Fascination [DVD]

Product Information

Playful, elegantly crafted and brimming with some of the most unforgettable images in his filmography, Fascination embodies Jean Rollin at his very best – venturing outside his usual comfort zones and extending the definition of his filmic universe in the process. The Image DVD of Fascination presented by Redemption in 1999 was the cleanest and most visually impressive rendition of this film to that point, though the only real past competition is the prior edited tape released by Redemption in the U. There's no dancing around it: Rollin's fine exploitation vampire film aims to titillate by churning the mind around all the curves and contours of the female body with sumptuously-shot nude scenes, and it does so with splendid period artistry.

Once inside the chateau, he encounters Elisabeth (Franca Mai) and Eva (played by the stunning Brigitte Lahaie, better known for her career in hardcore French adult films than her horror movies but a talented actress regardless), two mysterious lovelies who entice him with some pretty steamy lesbian stunt work.There is apparently also a heavily cut German DVD on the market, with a classification lower than FSK-18. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. However, the easy to follow story with the way the entire thing looks makes it an excellent midnight flick for those who want a big 70s style feel in a sex horror film or if you want an exploitation film that concentrates mainly on visuals. The two women apparently have little to do during the day besides rolling around on the rug for an occasional lesbian dalliance, so this turn of events turns out quite unexpectedly for our antihero. His films can be said to be fantasy films mixed with horror , although this one is more straight horror.

But, the print is missing the opening credits (~1:25) of two girls dancing on a bridge next to a gramophone. By 1931, Carroll had successfully made the transition from support player to lead actor, and her role in Fascination as Gwenda Farrell – a jaded actress on the rebound – is arguably one of her best. Though it has gone through a restoration process viewers will notice a drop in quality compared to other films in this range. Like so many of the director's pictures, this one might be best enjoyed as a fever dream of unusual and at times surreal images and scenes rather than as a linear plot or traditionally structured film but that's a big part of what makes Rollin's films so special - like the best works of art, they really do mean different things to different people.

In the middle of rural France there's a castle where two attractive females - Eva and Elisabeth -waste away their days, waiting for some initially unspecified event.

This is director Jean Rollin at his best; visual delights, sensual lesbian love-making, the beautiful Brigitte Lahaie as a scythe-wielding avenger, and a group of castle-dwelling bourgeois women addicted to drinking blood. Set in 1916, it tells the story of a thief who seeks refuge in a castle owned by two women, Eva (Brigitte Lahaie) and Elizabeth (Franca Mai).

The most suitable approach to Rollin's work is to forget about cinematic convention, remove expectation of complete verisimilitude, and sit back to witness the strange events of a place that surely can't exist. Like most Rollin films, the ending is both tragic and haunting, with a highly memorable final image and line of dialogue. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. With that said, there's a craftsmanship and artistic value to his films that will appeal to both horror fans and arthouse cinema devotees and this Blu-ray release from Kino and Redemption makes those qualities all the more obvious. Several of Rollin's recurring visual triggers find their way into the film as well, such as blooming candles in dimly lit rooms, stark splashes of red against washed-out secondary colors, and usage of see-through veils for his focal women.