- Year: 1970
- Country: France
- Director: Jean Rollin
- Starring: Caroline Cartier, Olivier Rollin, Maurice Lemaître
My fourth Jean Rollin film review, and finally it clicks. Finally, I get it. I couldn’t understand why I kept on going with some kind of underwhelmed fascination, but now I do: I adore Jean Rollin. Probably this is the movie you should start with. The ultimate one of his 4 “Vampire” movies, which for some reason I didn’t watch in chronological order (then again, they have nothing to do with each other). This is where his choice in set design, costumes, actors/acting, directing, writing all come to one and you realize that everything is deliberate (okay, maybe not losing the script two days in to your first feature like he did with The Rape Of The Vampire, but that’s a classic case of “shit happens”). I saw an interview with him where he states that his love of surrealism is what draws him to his own style and that the choosing of non-professional actors allows him to capture faces and emotions that just look odd and unique, and that’s what he prefers. It all comes together. Now I feel like I need to rewatch everything again (although, I have 2 more of his films lined-up which I’ve never seen). Do watch this movie: it’s some kind of vampire movie that may or may not be sci-fi (I won’t tell!), and it’s got style to spare. I loved it, and it makes me look at the three movies of his I’ve seen in the last month with a different eye. Keep Rollin, Rollin, Rollin (see what I did there?).
Check out the other Jean Rollin Film reviews here:
Cinema Del Peppel 