User reviews

Some very beautiful (sometimes even naked) blood thirsty vampire ladies, the main setting a fine old Château, a gang of robbers, some blood spilled, and last but not least, Jean Rollin's fine cinematic style, voilà we get another delicious entry to oeuvre of a true master of fantasy and planet Venus. Fascination: for the fan base, without doubt eye-candy deluxe and always worth the trip.

Director Rollin once again plays out his obsessions in this tale of a secret society of women who lure men to their castle for blood ceremonies at midnight. Beautiful French countrysides, gorgeous (frequently nude) women, old castles and erotic horror are what to expect from this exploitation film with aspirations of art. The pace is slow and deliberate with no real escalation of tension as midnight comes and all is revealed. Brigitte Lahaie has real screen presence and is memorable as she stalks a victim carrying a huge scythe. Definitely worth a look as are all of Rollin's films.

'Fascination' is a very apt title for this spellbinding movie! A typically dreamlike and stylish work from the remarkable Jean Rollin. Yup, it's another lesbian vampire movie (from a decade that produced quite a few!) but Rollin, like Jess Franco, puts his own original touches to it which make it truly unforgettable. Like most of Franco's (and Dario Argento's) output, atmosphere and aesthetics are more important than plot, and the performances of the actors involved are variable. Rollin doesn't seem to be too concerned with creating believable characters, he uses his (beautiful) actresses as striking images moving across a background. His movies are often closer to paintings than your standard Hammer horror. That's why 'Fascination' is so unlike most vampire movies you'll ever see. Inspired and original. Don't miss this one!

Fascination might be one of the better Jean Rollin films. It has a lot of stylish shots and also the plot is somewhat interesting. It has some similarity to José Ramón Larraz' 1974 film "Vampyres" though this is not as as typically vampire film.

I thought the acting was surprisingly good. The two leading female characters and the guy who arrives at the mansion had some nice chemistry both sides trying to be in control of the situation.

My favorite Rollin films are still "Lips of Blood" and perhaps "Requiem for a Vampire" but I recommend this one too if you are interested.

I've seen only a handful of Jean Rollin films and I have to say that this one is the best yet. Though still hampered with low budget set-up and stiff acting and stilted dialogue, FASCINATION remains watchable from beginning to end. The concept is excellent and the film never gets off track from its interesting story.

This idea is so good, the film should be remade with a suitable budget and a capable cast of real actors. The whole thing would be quite spectacular. The lesbian sex scene would probably be dropped, which would disappoint Rollin fans but I wouldn't mind seeing a classy version of this film if it meant a few changes from the original.

But in the meantime, make sure to check this film out. It's worth it if you like slightly odd and out-of-character bloody dramas.

I'm an admirer of Jean Rollins work, and this film is the one which to me best represents his style. It succeeds in blending the sexual predator images of the more successful Hammer vampire movies, with the doomed romanticism of French cinema. The production values are low, presumably they operated on a very small budget, but as I was starting to experiment with my own super8 films, I was inspired by how much it achieves in spite of its limitations. The film is driven by a series of powerful images, notably the semi-naked girl wielding a scythe, and the odd bit of lesbian love action. As with all of Rollins best films, you get the feeling of getting a glimpse of, and being allowed to share, a very personal obsession.

A strange love triangle, where you can't quite figure out who's madder. Or more "evil" even. I reckon you may come to one conclusion or the other. You may also be able to see where this is going (not tough to see and no extra points if you do), because it is quite predictable. The main blonde woman/character is quite pretty if I may say so. And whatever that means to you, she is going to undress for this movie (so hopefully you're not easily offended).

Jean Rollins does have a reputation to uphold I reckon. One of them being giving us two female friends. You could conclude some things about his preferences and other things in his life. But he's just having fun. Whether that is something that is fun for you too, is up to you to decide. The end may seem inevitable and yet it's still shocking when it finally comes around .... deservedly or not, it is what it is

A thief who is fleeing the partners that he double-crossed comes across a mansion with only two beautiful (and odd) occupants. His plan to stay until nightfall seems to be easily achievable when he finds out the home owners have no desire for him to leave.

From this simple premise Rollin creates his most engrossing work with the thief coming to realize that his greatest threat may not be the crooks outside the house but the ladies within. Though slow moving this film ratchets up the tension as midnight approaches and a mysterious ceremony is soon to begin.

Strong performances abound with special mention to frequent Rollin star Brigitte Lahaie who has never looked (or acted) better. The women in this film are all incredible and like in all of his films, Rollin shows a photographer's eye for beauty. Once again Rollin indulges in his fondness for lesbian sex scenes but they don't overpower the film like they do in some of his other works.

For anyone who has not yet seen a Rollin film, either this one or 'Grapes of death' would make excellent starters although, obviously, keep the kids away.

This erotic horror film, set in 1905, tells the story of a thief who seeks refuge in a castle owned by two women, Eva (Brigitte Lahaie) and Elizabeth (Franca Mai). The women are seductive and teasing, but turn out to be part of a vampiric cult of blood-drinking aristocrats.

