) is much sharper than the previous release and includes some great extras to boot!  Not only do you get the 100 minute erotic version of Female Vampire, but also the 70 minute horror cut of the film titled The Bare Breasted Countess (or Erotikill as it's listed on the packaging).  This version cuts out all the sex scenes and a good chunk of nudity and replaces them with alternate footage of Irina draining her victims from the neck.  Also included is a featurette entitled "Words for Lina", in which French film critic and Romay's co-star in the film, Jean-Pierre Bouyxou, discusses who Lina was as a person and her remarkable relationship with Franco.  The best supplement on the disc is a short interview with Franco titled "Destiny in Soft Focus".  Here the director talks about his idea to make a film about a 'nice' vampire who is forced to kill, shooting on Madeira, meeting and falling in love with Romay, and how her death has persuaded him to continue making movies.  Rounding out the extras are trailers for Franco's Female Vampire and Exorcism, as well as the trailers for three Jean Rollin films previously released by Kino/Redemption.  Sink your teeth into Female Vampire and add a little kink to your horror collection!       

Necrophilia Italian Style! Joe D'Amato's BEYOND THE DARKNESS on Blu-Ray and DVD!

Grab your barf bag and get cozy with Beyond the Darkness, Italian horror master Joe D'Amato's demented slice of Euro-sleaze from 1979!

Frank is a young taxidermist who is heartbroken over the death of his fiancee, Anna.  But just because Anna is dead doesn't mean Frank can't have her all to himself.  Within hours of her being buried, Frank digs Anna out of the ground and brings her back to his secluded home where he removes all her organs, stuffs her, and uses her as his own personal love toy.  With the help of his creepy housekeeper Iris, who was jealous of Frank and Anna's relationship when Anna was still breathing, Frank does away with anybody who discovers the secret he's hiding in his bedroom.  A chubby pothead has her fingernails ripped off before being dismembered and thrown into a bathtub full of acid and an unfortunate jogger Frank picks up one afternoon has a chunk of her throat torn out by Frank himself when she discovers there is an uninvited guest in bed with them!  Frank and Iris' little castle of horrors is on its way to being exposed however when a nosey investigator begins snooping around the property and Anna's twin sister Elena decides to show up unexpectedly to pay Frank a visit, not realizing she's in for a whole lot of shit!

Starting out weird and becoming more depraved before the film's jolting climax, Joe D'Amato threw in every piece of grotesque imagery he could possibly think of to make Beyond the Darkness the sick piece of cinema that it is.  From the much older Iris allowing Frank to feed from her breasts to the ultra gory and graphic organ removing sequence (which is made all the more goetastic with the use of an actual cadaver and features Frank munching on Anna's blood spurting heart), Beyond the Darkness is not everyone's cup of blood.  The film is actually pretty light on the necrophilia subject matter, playing more like a gory melodrama with a dead girl thrown in for kicks.  Another issue is that the film's lack of plot is dragged out to a 96 minute runtime but regardless of its slow pace, each scene that is supposed to shock packs a punch when it finally comes, and the contribution of rock group Goblin to the soundtrack adds a lot to the macabre nature of the film.  While some may find it a bit tamed and/or boring, Beyond the Darkness will appeal to those who like their horror a bit more fucked up and no matter how you feel about film, you'll want to take a shower the second the credits begin to roll!

Shriek Show's new release of Beyond the Darkness is in a special Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack (though the original single DVD version can still be found online).  Not owning a Blu-Ray player, I can only go by what I saw on DVD and the film looks pretty great.  Presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer, Shriek Show presents D'Amato's film looking way better than it should be allowed to!  Colors pop, gore looks stunning, and detail is great!  Extras on the DVD include an audio interview with art director Donatella Donati, who not only states that he doesn't like the film but that he wasn't even the art director!  An on-camera interview with actress Cinzia Monreale, who plays the corpse of Anna and Anna's twin sister in the film, is also included on the DVD.  Monreale, who still looks gorgeous, looks back with fondness on her time working on Beyond the Darkness, discussing what it was like to play a corpse, and briefly mentions her work with Lucio Fulci in his masterpiece The Beyond.  Rounding out the extras is a gallery of production stills and publicity material for the film, as well as the theatrical trailers for Beyond the Darkness, The House on the Edge of the Park, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, and the superb giallo What Have You Done to Solange?  Get this film and show it on a first date! 

