Le Frisson Des Vampires (The Shiver Of The Vampires)

• Year: 1971
• Country: France
• Director: Jean Rollin
• Starring: Sandra Julien, Jean-Marie Durand, Marie-Pierre Castel

It’s been less than a month since I saw my first Jean Rollin film, Requiem Pour Un Vampire (reviewed here) and though I didn’t understand a damn thing, its aesthetic and style left an impression on me and I’d been wanting to watch another. The Shiver Of The Vampires was released the same year as Requiem, but it’s a far superior film. Let me be clear: I still don’t understand a thing about the story or Rollin’s intentions, but this film has style to spare. A honeymooning couple go to the bride’s cousins’ castle in a small village, only to find that the cousins along with the two maids (one of which is played by Marie-Pierre Castel who was also in Requiem…) have been turned into vampires. It’s part psychedelic-vampire movie, part absurd comedy (every time you see the two cousins there’s just something offbeat and ridiculous about them) and part incomprehensible abstract filmaking. But you know how Hammer films weren’t made to be The Godfather? They just had this atmosphere, vibe and feel to them that made them so watchable – well, I’m starting to see this is the case with Rollin, who was almost certainly influenced by that studio’s legacy. If you’ve never seen one of his films and this is making you curious, start with this one, not with Requiem For A Vampire. I think I’m going to try to find a third film to review from this guy: his films seem to only make sense in his mind, but whatever translates to the viewer is pretty pleasing to watch despite its flaws (another consistency here is the actors being unable to show any emotion, almost like they have their lines projected off camera and they’re just asked to read ’em). Who cares, it’s campy psychedelic sexy vampire fun as far as I’m concerned.