Night of the Hunted (1980)

I love Jean Rollin films – usually. Their dreamy imagery contrasted against shocking violence usually makes for a memorable viewing experience (see The Grapes of Death, The Living Dead Girl, etc.). Even the French director’s more subtle and “tame” films, like The Iron Rose) have a certain charm that I find irresistible. However, today I’m sad to report that I’ve found a Rollin film I just couldn’t get into – Night of the Hunted. While it still boasts Rollin’s signature style (the usual gratuitous nudity and gore), I found Hunted to be a disappointing, boring effort.

Elisabeth (porn actress Brigitte Lahaie) stumbles out of the woods onto a darkened road to escape…something. Young Robert (Vincent Gardère) drives by and picks up the disoriented beauty, who has lost her memory and can’t remember what she is running from or even who she is. Robert takes her back to his apartment in Paris, the obligatory “bow-chikka-bow-bow” happens (in a very long scene, I might add) and the next morning Robert leaves her there and goes to work. A man claiming to be Elisabeth’s doctor and his assistant kidnap her and take her back to a hospital housed in a towering skyscraper where she joins other zombie-like people who’ve lost their memories. Elisabeth vows to escape with Robert’s help, but in the meantime other patients start lashing out, with murders and lots of awkward sex occurring.

Sigh. This movie is more like a bad softcore porno than anything else, with not much attention given to other parts of the story. I was extremely bored during most of the film, even fast forwarding through much of it since nothing really happens. Elisabeth and other patients wander around aimlessly, have nervous breakdowns about not remembering anything, are raped by the staff (and one sleazy janitor in particular who has a painfully weird/uncomfortable rape scene) and are experimented on by the doctor running the hospital.

Gone is Rollins’ stylish imagery and replaced by a cold, institutionalized setting. Not even the gore is eye-popping since it is set in such a bland place. Sure, there is tons of nudity (full-frontal, both male and female), but the unattractive cast make it a chore to sit through and the sex feels vanilla, especially for a Rollin’s flick. The film just feels too sterile and constrained by its setting to ever achieve anything truly great and gets bogged down by a lackluster story and slow pace.

Not one of Jean Rollin’s best efforts, Night of the Hunted is only recommended for hardcore Rollin fans…and even then with trepidation.

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The Living Dead Girl (1982)

Though I haven’t delved too deeply into Jean Rollin’s filmography, I have found the films of his I have seen to be quite poetic and darkly romantic. The Iron Rose was the first film of his I saw, and it entranced me with its gothic feel and dark poetry. After that, I eagerly sought out his other work, which led me to view The Grapes of Death, a film I found to be rather disappointing.

However, I recently viewed Rollin’s The Living Dead Girl (aka La Morte Vivante), which came highly recommended, and this film did not disappoint. Sticking to a more straightforward storyline and somewhat leaving his slow and hypnotizing filmmaking behind, Rollin brings us a film filled with gore, nudity and an enthralling Living Dead Girl.

The film opens with a couple of workers dumping barrels filled with toxic waste into an old crypt under a castle in the French countryside. While they are down there, they decide to do a little grave robbing as well. As they are prying open the coffin lids of two coffins, an earthquake causes the toxic chemicals to spill everywhere. While one grave robber gets killed by the stuff, another gets his eyes clawed out by the resurrected Catherine Valmont (Francoise Blanchard), who looks as fresh and pretty as the day she died two years ago!

She makes her way back to her castle, though her family is also dead and the place has been put on the market. She kills anyone that gets in her way, including a realtor and her boyfriend who come to the empty castle for some hanky-panky.

When her childhood friend and blood sister Helene (Marina Pierro) discovers Catherine is still alive, she rushes to her aid and vows to never leave her, helping her to kill people when Catherine craves their blood. Even while Helene tries to find a semblance of normality for the two of them, Catherine truly realizes what she is and begins lamenting her current undead condition.

Catherine’s secret becomes further threatened when an American actress photographs her and becomes intent on uncovering her identity.

Living Dead Girl is probably Jean Rollin’s most commercial and accessible film. His signature dream-like atmosphere is more muted in the film (though still present) and the plot moves along rather briskly for a Rollin film. The gore and nudity are also copious and occur often, as do the lesbian undertones (which are present in many of Rollin’s vampire films) between Helene and Catherine.

