The Shiver of The Vampires — The Shiver of The Vampires (Blu Ray)

During the 1970’s French director, Jean Rollin carved out his own distinctive niche within the euro-horror genre, adding in elements of erotica, arty edges, and keenly ghoulish atmospherics. Released in the year 1971, The Shiver of The Vampires (aka Le Frisson Des Vampires ) is often seen as one of his most successful creations- due to it having slightly more plot depth, more subtle use of nudity, and a somewhat more sensical /flowing structure. Here from Powerhouse is a much-deserved reissue of the film- coming either as a UHD or Blu-Ray release- and featuring an excellent & well defined 4k scan of the film, new & archive audio commentaries, and a good selection of new & archive extras.

Jean Rollin was born on the 3rd of November 1938 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.  And between the late 1950s and the early 2000’s he had forty-six features to his name. These went from the absurdist and surreal horror of The Nude Vampire (1970), onto the stuck in a cemetery chills & unease of The Iron Rose (1973). Through to the pirate-tinged erotic horror of The Demoniacs (1974), and the claustrophobic & eerier countryside set zombie horror of The Grapes Of Death (1978). 

After its monochrome & melancholic prologue showing a group of men carrying two coffins into a crypt, with mourning female figures standing by. The blood-red texts over misty graveyard credits roll, with sinister psych-rock playing over the top. As we get into the film, we are shown a ruined castle, that is often shrouded in blood red or blue lighting, where two female servants are now in thrall of their masters, who seemingly died & then came back to life. 

Fairly soon newlyweds Isle (Sandra Julien) & her shoulder-length-haired husband Antoine (Jean-Marie Durand) come along to the village near the castle. She has come to visit her two cousins- though is told they were buried yesterday- they still carry into the ruins, where the servants have set up a room for them. As things unfold it seems Isle is been pulled into the vampiric curse that bewitches her cousins.

The two vampires here are flamboyant hippies dressed in both white thrilly collared & cuffed shirts, velvet flares, and dangling jewellery. We find out the pair had been vampire hunters, then one night found what they were looking for. The pair are decidedly quirky, at times almost comical- often spout their thoughts about the vampire myths, endless life, and Egyptian gods. 

The film is knee-deep in atmosphere- with mist-swirled graveyards, tumble-down gothic buildings & statutes, skulls a-plenty, and strange pale face female figures/entities which appear from inside grandfather clocks, or from behind curtains. Yes, as mentioned early on there is some semblance of both structure & a story running through the film- but in no way is it a detailed plot or dialogue-heavy affair. It’s really all about creating a keenly sinister & timeless vibe- which is enhanced by the boundingly brooding to moody psych-rock soundtrack, which is edged with touches of organ & flute.

If you enjoy 70’s Euro horror you have to see at least one Rollin film, as he did have his own very distinctive take on things. And I’d certainly say that The Shiver of The Vampires is a great way to start digging into his output, as it has everything you'd expect from a Rollin film- put a slightly more cohesive, and lightly plot-edged setting.

 

I’m reviewing the Blu-Ray version of this release. It comes in the form of a region-free disc- this features a new 4k scan of the film, and this nicely enhances both the gothic & psychedelic elements of the picture. On the extras side we get a few new things- first is a commentary track with Jeremy Richey- who is a Rollin expert/ fan, who also wrote the book Sylvia Kristel: From ‘Emmanuelle’ to Chabrol. And this is a very well-researched and realized track. He begins by talking about the film’s pre-credits- discussing how they were influenced by the work of Paul Delvaux- a Belgian painter whose work concern dream-like scenes of women, classical architecture, trains and train stations, and skeletons, often in combination. And in particular his 1966 painting Na Au Jardin(Nude In the Garden).  We find out that Rollin was in his early thirties when he made the film, and that he always saw it as one of his favourite films.  We find out this was the first film he worked with assistant producer Jean-Noël Delamarre, who apparently influenced/ inspired the use of red and blue lighting in the film. As well as getting details of other key collaborators on this film like assistant director Natalie Perrey, and film editor Olivier Grégoire- who went on to work on later works with the director.  We find out that the film was originally going to be entitled Blood of The Bird, but this was altered due to the producer wanting to add the word vampire in the title.  He discusses how the gore/ violence in these early films was more stage-like/ expressionistic which was more in line with the director's preference, and the more extreme gore/ violence of his later film was down to market pressures.  He talks about the film's use of kilter lightning- and how this pulls the viewer into its non-sensical & lightly surreal world. We find out the director spent time buying antiques for the film's interiors. He comments on moments where the present meets the past in this film- all creating a distinctive strange vibe. He gives bios of the lead actor & actresses, as well as mentions notable films they are involved in.  And we find out there is a connection between the film to hand & the work of Woody Allen.  Later on, he discusses how the film became a small cult hit in France- this lead it to be shown in the UK under the title of Sex and the Vampire, where it often played on a double bill with Swedish made drama Diary Of A Half Virgin (Eva - Den utstötta).  He gives a less than favourable few quotes from reviews of the time, before talking about when the film went on to be shown in the US in 1972- where it was often shown unfittingly on a double bill with hicksploitation comedy Tobacco Roody.  And of course much more- a really excellent track, which I’ll certainly revisit.
Otherwise, on the new content side of the disc, we get Macabre Psychedelia (8.00) which finds author and film historian Virginie Sélavy discussing the film. She moves from talking about the film's plot being influenced by the 1872 Gothic novella Carmilla, to talking about how the film is often lumped in with the lesbian vampire genre of the 70s & notable titles in this genre. She talks about the film's themes, the way it mixes the gothic with the psychedelic,  and how all of the director's work is central to death as a mystical realm. We get Rouge vif (17.17) which is an updated documentary on the making of the film- in French with subtitles.  
On the archive side we have Fear and Desire(40.49) this is a 2004 filmed interview with the director in English. There’s a director's intro (4.05), and Export Issues (24.07) which is a collection of seven explicit scenes that were removed from the film for foreign markets. We get original French & English trailers for the film, and an image gallery.

The finished release comes with an eighty-page book with a new essay by David Hinds, an archival introduction by Jean Rollin, an archival interview with the director by Peter Blumenstock, an archival interview with actor Marie-Pierre Castel, Andy Votel on Acanthus, the mysterious group behind the film’s soundtrack, and full film credits. With the release having a strictly ltd edition for both the UK and stateside 10,000 numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays).

 

For many years Jean Rollin's work has been released on decidedly shabby & cheap editions, so it’s great to see Powerhouse step up to the mark to release his work at the standard it deserves to be. If you’re a fan of arty Euro-horror and you don’t know Rollin- this is a no-brainer release, and I do hope it sells well, as we certainly need some more classy reissues like this of his other key films from the 70s.