The Rape of the Vampire (Le Viol du Vampire)

SYNOPSIS

A psychiatrist (Bernard Letrou) ventures to a remote castle to convince a brood of four vampire sisters that they are misguided, brainwashed by superstitious villagers, and not truly creatures of the Supernatural. The villagers (including director Jean Rollin) confuse and abuse the sisters, before finally storming the castle. The cast descends on a hospital run by a young doctor (Jean-Loup Philippe), charged by the Queen of the Vampires (Jacqueline Sieger) to discover a cure for vampirism. The bewildering action culminates in a "blood wedding" presided over by Sieger, in her regal hot pants, on the legendary stage of the now-defunct théâtre du Grand Guignol.

The shoot was anything but professional. Everyone on the crew was making their first film. All copies of the script managed to get lost within two days, which quickly forced production into improvisation mode. Rollin opted to let the film become what it wanted to become. It was in the spirit of the times to experiment. The resulting film, THE RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE (Le Viol du Vampire), is a glorious puzzlement, like nothing else in the horror genre.

(excerpt of the essay by Tim Lucas)

REVIEWS

"Like nothing else in the horror genre." - Tim Lucas, Editor of VIDEO WATCHDOG

DVD Features

• Mastered in HD from the uncensored 35mm negative
• French with optional English subtitles
• Introduction by Jean Rollin
• Two short films by Jean Rollin: Les Amours jaunes (The Yellow Loves, 1958, 9 min.) and Les Pays loin (The Far Country, 1965, 16 min.)
• Alternate version of one scene (2 min.)
• "Fragments of Pavements Under the Sand," a documentary by Daniel Gouyette, featuring interviews with Jean Rollin, Jean-Denis Bonan, and Jean-Pierre Bouyxou
• Interview with Jean Rollin
• Interview with Jean-Loup Philippe
• 16-page booklet with an essay by Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog
• Original theatrical trailers

Blu-ray Features

• Mastered in HD from the uncensored 35mm negative
• French with optional English subtitles
• Introduction by Jean Rollin
• Two short films by Jean Rollin: Les Amours jaunes (The Yellow Loves, 1958, 9 min.) and Les Pays loin (The Far Country, 1965, 16 min.)
• Alternate version of one scene (2 min.)
• "Fragments of Pavements Under the Sand," a documentary by Daniel Gouyette, featuring interviews with Jean Rollin, Jean-Denis Bonan, and Jean-Pierre Bouyxou
• Interview with Jean Rollin
• Interview with Jean-Loup Philippe
• 16-page booklet with an essay by Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog
• Original theatrical trailers