Catherine’s weapon of choice were her long, curved nails, with which she slashed and stabbed through many victims. Blood splattered, sprayed and streamed over the screen throughout the film. There’s plenty of violence, from a girl getting her stomach repeatedly slashed open to a man on fire. The most impressive gore sequence came towards the end, when someone’s throat is literally ripped out, and it was so prolonged that it made me squirm a little in my seat! There was also plenty of flesh exposed on which to splatter said blood. Gorehounds will delight in many of the blood-letting scenes!

Francoise Blanchard is amazing as Catherine Valmont. Her innocent blue eyes and angelic blond hair contrast nicely with the chaos that surrounds her. She is very much the victim as opposed to the monster in this film, and you really feel for her predicament. Marina Pierro also does a marvelous job as Helene, who just can’t seem to come to grips with what Catherine really is. Her steely resolve to protect her friend and the love she shows toward Catherine are very admirable traits, though near the end you wish she would just come to understand what Catherine is going through. The rest of the acting is respectable, even with the subplot involving the actress stumbling across Catherine’s secret.

Surprisingly, the subplot doesn’t feel unnecessary, but instead adds a bit more depth and drama to the story, written by Rollin and Jacques Ralf. As for the pacing, it moved at a quick clip, something that can’t be said for all of Rollin’s films. There are plot holes (including the freshness of Catherine’s corpse!), but they are easy to overlook when the film is viewed as a whole. I enjoyed how the story never took a decidedly “zombie” or “vampire” stance with Catherine’s resurrection, but straddled the two myths. Catherine is never named as a “zombie” or a “vampire,” but is merely “undead” and marries aspects from both. She drinks blood like a vampire but also stumbles around like a mindless zombie most of the film. In the end, the character works, which is all that really matters. The rest of the story, including Catherine’s mounting angst and Helene’s burgeoning frustration, works nicely with the ensuing chaos and catastrophe of Catherine’s “condition.”

The cinematography, done by Max Monteillet, was also stunning and the vistas used in the film were gorgeous. The Valmont’s castle was outfitted for a king and the surrounding fields and town were vibrant. The leads were beautiful as well, which completed the film’s rich palette. Visually speaking, each scene has something to grab your eye.

If you are looking to explore Jean Rollin’s work, Living Dead Girl is the most accessible place to start. Its straightforward story moves at a brisk pace, the acting is excellent, the gore is out of this world and the leads are beautiful (and you’ll get to see plenty of them throughout the film if you catch my drift). The film follows some genre guidelines (toxic spill awakens the dead) but has a unique spin on the consequences. This Living Dead Girl is no brainless zombie intent only on brains, she is a thinking, rationale being with a strong sense of right and wrong who just happens to be back from the dead…and is a very messy blood-feaster.

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The Grapes of Death (1978)

After being introduced to Jean Rollins’ work through the film The Iron Rose, I decided to take a look at a few other of his films. I decided to start his 1978 film The Grapes of Death (aka Les Raisins de la Mort)as the premise, location and promise of gore lured me. The film was said to feature zombies, be set in the vineyards of France and be one of Rollins’ most ooey and gooey horror films.

I didn’t see any zombies or French vineyards, but the gore certainly was present and accounted for!

The film opens with a group of vineyard workers spraying down the rows and rows of sickly grapes with harsh pesticides. Despite the fact that they are all wearing “protective masks” (which are little more than painter’s masks) one man falls violently ill. Meanwhile, a young woman named Elizabeth (Marie-Georges Pascal) is on her way into the region via train. She is going to meet her fiancée at the winery where he works. The same man that fell ill in the vineyards boards her train, kills her friend and attacks her, all the while a large, oozing wound on his face is rapidly spreading.

Elizabeth hightails it into the French countryside, but encounters more people with the same pus-filled sores that try to attack her and anyone else who remains unaffected. The infected are not only violent, but they are also organized and sneaky. Can Elizabeth make her way to her fiancées winery and get help…before it’s too late?

