BALLADEER’S BLOG’S FAVORITE VAMPIRE MOVIES FROM JEAN ROLLIN

As Halloween Month continues, here’s a look at my favorite Jean Rollin vampire films. Note that these are not my all-time favorite movies about vampires, just my favorites by Rollin.

This French director is known as a “love him or hate him” kind of creator and in my opinion his works range from brilliant to So Bad They’re Good. In the past Balladeer’s Blog has examined Jean’s zombie films like The Living Dead Girl and Pesticide, his “vampires as a mutant species” flick The Nude Vampire and his oddly modern horror work Night of the Hunted.

Toss in his eerie, haunting and beautiful movie The Iron Rose and I’ve covered most of the Jean Rollin films that I consider to be on the good to brilliant side of the ledger. I avoided reviewing his vampire movies (outside of the quasi-science fiction piece The Nude Vampire) because they are virtually their own separate subgenre and I wanted to feature my favorites in one post.

THE SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES (1970) – In my view this is the first real example of a Rollin vampire film. His Rape of the Vampire definitely showed how inexperienced he was at horror, while The Nude Vampire had those undertones of sci-fi that I mentioned above. 

This film is labeled everything from arthouse to grindhouse but I consider it to be more on the arthouse side. Think of a combination of Federico Fellini & David Lynch crossed with Hammer’s erotic vampire movies. It’s definitely Adults Only but more for tone and eroticism than gore and violence.

Isle (Sandra Julien) and Antoine (Jean-Marie Durand) are newlyweds who have just left their wedding reception and stop off to visit two of Isle’s male cousins in their very old castle by the sea. Two beautiful, enigmatic ladies greet them at the castle and introduce themselves as the maids.

The pair inform Isle and Antoine that the cousins died the previous day, but the bride and groom are welcome to spend the night. Our newlyweds accept the offer and soon Isle visits the graves of her late cousins. In the cemetery she meets a strange woman named Isabelle (Nicole Nancel) who claims she was planning to marry both men (?) but was already their bride anyway.   

That night in the decaying castle, a vampress named Isolde emerges from a grandfather clock in one of the most iconic images from Jean’s oeuvre. And that is just the beginning of a horrific ordeal for Isle and Antoine thanks to the two maids/ female Renfields and Isolde herself. 

Antoine discovers that the library is full of poltergeists, thwarting his attempt to read up on the castle and its inhabitants. Then, the two cousins show up alive, but we learn that they were vampire hunters who died at Isolde’s hands and are now among the undead themselves. The story is secondary to the eerie imagery that Rollin presents, as usual. I’ll say again to think of a cross between Fellini and Lynch.

NOTE: I would recommend watching all of Jean’s films with subtitles instead of dubbing. The dubbed versions I’ve seen have very pedestrian translations and leave out a lot of fine details and nuances that are crucial to his works.

REQUIEM FOR A VAMPIRE (1971) – Requiem for a Vampire is hardcore arthouse, so it strikes most viewers as either a pretentious slog or a work of creative genius. For me it’s half and half, but if you didn’t like Shiver of the Vampires then you’d probably hate this movie intensely.

Two fugitive women dressed as clowns (Yes, it’s one of THOSE kinds of European films.) are in a stolen vehicle being pursued by the police. The ladies exchange gunfire with the cops while a male accomplice drives. Ultimately, the man gets fatally shot, prompting Marie (Marie-Pierre Castel) and Michelle (Mireille D’Argent) to set the vehicle and his remains on fire before fleeing. 

Our heroines, who are romantically involved, pass through a graveyard, then come across a castle. Attacked by vampire bats, they take shelter inside and eventually find skeletons plus a strange woman playing the piano.

Mary and Michelle also encounter men who try to rape them, but a female vampire stops them, only because she wants them as her next meal. When bullets have no effect on her, our heroines flee but meet and are charmed by an older male vampire (Michel Dalesalle).

Like so many Jean Rollin characters, this man’s name is not mentioned and he’s listed as “the older vampire” in the credits. You may remember that in The Iron Rose the male and female leads are credited as “The Woman” and “The Man.”

The older vampire wants the ladies to join him among the undead but warns them they must remain untouched by men. As they participate in preparatory activities with him a rift develops between the two lovers. Michelle is eager to become a vampire, but Mary is against the idea, which infuriates Michelle. 

Once again, Rollin treats story as secondary to bizarre imagery and disturbing visuals. At length, Mary sleeps with a man named Frederic (Philippe Gaste) in violation of the older vampire’s instructions and events hurl toward their conclusion.       

Requiem for a Vampire has been called everything from “eldritch erotica” to “crap from a nutcase.” I’m sure you’ll agree.

TWO ORPHAN VAMPIRES (1997) – Incredibly melancholy but so full of profoundly haunting visuals that it practically embodies the term “visual feast.” This film, based on a novel by Rollin, is NOT for gorehounds or anyone expecting anything resembling a straightforward horror movie. 

Even for Jean Rollin devotees, Two Orphan Vampires (“walk into a bar”) is so challenging that it’s nearly inaccessible. Two young female vampires are blind by day, but by night they are able to view the world through a blue haze and go on the prowl.

Henriette (Isabelle Teboul) and Louise (Alexandra Pic) have only fragmentary memories of their past, and though their sightless days are spent in a stifling Catholic orphanage their nights are filled with macabre adventuring. And smoking.

The pair are not fatally threatened by daylight nor are they affected by the crucifixes and other religious elements of the orphanage. Obviously, Henriette and Louise are not your typical vampires.

That fact works perfectly with the otherworldly and surreal nature of Two Orphan Vampires. Similarly, other supernatural figures that our main characters encounter are unlike typical examples of their kind. A not quite right she-ghoul and a … unique … female werewolf cross the path of Henriette and Louise.

I hate to hide behind a pompous expression, but this is a movie that a viewer feels even more than watches. I’d say it’s the least favorite Rollin film for horror fans but among the most favorite for overall cinema enthusiasts. 

In the future I’ll look at additional Jean Rollin films, including his so-so vampire movies Lips of Blood and Rape of the Vampire.