Why would you drink the blood of an ox as a way to cure anemia? Why? I mean, maybe it would work... but there has to be a better way, even in 1905.

I must say, this film is a very interesting twist on the siege subgenre of horror (a subgenre John Carpenter loved to explore). The thief in a house with two lovely ladies while the villagers outside want him dead and may try to bust in to get him... good stuff.

The style is all Rollin, and the plot is surprisingly better than some of his other work, not just relying on pointless lesbian vampire sex scenes. This may be the best film he has ever made, at least of those I have seen.

I've only seen a few Jean Rollin films and I've enjoyed them, so I was very excited to see Fascination. My hopes and dreams were crushed about 45 minutes in when I realized that this might not be the masterpiece I was hoping for. Like most Rollin films, it's interestingly (and sometimes beautifully) shot with a hazy dreamlike quality which is very much appreciated, but Fascination doesn't have much meat on its bones to sustain anything except, perhaps, a short film.

Fascination is needlessly drawn out with no character development whatsoever and it mostly just amounts to several lingering glances, women walking around topless (and bottomless), a few quick attacks, and a whole lot of tedium.

This isn't to say that Fascination isn't without its perks. Rollin does mood and atmosphere well, so if you just allow that to envelop you, maybe you'll get a few kicks out of it. Also, if you're a big fan of female nudity, I'd assume you'll have a field day with several scenes. If you're looking for interesting characters, a well developed story, or even a few shocks, you might want to look elsewhere.

Sooner or later anyone doing the rounds of horror is confronted with Rollin; the sensually paced, purely ephemeral wanderings around mansions or cemeteries, at least in his better films, pale naked skin dripping with blood, almost always. It is relatively easy to deal with them, with none of the hard anchors in story or characters one either concedes to dream with him or not.

So yes, largely nonsense in conventional terms, here about a man who is stranded in a secluded château with a host of beautiful women who are waiting for midnight to perform a mysterious ritual, but attached to a poetry of images.

The frequent comparison is to Jess Franco; but whereas Franco at his best intuited feverish images that always seemed to zoom at the verge of cacophony, Rollin exhibits painterly control over his. His gaze is methodical, attuned with the aural qualities of film; notice here for example how the winds howling outside the mansion stop and start every time someone opens a door.

It's simple really, the ritual a tone poem about the unveiling of naked beauty. The twist, if it can be called that, is that what we expect to be vampires imbued with some supernatural capacity are only women lusting for blood. The man - our surrogate viewer in the midst of beauty - is lusting himself and so concedes to be part of the dream.

Oh yes, I have said some bad things about Jean Rollin in the past but with this movie he shows he's also capable of creating an actual good movie! It's successful at what its trying to be- and achieve, unlike some of the other movies, I have seen done by him.

What the movie is, is basically some sort of weird sexual fantasy, set in a Victorian like environment and era. Appeartly the movie is supposed to be set at the early 20th century but to me the movie looked like it was taking place in the late 19th century instead. But what do I know, right!

And you could say it's an erotic movie but more one that becomes one through its sexual tension and atmosphere, that is constantly in the air, rather than with its actual nudity or sex scenes. As a matter of fact, there really isn't that much nudity and even less sex in this movie.

It's actually this constant atmosphere that makes this movie such an intriguing watch. It's a beautiful shot movie, that is slowly being told by French genre expert Jean Rollin. It's actually quite amazing this is an 1979 movie. The movie looks far more modern, technically speaking. It's images and atmosphere keep you interested throughout, even when you have no idea what is going on within its story.

It's really a bit of a hard movie to follow with its story, also because it seems that none of the characters are ever saying what they truly mean or want. It's a movie clouded in mystery, which however actually adds well to the overall atmosphere of the movie. It also makes the ending work work out, which came as a bit of a surprising one even.

Definitely a watchable movie within its genre.

7/10

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Ah come on. This film was tripe, I don't agree with my good friend LDK who lent it to me on video. This is the only Jean Rollin film I've seen. > The ideas may be good, but they don't make a film on their own. If you're a vampire fan and enjoy watching lesbian stuff you'll love this one. Otherwise ....

This looks like a Hammer horror film from the 1960s. The big difference is the nudity throughout including a lesbian scene. Eva(Brigitte Lahaie) and Elisabeth(Franca Mai) are living in a castle on the water, complete with a mote and stone bridge providing beautiful background scenery.

A man escaping fellow thieves is on the run and winds up at the castle to hide. What follows is campy acting and cheap sounding music in the background. The two lesbian lovers are awaiting their special guests for a midnight rendezvous of some sort. This is a low budget, badly written, and silly effort by all involved. The only high praise I can give it is to Ms. Lahaie's body, which is quite spectacular and responsible for 3 of the 4 points here.

