Le viol du vampire (1968)

Director:

Jean Rollin

Writer:

Jean Rollin (writer)

Release Date:

27 May 1968 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

After a psychoanalyst unsuccessfully tries to convince four sisters that they are not 200 year old vampires, the Queen of the Vampires promulgates the cause of the Undead.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Antidote | Acolyte | Blindness | Ménage À Trois

Cast

Solange Pradel	...	Brigitte
Bernard Letrou	...	Thomas
Catherine Deville
Ursule Pauly
Marquis Polho
Louise Horn
Doc Moyle
Don Burhans
Yolande Leclerc
Philippe Druillet
Jean Aron
Mei Chen
Edith Ponceau-Lardie
Jean-Denis Bonan
Ariane Sapriel

Also Known As:

La reine des vampires
Queen of the Vampires (USA)
The Rape of the Vampire
Vampire Women

Runtime:

France:100 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (cut)

Company:

Les Films ABC

Trivia:

Because of the events of May 1968 in Paris, French distributors, fearing for the box office, decided to freeze their activities until it went back to normal. As a result, no other new feature was released during that period apart from this one. Consequently, by lack of competitors, it became the most successful film of the year in France.

Quotes:

Queen of the Vampires: The time has come to seal the union of the imminent triumph of the immortal race. This wedding of blood opens up the doors to the world. The great mystery is about to take place. Another chosen one will sit among us. Many more will follow us and taste immortality. The world will become a feast of blood, and we will have the best seats - we the vampires of whom I am queen!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lèvres de sang (1975)

Amazing visual delirium

I was expecting the film to be incoherent. The first segment was very linear and normal, with extremely expressive and original camera angles employed. Second part , "La Reine Des Vampires" was a lot more confusing, but exhibited the same level of visual excellence and dreamlike, naive atmosphere. I wasn't put off or bored even though the story became very fragmented and I gave up on following the constantly multiplying numbers of characters. I find films like Franco's "Succubus" or Jodorowsky's "Holy Mountain" to be slow and pretentious, but I didn't have have any problem with the similarly haphazard and unstructured "Le viol...". It doesn't feel artificial because it's got its heart in the right place, which can be said about majority of Rollin's films. He may not have professional actors, but he nevertheless gets them to deliver emotional performances and create moving, if not realistic, characters. The acting may be unpolished, but Rollin has a gift for drama which he displays more consistently then the other Eurotica directors(Franco, D'Amato) with whom he often gets bundled as a sexploitation director. The story is a mess, but a poetic one, and images are arresting. In fact, I found "Le viol" to be more more adventurous with cinematography then director's more popular films "Fascination" and "La Morte Vivante". I have the warmest feelings for this very brave film and will be re-watching it again.