This movie was pretty hit and miss with me. It was touted as a zombie flick, but I think that is a grossly inaccurate description. It wasn’t clear if the infected died and came back as pus-filled atrocities or if they were just sick. Besides stumbling around a little bit, they certainly didn’t act like zombies either, as they could speak and manipulate people. I was also expecting a bit more violence or action, but the movie dragged in many places. I’d say the bulk of the movie featured the heroine running, climbing and walking through the rocky French countryside (no vineyards in sight!).

The best part of the film was the special FX done on the afflicted. The greenish-yellow pus, the raw red sores and the bright red dripping blood reminded me of the over-the-top effects used in Street Trash or Slime City. While The Grapes of Death didn’t use the extreme bright color palate of either of those films, the effect of being grossed out was still achieved!

The signature Jean Rollins style of filming is definitely apparent in The Grapes of Death. The slow, languid shots give the film a dream-like quality, while the small flourishes of close-ups (of eyes, faces, etc.) are evident throughout the film. Visually, the color palate of the film is rather dull, making the colorful seeping sores on the infected pop all that much more.

The story is pretty straightforward and simple, but the ending is pretty powerful and even a bit surprising. I also loved the scenes with the woman in white, who absolutely stole the show!

The Grapes of Death isn’t a film I would recommend everyone see, but for those interested in Jean Rollins filmmaking it is a must-see. As many before me have said, the gore is phenomenal and fun and it pretty much makes an otherwise drawn out movie very enjoyable.

The Grapes of Death pairs excellently with a nice bottle of French Chianti.

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The Iron Rose (1973)

Though the French filmmaker Jean Rollin might be known to the casual cinephile more for his erotic vampire films, his little-known 1973 film The Iron Rose (La Rose de Fer) is instead a very surreal, macabre and poetic film that addresses Rollins’ penchant for darkly introspective films. The Iron Rose definitely appealed to my gothic sensibilities, but its slow pace and focus on visuals instead of plot it won’t appeal to everyone.

A young couple decides to explore an old cemetery after a long day of bicycling through the French countryside. The two just met at a wedding reception the night before but waste no time in descending into a crypt for some hanky-panky. When the come up for air, they realize that night has fallen. In the dark, the cemetery becomes a very foreboding place and the two quickly search out the gates to get out. The thing is, they just can’t find them! As the night continues, the two keep searching for a way out; all the while the woman becomes more and more comfortable with being with the dead in the cemetery.

With its setting in a ramshackle and romantic (ok, most would call it creepy) cemetery, The Iron Rose is requisite viewing for those that revel in the darker and more macabre side of life. Its gothic atmosphere (wildly overgrown cemetery, crumbling architecture) and striking visuals (the opening scene of a woman in red standing at the edge of a roaring sea, the eerie shots of the cemetery) are a tribute to Rollins’ talent as a filmmaker and are the reason why the film succeeds.

The film has little dialogue and not much of a story (“lovers get stuck in a cemetery at night, get spooked, go a little batty” just about covers it), instead relying upon atmosphere, ambiance and emotion to draw the audience in (of course, beautiful actress Francoise Pascal probably doesn’t hurt either). The film is bathed in gothic atmosphere and aches with angst. There are no spooks, no psychos and no monsters stalking the young couple…just the hundreds of dead surrounding them, reminding them of their own mortality.

On the down side, the film is slowly (but deliberately!) paced with not much happening. The couple runs around a lot, knocks over a few headstones, gets into a violent fight, makes love in an open grave filled with bones and the woman begins reciting some darkly themed poetry and philosophy. If you are looking for a straightforward, gory horror film, The Iron Rose isn’t for you. The thing is, though, the slightly repetitive nature of the film works in its favor. We, like the protagonists, feel like we are trapped in a surreal nightmare that we just can’t escape. For some of us, including the female protagonist, this dark atmosphere is beguiling, bewitching and we don’t want to leave it.

More of an art film than a horror movie, The Iron Rose is nonetheless a beautifully enchanting piece of work that deserves to be more widely seen. It also shows what a lyrically visual filmmaker Rollins’ was and continued to be throughout his career.

If you are in the mood for an artistically gothic film, no other rose would smell as sweet as The Iron Rose.

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