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!     

I WANT WHAT I WANT on DVD!

During the golden age of exploitation cinema, the grindhouse market took on any and every subject guaranteed to bring in money.  The sex change flick was no exception.  Shortly after Christine Jorgensen's highly publicized transformation from man to woman in the early 50s, Edward D. Wood Jr. turned out his subversive masterpiece Glen or Glenda?, chronicling his own personal struggle for the world to understand transvestism.  In 1970, Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon with the glorious disaster Myra Breckinridge!  Based on Gore Vidal's novel, this Raquel Welch vehicle about a female transexual that plans to take over her uncle's acting academy became notorious even before its release, and regardless of critical panning, it opened the floodgates for a new wave of sex change films.  The hilariously bad The Christine Jorgensen Story and the highly bizarre Dinah East were released the same year as Myra Breckinridge.  Two years later, British actress Anne Heywood (The Fox) starred in the film I Want What I Want, which, like the films mentioned above, dealt with the topic of transsexualism, but was much more successful in presenting the subject matter seriously and with a character the audience could sympathize with.

Roy just isn't like the other boys.  He spends his time watching women in the street, admiring their clothes.  He can't live up to the expectations of his Army major father, who wants Roy to act more like a man.  One night, Roy's father comes home and discovers his son in full drag.  Unable to control his rage, the major slaps Roy around before forcing his son to look in the mirror.  "Don't you want to be a man?" Roy's father asks.  To this, Roy replies "God made man in his own image...and he blew it." Next time we see Roy, he's ran away from home and barricaded himself in a small apartment where he lets his hair grow and practices at how to be a real woman.  After a few weeks of training, Roy is dead and Wendy is born!  After leaving the city and renting a room in a boarding house, things are going great for Wendy!  Her fellow tenants don't suspect her of being "different" in the slightest and she's got an overflow of extravagant gowns and blue eyeshadow to keep her past a secret forever!  Of course, Wendy can't escape from love as she's got her eye on one of the male tenants in the house.  Before she can make any sort of move, however, she knows she much consult a doctor about a sex change.

 There's something about this film that everytime I watch it, I can't help but love it.  Thirty years before Felicity Huffman tackled the role of a transexual in Transamerica, Anne Heywood dove into the part of Roy/Wendy and does a great job.  Heywood isn't the most passible looking man when she's Roy and looks a bit like a drag queen when she's Wendy but her overall performance makes you really sympathize with Roy on his journey to becoming Wendy.  You see her ups and her downs throughout this new and confusing period in her life that by the time you reach the shock ending, you're pretty much speechless.  What I particuarly like about I Want What I Want is its treatment of the subject matter.  Yes, it's an exploitation film but it never crosses the line of depicting transexuals as sideshow freaks.  The movie is not a riot like The Christine Jorgensen Story or Myra Breckinridge, but it isn't overly serious either.  While not perfect, it makes for a memorable viewing experience.  

Only ever available on VHS in the past, Scorpion Releasing presents I Want What I Want in a beautifully restored, anamorphic widescreen transfer.  The print used for the transfer isn't in the most pristine condition as colors sometimes look faded and scratches appear on the film from time to time, but when compared to the original Prism VHS, the image is fantastic!  The only extra on the disc is a Spanish trailer for the film (the trailer's narration is in Spanish while the scenes from the film contain the original English track).  Also include in the packaging are liner notes by Dennis Dermody, film critic for Paper.  Dermody's essay is quite informative on how the film was made and briefly discusses Heywood's career (Heywood apparently bought the rights to the novel by Geoff Brown and was a driving force behind getting the movie made).  Thank you to the good people at Scorpion Releasing for putting out a gem like I Want What I Want and allow your DVD collection to get more in touch with its feminine side! 

    

Lesbian Bloodsuckers in HD! Kino Lorber and Redemption films present THE CINEMA OF JEAN ROLLIN! Part 1: THE NUDE VAMPIRE

How to describe the cinema of the late French horror auteur Jean Rollin?  Often associated with being the creater of a series of lesbian vampire films, Rollin's films are much more than what this typical type of subgenre has to offer.  There is a poetic quality to his films that makes them all the more haunting and beautiful.  Plot is not important in a Rollin film.  Pacing is generally slow.  The budgets, very low.  But in the end, this is what makes Rollin's work so appealing.  All of Rollin's films are incredibly personal so trying to figure them out is a waste of time.  Viewing a film by Jean Rollin is an experience like no other and his unique collection of films deserve a much greater cult following than they already have.  Thanks to the good people and Kino Lorber and Redemption Films, the number of Rollin fanatics should certainly grow as they will be releasing the majority of Rollin's filmography in Hi-Def on both Blu-Ray and DVD formats.  The first five in the series were released back in January and include some of Rollin's best and most important films.  (I'll be reviewing each film in the set seperately and I will only be reviewing the DVD versions of these films since I'm poor and only own a DVD player).

 The Nude Vampire

While walking through an empty street in the middle of the night, a young man named Pierre runs into a beautiful young woman being followed by a group of men who conceal their identity with bizarre animal masks.  Pierre attempts to help the girl but she is immediately gunned down by one of the masked men.  Fleeing the scene to save himself, Pierre becomes obsessed with discovering who the girl is and why these men were after her.  Pierre soon learns the girl is a vampire and is being held captive by his father and a group of scientists, who take samples of her blood night after night in the hopes of discovering the secret to immortality.  Having fallen in love with the young vampire, Pierre attempts to set her free but when a vampire cult learns of what is being done to one of their kind, they seek justice in their own way.

Rollin's second feature film (and his first color film), The Nude Vampire is often considered a lesser work in his filmograpgy by most fans and critics.  While he would go on to make better films, The Nude Vampire is a fascinating piece of horror and science fiction that derserves way more praise than it receives.  One problem with the film is its pacing (some scenes just go on for too long, even for a Rollin film) but at the same time, the beautiful photography makes up for these problems (this was the first film in which Rollin worked with his favorite cinematographer Jean-Jacques Renon).  Another problem is that with the film's small budget, Rollin tried to pull off some unsuccessful special effects, making certain scenes quite unintentionally funny.  Despite its flaws, The Nude Vampire is classic Rollin and deserves to be rediscovered.

The Nude Vampire is presented in an anamorphic widescreen presentation.  Mastered in HD from the original negative, the film looks beautiful.  Colors pop right out at you (particuarly reds) and detail is perfect.  The DVD comes with the option of viewing the film in French with English subtitles or with the dubbed English track (the former being preferable).  Also included on this special edition is an introduction to the film by Rollin (in English), a collection of interviews with Rollin (in English) conducted over a series of time by a former assistant of the late director, an interview with long time Rollin collaborator Natalie Perrey discussing the making of the film (in French with English subtitles), two trailers for the film (one in French, the other in English), and the original French theatrical trailers for the other four films in the collection.