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.
