Retail Price: $27.00

Reviewed by:

Ian Jane on March 8, 2003

No one does dreamy, hazy lesbian vampires quite like Jean Rollin. You know it. I know it. And The Dark Side Magazine, the UK’s longest running horror publication, also knows it. That’s why they’ve put two of his best on one feature packed DVD, available exclusively through them and easily ordered off of their website of through their magazine. 

FASCINATION

One of Rollins better known films, Fascination opens with three lovely ladies in a barn, drinking the blood of an ox, which will apparently cure them of an anemic condition from which they all suffer from. 

Cut to a band of thieves fresh from a well executed bank robbery with a whole lot of loot. Unfortunately for the gang members, their leader (Jean-Marie Lemaire) takes off with the gold and heads off to a nearby French chateau, safely secluded away from the rest of the countryside, where he plans to hide out until it’s safe to make it away with his winnings.

Once inside he encounters Elisabeth (Franca Mai) and Eva (played by the stunning Brigitte Lahaie), two mysterious lovelies who entice him with some pretty cool lesbian stunt work.  Unfortunately, when one of the girls takes a liking to him and tries to warn him to leave before nightfall, his old gang shows up and a shootout occurs. 

Luckily Brigitte comes to the rescue dressed in only a black cloak and some boots, and swinging a scythe at all the right people. But if he does end up sticking around until midnight, what will happen? And why are these girls acting so strange? 

Rollins films tend to take on a very dreamlike and at times, surreal quality all their own and Fascination is no exception. While Lahaie might have made a name for herself as an adult film star, she’s got a powerful and near hypnotic screen presence here, and is not only fun to look at, but quite competent in her role as well. 

REQUIEM FOR A VAMPIRE 

Also well know as Virgins And Vampires, this earlier effort from Rollin is high on powerful imagery, but short on linear storytelling. Basically a series of well executed dream like set pieces, Requiem For A Vampire is the story of two female thieves decked out in clown garb, on the run from the local police. The girls end up hiding out in a nearby French chateau (much like the character in Fascination) where they soon encounter its primary resident and his loyal cult members, who happen to be vampires. Strange imagery and gratuitous nudity ensures, followed by some reasonably well executed violence and of course, quality lesbian antics.  

There isn’t a whole lot of dialogue in the film, especially the first third, and while some might be put off by that, I found that it enhanced the experience and made it all the more surreal. 

As a narrative piece, Requiem For A Vampire falls pretty flat on it’s face, but I was still able to enjoy the film on a purely visual level – it simply looks beautiful. Rollin always does a good job behind the camera and while not all of his films make a lot of sense, they’re always dependably well shot with excellent cinematography and moody atmospheric locations. Requiem For A Vampire illustrates these characteristics of his work very well and for that reason, comes recommended, even if the BBFC did require a slight and minor edit of the films bondage sequence.

Overall, this is a nice pairing of films, they compliment each other quite nicely and have a lot to offer above and beyond naked starlets and blood (though they have copious amounts of that too, and I'm not complaining).

Fascination is presented in a French Dolby Digital 2 Channel Mono track with nice, easy to read English subtitles. With the exception of once scene that lasts about 4 or 5 seconds, the track is free or distortion and is quite clean. It’s not reference quality but it serves the film just fine. 

Requiem For A Vampire is available in either its original French language track with optional English subtitles, or in a dubbed English track, both in Dolby Digital 2 Channel Mono. The French track has the slight edge over the English one, but both sound decent enough, and the films funky soundtrack comes through nice and clear.

Here’s where this release really puts the other versions of these films to shame. First up is an introduction by Allan Bryce, editor of The Dark Side Magazine, which was shot on video and looks a bit cheesy but does manage to convey some interesting information. 

Off the main menu, you’ll find a pair of great documentaries related to the films. The first one is entitled Eurotica: Virgins & Vampires, which runs for about twenty three minutes and has a great interview with Rollin interspersed with some nice clips from many of his different films and was recorded for British TV back in 1999. A lot of the themes so prevalent in Rollins work are explored, and it’s a great piece for fans of his films. 

The second documentary, Bloody Lips and Iron Crosses, focuses more on the history or Rollins career and runs roughly thirty five minutes and was made in 2001. Starting with some of his short films and following his work right up to the present, some of the information is repeated from the other pieces, but there is still a lot to learn about his work and a lot of details, artwork, and archival footage and clips are on display here, making it required viewing for Rollin aficionados. 

Next up is a piece cut together from Jean Rollin and Brigitte Lahaie interviews running at approximately 32 minutes. Again, some of the information is repeated, but it’s nice to hear the two of them speak son affectionately about their work together and the genre in general. There is also a separate Lahaie interview off of the Fascination menu that runs about 4 minutes or so. Her English is a bit hard to understand sometimes, but it’s quite forgivable and it’s also certainly worth noting how great she still looks, twenty five years later. 

Also off the Fascination menu are the films original theatrical trailer, a still gallery from the movie, and a separate Lahaie gallery focusing on her adult films with some great promotional pieces and lobby cards reproduced. 

Off the Requiem For A Vampire menu there is that films theatrical trailer as well, and yet another still gallery with some promotional shots from the movie and some vintage promotional artwork and flyers are nicely represented. 

Finally, rounding off the wealth of supplemental material are some hidden Easter eggs comprised of two Grapes of Death trailers. Also included for good measure is some promotional material for the magazine and how to obtain copies of it.

Despite the small cuts to Requiem For A Vampire, this is an excellent presentation from The Dark Side Magazine with top quality A/V and extras to die for. Rollin fans need to add this to their collections ASAP while they still can. Check out the Dark Side website for ordering information.

Brigitte Lahaie, Jean-Marie Lemaire, Franca Mai, Mireille Dargent, Philippe Gaste, Louise Dhour, Dominique Toussaint