A thief(Jean Marie Lemaire),on the run from fellow gang members,takes refuge in a château populated only by two young women—Eva (Brigitte Lahaie)and Elisabeth (Franka Mai).The man is seduced and lured to stay for a forthcoming soirée,while the young ladies-themselves indulging in lesbian encounters—turn out to be initiates in a cult of bourgeois women addicted to drinking human blood.Jean Rollin's "Fascination" is simply an awesome lesbian vampire flick.The pace is pretty slow,but there is plenty of sleaze and beauty to enjoy.The film is loaded with stunning visuals for example the image of a nude Brigitte Lahaie with nothing but her impossibly statuesque figure,cape and scythe moving down the bridge and over the moat to the castle or truly surreal scene of Eva and Elizabeth dancing on the bridge in matching white gowns while an old-style phonograph plays classical music.Overall,I deeply enjoyed this one and you should too,if you liked "The Living Dead Girl" or "Lips Of Blood".

I watched the Redemption DVD, and there's at least a couple shots in the trailer, also included, that aren't in the movie. In the trailer, during the stable stabbing, there's a pan up her body from the knife. In the movie, it cuts from the knife to a close-up of her face from a different angle. Hmm.

Also, in the group vampiric scene, one of the women's filmy gowns blows up around her head in the trailer. In the movie, I'd swear this didn't happen. Possibly there's some alternate takes that were used for the trailer, or maybe the movie is cut.

Anyway, a well-dressed thief steals some gold rather than split it with his lower-class pals. He hides out in a small castle surrounded by a small moat, where two women play head games with him and flirt, and get down with him and each other. He's warned to get away before other guests come.

It's slow, but there's a fair amount of blood and boobs, and that's pretty much what one expects from a Jean Rollin film, in a sort of colorful fantasy world.

The title's a bit odd. All I can figure is that it refers to the man who's too interested in the women and their mystery to leave.

Blond-haired robber arrives at a chateau inhabited by only Lahaie and Mai after being perused by those he double-crossed in a robbery.

There's a couple of soft-core sex scenes involving the blond-haired robber and Lahaie as well as a lesbo scene with Mai.

In fact, Lahaie spends a lot of time taking her clothes off in this film. Even as she swings that scythe at the female robber, her boobs manage to ooze out from under her cloak. It's an ok gore scene with the scythe, although what's really special is how erotic Lahaie looks, naked underneath that cloak

Then night falls and Lahaie and Mai's blood-drinking female pals arrive and the fun really starts.

There are a couple of plot twists to the ending which I won't reveal but suffice it to say that this isn't one of my favorite Rollin films, although it does have it's erotic moments. I don't know why Rollin fans think so highly of this film. I'll leave that for THE GRAPES OF DEATH or his urban nightmare, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTED.

The Redemption DVD doesn't have much in the lines of extras beyond a couple of interesting trailers. It seems the French trailer has even more nudity and pubic hair being shown than the actual film does, especially when they're chomping down on Lahaie's blood in the nighttime scene from the bridge. What gives? Too much for the under 18 crowd?

The print is slightly scratchy but not too bad. Poor handling, I guess...

5 out of 10 for not being terribly scary, but for slight eroticism...

A dashing young thief makes off with some gold coins and takes refuge in a stunning chateau, seemingly occupied by two beautiful women. But being a horror movie (and a French one at that!) things are not what they may seem.. I am no expert on Jean Rollin but I have seen a number of his horror movies, all of which I have enjoyed, and this one is probably the best. Plot wise it's pretty basic and perhaps a tad slow but is broken up by welcome sex scenes, for which Rollin is renowned. It stars a bevvy of beautiful women but Brigitte Lahaie is simply stunning, with and without clothes. Worth watching for her presence alone. It is also beautifully filmed, great use is made of it's main location, giving a nice dream-like gothic look. And the vampires are not your typical ones either, giving the film more credibility. Some horror fans may find it slow but it had me captivated and I will certainly being watching it again. I saw the UK Redemption release, apparently passed uncut. However the trailer in the disc's extras actually showed more nudity, not present in the film. I'm a little confused by that but live in hope that there may be a more "explicit" version out there! essential viewing for fans of Euro horror.

Fascination (1979)

*** (out of 4)

Marc (Jean-Marie Lemaire) is a thief on the run from the people he stole from. He ends up taking shelter in a castle where he soon meets Eva (Brigitte Lahaie) and Elisabeth (Franca Mai). The two women come off as incredibly strange but they keep referring to a party later that evening that Marc can't see.

Jean Rollin's FASCINATION is without question one of the director's better films, although the final act does take a bit too long to get where it's going. If you're not a fan of Rollin's work then I'd probably recommend that you start with THE LIVING DEAD GIRL or one of his vampire films but once you're used to his work this film will have so many of the director's touches.

As you'd expect, there's all sorts of sexuality between both the two women as well as their seduction scenes with Marc. It's really amazing how the likes of Rollin and Jess Franco could milk any scene for all the sexuality that it's worth and it happens here as well. One of the highlights is a sequence where Lahaie goes after one of the men trying to kill Marc. This entire sequence is perfectly directed and contains both the sexuality and violence that you've come to expect from Rollin.

Speaking of Lahaie, she easily steals the film with her raging beauty that just leaps off the screen. I've seen several of her movies but the way she looks here is just terrific and I'd argue she's never looked better in any other movie. Both Mai and Lemaire are also good in their roles. FASCINATION has a terrific visual quality and there's no doubt that the locations are put to good use. Fans of Rollin will certainly enjoy this one.