La nuit des traquées (1980)

A woman is taken to a mysterious clinic whose patients have a mental disorder in which their memories and identities are disintegrating as a result of a strange environmental accident.

Director:

Jean Rollin

Writer:

Jean Rollin

Stars:

Brigitte Lahaie, Vincent Gardère, Dominique Journet

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Brigitte Lahaie	...	Elysabeth
Vincent Gardère
Dominique Journet	...	Véronique
Bernard Papineau	...	Le docteur Francis
Rachel Mhas	...	Solange
Cathy Stewart	...	Catherine (as Catherine Greiner)
Natalie Perrey	...	La mère
Christiane Farina	...	Christiane
Élodie Delage	...	Marie (as Véronique Délaissé)
Jean Hérel	...	Jacques
Jacques Gall
Dominique Saint-Cyr
Gregoire Cherlian	...	Le gardien
Jean Cherlian	...	L'homme de main
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alain Duclos	...	Robert

Storyline

A woman is taken to a mysterious clinic whose patients have a mental disorder in which their memories and identities are disintegrating as a result of a strange environmental accident.

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Plot Keywords:

stabbed in the eyes with scissors | violence | female nudity | gun | female rear nudity | 

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

20 August 1980 (France)

Also Known As:

Night of the Hunted

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 40,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Impex Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References The Rape of the Vampire (1968)

User Reviews

underrated Rollin feature is a haunting curiosity

This interesting film from Jean Rollin is somewhat of a departure from his usual vampire films. There is no supernatural element to be found in this one. Here the terror is more of the David Cronenberg variety.

Plot begins with a man encountering a young female amnesiac wandering along a country road one night. It turns out she has escaped from a lunatic asylum which is inside a very futuristic-looking skyscraper (one of the film's best touches). All of the other patients are also amnesiacs. They are unable to remember anything but the last 15 to 20 minutes. Inside the asylum they are basically just left to wander aimlessly. There's quite a bit of violence and sex with patients attacking each other, having hot sex, etc..

I really enjoyed this one. I am surprised it is considered one of Rollin's weaker films. I tried watching "The Iron Rose" right before this and found it such a crashing bore that I couldn't finish it. But I really like "Night of the Hunted". I can only imagine people think this one of Rollin's weaker films because it lacks the Gothic element of some of his other films. The futuristic architecture is a neat touch. Also, Brigitte Lahaie is gorgeous and she has a certain deer in the headlights look that is perfect for this.

Unfortunately, Rollin totally botches the ending. It could easily have been haunting but what he goes for (in my opinion) does not work. It ends up being unintentionally funny. Oh well. Besides that it was good.