The Shiver of the Vampires

This is one of those films that is entirely plotless, but it doesn't matter. There's bucketfulls of atmosphere and the acting is pretty good. The directing is excellent. It's got one hell of a lot of nude women in, but they're presented in an arty sort of way rather than simple pornography. I reckon it must have had a budget of about 20 francs, though, but this gives it a kind of loveable quality.

Another Jean Rollin vampire flick. The formula for these seems to be; paper-thin plot, beautiful cinematography, and lots of gratuitous, female nudity. The cast are pretty poor (one of the girls does bear a resemblance to Sharon Tate, whilst one of the guys is a dead ringer for Tate's husband Roman Polanski, who appeared with her in his Dance of the Vampires (aka The Fearless Vampire Killers) four years earlier). The music, by French group Acanthus (who also recorded under the name Unity (22); other than that I can't find anything on them) has a prog rock feel; it's okay, but it jars with the heavily gothic imagery. On top of that, this was pretty poorly dubbed into English; I'd sooner have had subtitles. There are some spectacular visuals - especially in and around a chateau and a graveyard - but that's it. Nice to look at, but not a lot else. 5/10.

Unforgettable Rollin extravaganza, daring to go for effects other directors would dismiss as cheesy, and pulling them off. On one level, it seems pure exploitation, with its somnolent virgins and lesbian vampires; but it is the prospective male viewer that the film targets - his representative on screen is reduced to an impotent observer, finally breaking down into helpless madness. Rollin's style is as delirious as ever, fantastic French Gothic sets, seeping red filter, dreamlike pace, bewilderingly inventive soundtrack, resonant set-pieces and unmissably pretentious dialogue. It's easier to follow than THE RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE.

Perhaps it's a matter of personal taste, or the lack thereof; I love Jean Rollin movies, and this Rollin film in particular I've seen several times. Of all the European erotic horror of the sixties and seventies, Rollin's movies most effectively maintain a certain morbid psychedelic vibe, a genuinely Gothic atmosphere, which most of his peers' work only captures fitfully, at best. "Shiver of the Vampires" was the movie that firmly established my fondness for this entire genre; and if it sounds interesting to you, do yourself a favor and seek it out, especially the Redemption DVD, which is gorgeously mastered from (according to the liner notes) the director's own print.

Ultra low-budget outing from French sex director Rollin has even less plot and an even deadlier pace than his previous films, LE VIOL DU VAMPIRE (1967) and LA VAMPIRE NUE (1969). A newly-wed couple travel to a castle to meet the bride's cousins. It turns out they are vampires with a harem of bloodsuckers. Cheesy, pretentious with lots of nudity and almost no violence at all. Psychedelic rock score is ultra-bad. What you get is an attempt at creating atmosphere (fog, colorful lighting) and Rollin's trademark before-sunrise coast-finale. Stay away unless you are a die-hard fan.