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.