Rape of the Requiem for the Demoniacs! Three Jean Rollin classics on DVD and Blu-Ray!

I reviewed some of the films in the first series of Kino Lorber and Redemption Films' The Cinema of Jean Rollin collection, and this second installment presents three of the French horror autuer's most important films in transfers that will have you gagging with excitement!

THE RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE

A group of young psychiatrists arrive at a dilapidated mansion that is home to a group of young women who believe they are inflicted with vampirism.  The psychiatrists attempt to prove to the girls that this idea of vampirism is nothing but nonsense but the girls are convinced otherwise.  After a bloody attack on the home by the supersticious townspeople, one of the girls and one of the psychiatrist flee the home through a secret passageway that leads them to a beach in which the queen of the vampires and her subjects emerge from the sea.  Having learned that the majority of the girls in the house had been killed by the villagers, the queen realizes she must find someone new to join her bloody race.  Ordering one of her subjects to kill the only surviving girl and the male psychiatrist, the pair quickly return as vampires and set out to stop the queen before this horrible affliction can spread.   

Rollin's feature film debut is a pretty bizarre experiment in the vampire genre.  Originally planned as a 30 minute short that would be added to a much older vampire film, Rollin was soon given permission by producer $am $elsky to go ahead and finish the film as its own full-length feature.  The result of this "melodrama in two parts" can be quite confusing and disjointing at times.  However, if you take it for what it is, Rape of the Vampire is pretty mezmerizing.  While it's title suggests a highly exploitative work, Rape is very tame in the sex department (though plenty of naked female vampires frolic throughout the film) and plays more like a classic gothic tale with a modern twist.  While the first half of the film is set in an old dark house tucked away from a small village, the second half takes place in a hospital in which human patients are operated on and forced to give blood in order to supply the vampires with food.  This blending of the two worlds seems to set up the nontraditional approach to the vampire genre Rollin would become famous for.

Redemption and Kino present The Rape of the Vampire in a nice looking HD transfer.  The black and white image looks great on the DVD so I can only imagine how good the Blu-Ray looks.  The film is in widescreen with anamorphic enhancement and is presented in French with English subtitles that are clear and easy to follow.  The extras on the disc make this a must own for Rollin fans.  Fragments of Pavement Under the Sand is a fabulous documentary about the origins of the film, French cinema in the late 60s, and the riots of May 1968 that helped The Rape of the Vampire become the most successful film in France that year, despite an onslaught of negative reviews and reactions from a horrified public.  An interview with frequent Rollin star Jean-Loupe Philippe, two of Rollin's earliest short films, an alternate 'clothed' version of a scene from the film, and trailers for all of Rollin's films that have been released by Kino so far round out the extra features.

REQUIEM FOR A VAMPIRE

Two teenage girls in full clown drag are on the run!  After their male companion is shot in a high speed chase, the girls change into sexy outfits, steal a motorcycle, flirt with a dirty old man before robbing him of the food in his roadside truck, and one of them even gets burried alive by a very unobservant gravedigger in a creepy cemetery!  Thankfully her friend digs her out and the girls venture into the woods where they stumble upon an old chateau that is home to the last vampire.  The disciples of the vampire discover the two girls roaming around the chateau and, upon learning that they are virgins, plan to initiate them into the world of the undead.

