Released at the tail-end of the 1960s The Rape Of The Vampire was the first feature film from French euro-cult director Jean Rollin, who is most known for his erotic & arty horror output. The film very much comes from an art house/avant-grade place. Sure there is a gothic/ horror edge, and a fair bit of female nudity- but the structure/ unfold of the film is often confused, puzzling, and at times frankly pretentious. Here from Powerhouse is a recent release of the film- coming as either a UHD or Blu-Ray disc. Taking in a 4k scan of the film, as well as a good selection of extras.

The Rape Of The Vampire ( aka Queen Of The Vampires) was made in the year 1968. It appeared after Rollin had made a series of five shorts- Les amours jaunes(1958) which was based around a Tristan Corbière poem, Ciel de cuivre( 1961), The Sailor's Journey(1963) which was a sea-bound drama, Vivre en Espagne (1964) a documentary about Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, and The Far Countries (1965) which is sci-fi short regarding a couple lost in a labyrinthine streets.

The film runs one hour and thirty-five minutes mark, and is filmed in moody black & white. It presents itself as melodrama in two parts- the first part runs around the half-an-hour mark, and regards a group of people going to a run-down mansion to cure four sisters who believe they are vampires. This is the most coherent of the two parts- as it stays( roughly) in the same reality, has a more traditional structure, and keeps its more arty flourishes (relatively) controlled & focused.

The second part of the film runs just over an hour- and frankly is all over the place. We move from a beach where arty drama is carried out & a Vampire queen is brought out on a throne. There’s a human doctor looking for a cure for vampirism. It’s implied it’s all a stage show, then it’s real again- folks die, come back to life, shift from Vampire to human, lose their sight & gain it again. This is all surrounded by moody & gothic performance art moments- with this second part of the film making very little sense or reason- and when the credits finally roll- I really not sure what it all means/ how it resolved.

I enjoy both art-house & avant-garde cinema, as well as much of Rollin's filmography- but I really found this rather frustrating, and at points deeply trying to watch. The first part of the film is fine- sure it dwells a little bit on the pretentious side of things with some of the imagery- but equally there are moments of the haunting & uneasy- with the mystery of whether the sisters are vampires or not being intriguing. Sadly, when we move into its second part- things start slightly puzzling, but quickly become tiring & rather draining- with it often feeling like Rollin is randomly adding in other realities/ storylines, and of course performance art & imagery. I’m glad I’ve now seen The Rape Of The Vampire- and you can certainly see the beginnings of a lot of the director's themes/ obsessions. It’s just more of an art house/avant-garde film, than a formal erotic/ arty horror film.

Moving onto this recent release- it features a new 4k scan, with the black & white stock (largely) looking well-defined & balanced.  On the extras side we get a good selection of things- so first up the new stuff. We get a commentary track from respected film expert/ writer Tim Lucas- and as we come to expect it’s a wonderful researched & observed track- which did open up the film to me a bit more, and I actually understand what Rollin was trying to say/ do. He starts off by commenting on how the pre-credits scenes are an early example of the folk horror form.  We find out the film premiered in France in the year 1968 when riots happened both in the cinema & on the streets-  the former due to the audience's dislike of the film, and the latter due to students & police clashing. We find out how the film grew from/ came about from the 1943 US film Dead Men Walk. The French rights for the film were brought by producer Sam Selsky, who initially contacted Rollin to push up the length of the sixty-three-minute film, but in the end, they dropped this idea & made a totally new film with a budget of around $3100. He discusses how the film deconstructs horror tropes,  and compares it with other vampire-related films of the period. He explains key scenes & their larger meaning within the context of the film. Later on, when we get into the second part of the film,  he talks about the jarring shifts between classic gothic horror & then modern-day settings. We find out that the second half of the film was filmed two months after the first, and how certain scenes/ elements reappear in the director's 1980 film The Night Of The Hunted. All in all an excellent track- which is a must-play.  
Otherwise, on the new side of things we get Jean Rollin: L’Effervescence ( 27.43) interview with Jean-Denis Bonan, editor and assistant director, who talks about his early collaborations with Rollin.

And on the updated archive side of things, we get the following: Fragments of Pavement Under the Sand( 31.45) a making of the film, directed by Rollin’s personal assistant, Daniel Gouyette, and including interviews with key collaborators Jean-Denis Bonan, Jean-Pierre Bouyxou and Jean-Loup Philippe. A selection of five cast & crew interviews. De la grève (6.55): a short history of L’Itinéraire marin, with contributions from Bonan and Philippe

On the purely archive side we get a 2007 commentary track from Rollin, as well as a two-minute introduction from the director. Alternative Scene (2:08) which is from later on in the film in the hospital setting, a Super 8 Version (16:39), and a theatrical trailer (4:30).  The Far Countries ( 16.25) a 1965 short from the director- this can be played with or without directors commentary. L’Itinéraire souvenir (27.43)- 2018 reconstruction of an unfinished 1962 Jean Rollin short film by Victor Poucalow and Raja Tawil.

The finished release comes with an eighty-page book with a new essay by Beatrice Loayza, archival writing by Jean Rollin on the making of the film, an archival interview with the director by Peter Blumenstock, Jean Rollin’s recollections of shooting The Far Countries, and full film credits.

In finishing I respected more than I enjoy The Rape Of The Vampire. Taking the film on its own- I’d mark it around a two mark, but with the extras here I’ve knocked it up to a full release score of three. A release really for hardcore Rollin fans, or those who enjoy vaguely creepy/ darting/ cryptic blends of 1960’s art house/ avant-grade film.