hey i'm in a vampire movie appreciation club and i wanted to show them one of jean rollin's movies and since you're like, the number one authority on jean rollin in my mind, what do you think are his best vampire movies? i've already seen fascination and la morte vivante and i'd like to show them one i haven't seen yet. thanks so much ❤️🌹
ok everything abt this……. so sweet. hi! thank you for asking and for considering me some kind of authority on him sdfjf love that guy… and well!!!! rollin had a really interesting way to approach vampirism, all kinds of odd rules and rituals. his very first movie is a vampire story but so unorthodox that it was ridiculed on its release (as basically any rollin movie when he was alive), i find it genuinely stunning but i reckon that wouldn’t be a good start? so! some of my favorites then that i think would go well with a new audience (in no order really. see what you find more interesting!):
1) the shiver of the vampires (1971) in which newlyweds go visit family only to find out they have recently passed, but still two mysterious girls welcome them to the chateau. has some iconic rollin vampire imagery, in particular de clock scene! lovely cemetery scenes too and also all those colors.. it’s really really beautiful. i’m planning on rewatching it soon.
2) requiem for a vampire (1971) also absolutely beautiful. in requiem these two girls who are lovers and running from the police find themselves in a vampire castle. it has a questionable scene that was added by producers because it was the 70s and they wanted to make money, but apart from that it’s a stunning movie. very quiet too :’)
3) two orphan vampires (1997) a later rollin, still has everything that makes his work speak to my soul. the night is blue and we spend a lot of our time in it, because it’s the only time the two orphans can in fact see. they use it to feed and also for some sense of freedom. it’s frankly the cutest. based on one of rollin’s own books and has a lot of dialogue, mostly between the two leads. i love it. in their journeys they meet different women-monsters too. just. i love this movie.
i think those are my favorites of the vampire movies if i can’t count fascination, since you’ve already seen! the nude vampire and lips of blood are also beautiful but i haven’t seen them in a while. also dracula’s fiancee, but this one i’d save it for when you’re more familiar with his work. it’s a treat then. hope this helps!!