Requiem for a Vampire is by far my favorite Jean Rollin film!  It's weird, creepy, sleazy, and macabre!  Pretty much void of dialouge for the first 40 minutes, Requiem doesn't have much of a plot and plays out more like a surreal nightmare that gets more bizarre before the film's 90 minutes are up.  According to the liner notes in the DVD package, Rollin wrote the film's script in two days, therefore refering to it as his purest film.  I'd say that's a pretty valid statement considering how simple everything in the movie is.  Despite this, however, Requiem still packs a strong punch; at least for this viewer.  A lot of reviews have complained of the film's slow pacing and lack of story being an issue but those are two aspects Rollin's work is notorious for.  Certainly there are moments that are a tad ridiculous; such as a ten minute sequence at the demand of producer $am $elsky in which the male members of the vampire cult aggresively fondle naked women chained up in a crypt.  Still, this macabre fairy tale has so much more working in its favor.  The gorgeous decaying chateau, Pierre Raph's amazing score, eye popping colors, the presence of Rollin favorites Marie-Pierre Castel and Dominique; not to mention haunting sequences, including a female vampire playing a grand piano in the middle of a dark cemetery or one of the girls reluctantly whipping her nude friend who is suspended in the air by chains in an effort to save her from falling victim to the vampire's more cruel punishments.  It's one of Rollin's most personal films and, along with Shiver of the Vampires, it's one of the director's more important, poetic films; showcasing Rollin at the height of his filmmaking powers.  Oddly enough, Requiem is the only film Rollin made that had any success stateside when exploitation king Harry Novak and his company Boxoffice International released a much shorter dubbed version of the film retitled Caged Virgins to the grindhouse market.

Available a few times in the past on standard definition DVD, Requiem for a Vampire makes its HD debut on Blu-Ray and DVD and the results are fabulous!  Remastered from the original film negative, Requiem has never looked better as it does here.  The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen and comes with two audio options (the original French track with English subtitles, as well as the English dubbed track).  Extras on the disc include an introduction to the film by Rollin (in English), a short documentary about the making of the film titled Shiver of the Requiem, an interview with actress Louise Dhour (in French with English subtitles), three trailers for the film (including the incredibly sleazy American trailer for Caged Virgins!), and a Rollin trailer reel, all in HD! 

THE DEMONIACS

A group of pirates known as the Wreckers lure ships into rocky lands so that they can collect whatever treasures are on board.  On one of their nightly outings, the Wreckers discover two girls who have escaped the ship and are in need of help.  The pirates proceed to brutally rape the girls before leaving them for dead.  The girls survive, however, and with the help of a mysterious clown, they are lead to an abandoned chateau where they make a deal with the devil that will allow them to get revenge on the Wreckers.  

Working with a much bigger budget than his previous films, The Demoniacs shows Rollin working in unfamiliar territory and the film is a bit of a mish mash between Rollin's vision and scenes suggested by the film's producers.  Certain set pieces like the ship graveyard, the beautiful, enormous chateau, and the presence of two young, twinlike girls are pure Rollin that make the film a visual delight!  Other times, the audience is subjected to over the top softcore sex scenes that one can tell Rollin was not confortable putting in the final film.  Still, while this is not one of Rollin's best films, it is certainly an enjoyable one.  Rollin was influenced by the short action serials he used to see as a child and right from the get go we see that influence shine through.  A role call of each member of the Wreckers opens the film (with each actor trying to out shine the others with dramatic facial expressions) and imagery synonymous with classic pirate films display the fun Rollin must have had when creating The Demoniacs.  The acting in the film is questionable but pretty fun.  The actors and actress that portray the Wreckers are practically chomping on every piece of scenery they can sink their teeth into.  Joelle Coeur, who portrays the beautiful wrecker Tanya, can be seen running around the film looking crazed or furiously masturbating on the beach while her breasts are either busting out of her blouse or completely exposed while John Rico as the Captain is a sweaty drunk mess, but in the most enjoyable way!  Lieva Lone and Patricia Hermenier are great as the girls that seek revenge on the Wreckers.  Having no names for their characters and little to no dialouge, Lone and Hermenier still turn out great performances through facial expressions and body language and their ghostly presence gives the film the eerie quality Rollin fans know and love. 

Kino Lorber and Redemption Films present The Demoniacs in a brand new anamorphic widescreen transfer.  Mastered in HD from the original negative, the film looks much better compared to past DVD releases.  Colors are vibrant and detail looks great.  The DVD/Blu-Ray packaging states that this version of the film is the "Unrated Extended Cut", which basically translates to more footage at the end of the film featuring Joelle Coeur masturbating on the beach (the scene goes on and on)!  Extras on the disc include an introduction by Jean Rollin (in English), interviews with Rollin's longtime collaborator Natalie Perrey and French film critic Jean Bouyxou (both in French with English subtitles), two deleted sex scenes, and trailers for The Demoniacs and the other Rollin films Kino and Redemption have released so far on DVD/Blu-Ray.    

