As far as Gothic atmosphere goes, French director Jean Rollin is one of my favourites - an absolute master of the macabre and the king of evoking images of foggy graveyards, scantily-clad wenches and eerie ruins. 'Les Frisson...' (which translates as 'The Shiver of the Vampire') is a spooky lil' vampire tale concerning two newlyweds, Antoine and Isle, who, as part of their honeymoon visit two of Isle's cousins, only to reach their destination to find out that both women died the day previously. Isle is naturally devastated, but they still decide to visit the chateau where the two women lived and are shown to their rooms by two mysterious women. Isle, so upset by her loss, decides to visit the churchyard where her two cousins are buried although whilst sleeping alone that night she is accosted by a strange woman who appears from the grandfather clock and bites her neck. And this is just the start of the weirdness....like so many of Rollin's films 'Les Frisson...' has to be experienced for its high bouts of eerie strangeness and surrealism.
Antoine, no doubt concerned by the fact his wife is sleeping alone goes to seek her out but only stumbles upon a ritual sacrifice involving both of the allegedly dead cousins. And so we are thrown in at the deep end of this seriously odd vampire tale but in topically Rollin fashion it's extremely lavish and Gothic, full of misty churchyards, wide-eyed gorgeous females and psychedelic twinges. After a while you really don't care what it's going on, and whilst many of Rollin's films pan out like peculiar art movies, they are so gloriously creaky and creepy that the viewer really doesn't want to wake up from the odd dreams Rollin evokes. The imagery is what makes these films so special, and I'd recommend one slaps this on during a dark autumnal night - light a few black candles and sit in your coffin. Wonderfully dodgy from soundtrack to script.
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