Les Lèvres Rouges

I first saw this movie when I was 12 and it had a huge impact on my early artistic endeavors as a young man. I've seen it periodically over the years and can see what intrigued me about it so much. It's part Ingmar Bergman film and part bad vampire movie. There are some beautifully filmed scenes along with some awful dialogue. The brilliant Delphine Seyrig is superbly creepy. The other performances are only mediocre. The music is appropriately over the top; sometimes sinister, sometimes goofy- seventies movie. The new director's cut contains more sex and nudity, probably to avoid getting an x-rating at the time of release. It's definitely worth checking out if you've never seen it.

Finally it became available, the director's cut of this 40 year old vampire flick. The weirdness is that it doesn't contain real vampires like you know them. You never see any fangs but it's the atmosphere that keep you attracted to the teevee. The other part that is funny for me is that all the places shown I have seen them, easily to explain, I grow up in Ostend in the seventies. But what an excellent flick this is, even without the gore and almost without th red stuff. There is a lot of nudity but it never becomes gratuitous. It is also strange that a Flemish director (Harry Kumel) was able to get big names, Delphine Seyrig was an icon at that time and even the others were well known then. The quality available on the Blue Underground DVD is excellent, even the sound is great, no hiss or whatsoever. It is a beauty to see and remembering that it was made without a big budget. It is indeed as stated on the sleeve erotic and unusual.

Stay with this film, it is incredible. Great acting, cinematography, direction. The lead actress isn't great, but the actress who plays Erzebet Bathory is phenomenal. Bizaar sets, and strange milieu really add to this film's strange portrayal of vampires and how they deal with the living. I really loved this film. Of course, today, everything happens at the speed of light. Back in 1970, they took their time with building the film and really letting it sink in before hitting you with the shocks. This one has plenty of shocking moments and some really great inventive scenes that add to the history of the vampire film. Unfortunately, today we now have 'Twilight', a disgusting parody of the genre that hopefully audiences will someday say, 'What the hell were we thinking?'.

A contained, haunting tale of vampirism, with ties to the infamous Elizabeth Bathory, this film drips with artistic merit. From the picturesque shots to the red fades to the stinger notes, it's easy to appreciate this production. The delicate, deliberate pace may turn off some viewers but the dream-like atmosphere easily held my attention, not to mention the three beautiful female leads. The bizarre ending (before the epilogue) was unexpected and indeed provided a wonderfully macabre and memorable image. Daughters of Darkness succeeds at what Vampyros Lesbos attempted to be. Just make sure to watch the full version.

The follow-up to Kümel's "Malpertuis" (from Jean Ray's book),"Les Lèvres Rouges " has got a much simpler screenplay and ,with one exception no great stars (no Orson Welles,Michel Bouquet,Susan Hampshire ,Jean-Pierre Cassel.....)....

One star ,but what a star!Delphine Seyrig was one of the greatest stars France had ever had.She mesmerized her audience as no actress of her generation could;her death was a major loss for the European cinema.She could play the fairy godmother of "Peau D'Ane ",the dumb bourgeois lady of "Le Charme Discret De La Bourgeoisie" or the legendary bloody countess -many historians do not believe in those blood baths -with the same aplomb;three parts so different and the same woman with the same suave voice -you MUST hear her speak,a dubbed version would be a disaster;so make sure you get a DVD with subtitles.

I have always thought Belgian directors were very good at creating a supernatural atmosphere without using a ton of special effects;like Delvaux in "Un Soir Un Train" ,Kümel makes the simple picture of a train which comes to a standstill.The baroque hotel will remind some users of "L'Année Dernière A Marienbad" ,Seyrig's debut in France.

It's to state the obvious to write that Seyrig steals every scene she is in and fortunately she's featured in many scenes ;the three other leads seem bland by comparison and it takes all the talent of the director to pull them off.

"Les Levres Rouges" gave a renewed life to the vampire movie ,like Polanski's "the fearless vampire killers" did in the precedent decade .A strong lesbian interest in this movie too:Seyrig was so hot she could appeal to both men and women.