BEAUTIFUL DARLING, the new documentary on Warhol Superstar Candy Darling, is on DVD!

With a semester ending and studying for finals being so time consuming, I decided to make a video review for the new Candy Darling documentary Beautiful Darling.  I loved this film and know you all with too!  I feel like a babble a lot in this video but I can't help it...I love Candy!  Still, enjoy!

The Cinema of Jean Rollin! Part 2: THE SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES

Newly married couple Isle and Antoine are on their way to visit Isle's two cousins in an old chateau for their honeymoon. Upon arrival, however, Isle learns that both of her cousins had been killed only the night before. Grief striken, Isle asks Antoine to leave her alone for the night so she has time to get over the shock of the news. Alone in her room, the beautiful Ilse removes her clothes to prepare for rest only to be startled by Isolde, a sexy female vampire, exiting from the body of a grandfather clock!  Isle doesn't realize that Isolde has not only changed her two cousins into vampires, but that this bloodsucker has plans to turn Isle herself into one of the undead. 

 The Shiver of the Vampires is often considered the ultimate Jean Rollin film and I wouldn't disagree. Save for maybe Requiem for a Vampire (which followed Shiver and will be rereleased in HD in May!), everything that Rollin fans love about his work is in this film...and it's in abundance! A beautiful, naked woman succumbing to the passions of a seductive female vampire as two attractive young servants watch amidst the back drop of an old gothic castle bathed in torches, skulls, and lurid colors while acid rock blares on the soundtrack...surrender yourselves immediately! Everything about this Rollin epic seems to work. The oddly attractive Dominique magically emerging from various odd locations (including a clock, a well, and a fireplace) makes for some of the film's most memorable moments. Isle's vampire cousins are actually really funny as they go on at great lengths discussing how they were at one time the greatest vampire slayers in the land before eventually succumbing to their vampiric fates.  The chateau in which the film takes place really adds a lot to the film. Obviously a very low budget work, the authentic location creates an eerie atmosphere that is just as effective as anything created on a bigger budgeted film.  Despite having any real plot, Rollin has a lot going on in his script, resulting in very few dull moments (pacing being something critics of Rollin's films are all too quick to point out).  The cinematography by Jean-Jacques Renon is stunning as usual and the rock soundtrack by the group Acanthus is one of the reasons why this bizarre cinematic trip is still discussed today.  Like the soundtrack for the other erotic vampire classic, Vampyros Lesbos (directed by Jess Franco, the director Rollin is most often associated with), Acanthus' score is a crucial aspect of the final film; evoking everything from horror and suspense to eroticism and comedy.  I was upset when I learned the group broke up shortly after completing the soundtrack for Shiver, but if they were to score only one film during their brief stint as a band, at least they made it count!

Kino Lorber and Redemption Films' newly remastered DVD of The Shiver of the Vampires is like a dream come true for fans of Rollin's work.  Previously available on DVD in the US twice in the past, neither release was anything to write home about.  The original release from Image back in 2000 was alright, but colors looked a bit faded.  A few years later when Redemption rereleased the title a second time in the states, the disc suffered from compression problems, resulting in a lot of blurring and pixelation during the feature (as well as an issue in which the dialouge track went off sync by a good 10 seconds!).  Thankfully, all the problems have been fixed and Rollin's American fans can finally enjoy The Shiver of the Vampires in all its psychedellic glory!  Presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer, the film looks amazing.  The DVD comes with two audio options (the original French track with English subtitles and the English dubbed track), as well as some great extra features, making this disc a must have!  First up is a short introduction to the film by Rollin, followed by an interview with Rollin by Dr. Patricia MacCormack.  Lasting almost 40 minutes, MacCormack questions Rollin about his unique brand of cinema, as well as his obsession with vampires and strong female characters.  Rounding off the disc are two trailers for Shiver (one in French, the other in English), as well as the French theatrical trailers for the other four films in the first series of HD Rollin!