La rose de fer (1973)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Jean Rollin

Writers:

Tristan Corbière (poem)
Maurice Lemaître (dialogue)

Release Date:

12 April 1973 (France)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

A young couple out for a walk decide to take a stroll through a large cemetery. As darkness begins to fall they realize they can't find their way out, and soon their fears begin to overtake them. |

Plot Keywords:

Cemetery | Couple | Skull | Beach | Lost

Cast

Françoise Pascal	...	The Girl
Hugues Quester	...	The Boy (as Pierre Dupont)
Nathalie Perrey	...	Lady At The Cemetery (as Natalie Perrey)
Mireille Dargent	...	The Clown (as Dily D'Argent)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michel Delesalle
Jean Rollin

Also Known As:

The Iron Rose (UK) (USA) (literal English title)
Nuit du cimitière
Rose of Iron (International: English title)

Runtime:

UK:85 min | USA:86 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Germany:16 | UK:15

Company:

Les Films ABC

Surreal, disquieting and bloodless. Not what you'd expect from a late night horror film.

A surreal tale with an almost fairytale like quality to it. Rose of Iron seems very much like a cautionary tale of old as opposed to a straight forward horror film. The films drips with dark atmospheric, from the morbid poet who charms the female lead, to the foggy and creepy aesthetics of locations such as the train yard and the graveyard.

The plot navigates around a young man falling for a pretty girl, they meet at party where his poetry (need I remind you that not all poetry is rose are red) wins him the attention of an attractive girl. In keeping with the surreal they meet in a eerily quiet train yard and soon find their way to a graveyard. Our male lead lacks what you'd call respect for the dead and they're soon making love in a family crypt. When they're done night has fallen, they're locked in. Fear and madness begin to overtake them. But is there more to the graveyard than meets the eye? Perhaps, perhaps not. Rose of Iron is at the very least, a very enigmatic film.

A purely psychological horror, with few actual elements of the supernatural. It could be that they are simply lost in the graveyard, but at times they seem to be going straight but ending up where they began. It plays on conventions and stereotypes as our male lead becomes angry and violence prone. Since it is he who triggers the inciting incident, it is of course him that the obligatory scene at the climax must focus more one. But ultimately it's the female lead and her surreal serenity that leaves us with a climax you won't find in many gore encrusted horror films.