|
|
Réquiem Pour Un Vampire
AKA Requiem For A Vampire, Caged Virgins
Directed By Jean Rollin
Released: 1971
Starring: Marie-Pierre Castel, Mireille Dargent, Dominique, and Louise
Dhour
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Released By Encore Films 2005
Encoding: Region 0 PAL
----------------------------------------------------------
Two girls (played by Marie-Pierre Castel
and Mireille Dargent) in clown costumes are making a getaway from the
police. They manage to escape but their driver is killed. After setting
the car on fire and washing off their clown makeup, the girls set out on
foot. They hide out in a cemetery for a while. After one of them is nearly
buried alive they decide to venture to a nearby castle which just happens
to be the home of a coven of vampires. The oldest vampire (played by
Philippe Gasté) and his minions (Dominique and Louise Dhour) inform the
girls that they must use their feminine charms to bring food (in the form
of young men) back to the castle.
Jean Rollin’s fourth vampire film is another weird one.
Requiem For A
Vampire sports some cool lighting, great sets, and the cinematography
by Renan Pollès is superb. The soundtrack is awesome mixing cheesy organs,
free jazz compositions, and progressive rock to great effect. What the
film doesn’t have is a good editor. Atmospheric is one thing but
Requiem is downright longwinded.
The two leads really make the film. Marie-Pierre Castel and Mireille
Dargent (Les
Démoniaques) are very appealing as the two (practically mute)
runaway clown criminals. They’re wide-eyed stares as the vampire bats are
drinking their blood is a classic shot that is too adorable to be
horrific. Dominique is practically iconic in her cape and silly fangs.
It’s a shame her entrance wasn’t as impressive as her unforgettable clock
moment in
The Shiver Of The Vampires but her presence is always
welcome.
Requiem For A Vampire features a bevy of silly and trashy
wackiness. Okay, clown outfits aside, what is it with the disgruntled
gravedigger? As Mireille Dargent is being "accidentally" buried alive in
the cemetery, the gravedigger (some dopey looking French guy) can clearly
see that he’s burying someone. So, Rollin fans, can you explain this one
away? Is the gravedigger purposefully trying to bury a woman alive? Does
this mean that he can’t see her because she never existed in the first
place? You make the call!
Along with
The Rape Of The Vampire,
The Shiver Of The Vampires,
this film should separate the diehard Rollin fans from the casual viewer.
There are several moments of brilliance surrounded by overlong shots of
the two heroines just wandering around. The striking beauty of the two
actresses, trashy rape sequences (with victims chained to stone pillars),
vampire bat crotch-blood-drinking, and a very cool gothic cemetery just
aren’t enough to retain my attention. Geez, what’s wrong with me? Maybe
I’m jaded or maybe I’m just burned out on leisurely paced films flitting
between the border of art and horror. Either way, I found
Requiem For A
Vampire to be occasionally
breathtaking but nearly impossible to sit through
----------------------------------------------------------
DVD Stuff:
Ding! Ding! Ding! Encore Films is the reigning champion of extras. With an
introduction by Jean Rollin, Interviews with actors Paul Bisciglia and
Louise Dhour, Jean Rollin reading selections from his writings, audio
commentary with the director, alternate “clothed” sequences, and a 64 page
full color booklet! Whew! Okay, so yeah the film looks excellent in its
restored and remastered 16:9 widescreen and the mono sound (in English and
French) is pretty good as well. Also, there are subtitles for English and
a number of other languages. This version makes all other releases of
Requiem
obsolete. A must have for Rollin fans.
----------------------------------------------------------
Links:
Get Requiem For A Vampire
on DVD from
Xploited Cinema.
|
