Fascination (1979)

Jean Rollin was a master of the fantastique, the way that the French refer to a mixture of science fiction, horror and fantasy. What's the difference between fantastique and fantasy? The former is more concerned with the intrusion of supernatural phenomena into an otherwise realist narrative. In this genre, the supernatural may be met with doubt, disbelief and fear; yet it always exists.After a decade marked by working under a pseudonym in the porn industry to make ends meet, Rollin saw Fascination as an attempt to return to his roots. It's based on Jean Lorrain's Un verre de sang (A Glass of Blood), a poem about rich people drinking the blood of bulls in order to cure anemia. It's also a tribute to a French magazine that explored eroticism in art.In 1905, a group of wealthy women wait for bulls to be slaughtered so that they can drink their supposedly curative blood.A gang of thieves pursues Mark, who is trying to leave France for London with a bag of gold coins. He finds a secluded mansion in the mountains that is empty, save for two chambermaids, Elizabeth and Eva, who await the arrival of their Marchioness and her servants.The women, who are lovers, aren't afraid of Mark. Instead, they see attracted to him. Eva eventually sleeps with the thief, making Elizabeth jealous to the point that she puts a gun in her mouth.A shot rings out, but it is not Elizabeth's death. The thieves have found where Mark is hiding and have begun shooting at the house. Eva goes out to give the men Mark's gold. While they count it, a female thief demands her dress.Eva makes love to one of the thieves before stabbing him, then wiping out the rest with a scythe. Once the film tastes blood, it picks up in intensity and purpose. Eva returns to find the woman who stole her white dress, now glad in black and carrying the giant bladed weapon. Single frame close ups of their eyes, lips and blades show the difference between the women. While the thief was once in control and confident, now she is facing death. Her outstretched knife is tentative and finally drops as Eva laughingly decimates her, the former virginal white dress awash with blood as the camera pulls back from the drawbridge to show the carnage.Soon, the Marchioness later arrives, whom Mark refers to as the grand danger. She tells him that death often takes the form of seduction (and Elizabeth had said that death itself would be coming). If Mark stays — and she know she will — he'll be the only man there…except for Satan, of course.Mark jokingly says, "Midnight! Satan! Death!" as he finds the situation very amusing. Mark tries to take her by force, as she intimidates that he'd like to try, but she responds by biting his lip.Four more women arrive, excited at the possibility of Mark being at their annual reunion. They go to meet him as Elizabeth and Eva light a room full of candles. Mark asks if it's for the arrival of Death, but gets no answers.Read more at https://bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/10/11/fascination-1979

This is a slow-moving art-house flick in the vein of other French blood-drinking classics such as DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS. These films are obviously an acquired taste, but I found this to be delightfully creepy in a spooky kind of way. There isn't a plot as such, just a series of weird visual images directed in Jean Rollin's inimitable style. With these type of films the camera always stays static and there always seem to be femme fatales dressed in flowing white robes who somehow move in a magical slow motion.Surprisingly, for a flick of this kind, the acting is actually rather good, especially from the three leads. Lahaie manages to be sinister-looking and beautiful at the same time, which is no mean feat. This is a film which is high on atmosphere, and low on action. There's a lot of sex to spice things up, but the main focus of the film is the hypnotic women and their desire for something. This something is never explained until the ending of the film, making it very suspenseful.The ending isn't straightforward as you might think; instead, there's a clever twist in the tale which comes as totally unexpected. But the film works best when concentrating on some truly unique images - the best being the scene where a black-clad Lahaie goes on a killing spree with a scythe, quickly slaying those who stand in her way. The most disturbing scene would have to be the ending. This is a strange, frightening film which offers up no explanations as to why what we see occurs; it just happens. There is no happy ending, no linear plot to follow and no good or evil. Thus, it's a very interesting and rewarding film.

"Fascination" is the second Jean Rollin film I watched in one week (the other being "Night of the Hunted"), and the second time that I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome! I still consider Rollin to be vastly overrated and unworthy of his cult veteran status, and I still can't bring myself to rate any of his films higher than six out ten, but these two were a lot more enthralling than my first acquaintances with Rollin's oeuvre (like "Lips of Blood" and "The Rose of Iron"). This is really the first time that I spotted a few of those artsy psychedelic style elements that Rollin fan-boys are always raving about and it's definitely the fist time that the story remains compelling beyond the one hour of playtime mark. "Fascination" superficially appears to be just another umpteenth and uninspired lesbian vampire flick – like Rollin already made too many of – but there actually are a couple of welcome assets in the screenplay, like an homage to the legendary Countess Bathory and passionate liaison between the female lead characters. The film starts in the earliest years of the 20th century, when wealthy bourgeoisie women consumed animal blood supposedly to stay in shape and maintain their beauty. A certain while later, a handsome but sleazy delinquent running from the companions he betrayed seeks shelter in an ominous Gothic castle. He's warmly welcomed by two extremely yummy and lewd housemaids, Eva and Elisabeth, who convincingly insist him to stay and even help to get rid of his pursuers. It almost feels as if they are preparing their guest for a much greater purpose. The story's denouement is obviously very predictable and approximately half of the film is redundant padding footage, but still "Fascination" bathes in an oddly seductive atmosphere and delicious choreography. In a strange and inexplicable way, the sight of Brigitte Lahaie rampaging around with a scythe whilst dressed in only a black cape is one of the sexiest things I ever beheld… Still, regardless of these isolated moments of sheer beauty, you still have to endure a whole lot of tedious footage, wooden acting performances, imbecilic dialogs and the completely lack of coherence. Maybe Jean Rollin movies form an acquired taste and I'm slowly learning to appreciate them, I don't know

Jean Rollin is famous for his 'erotic' vampire movies, and for me Fascination is the fifth that I've seen. The four previous ones have disappointed me, and even though Fascination is generally reputed to be one of his best; it disappointed me also. I have noticed that the French director is better at directing zombie films, as The Grapes of Death and The Living Dead Girl are the only Rollin films among my favourites. Still, it would seem that the man himself prefers vampires. The main problem with this, and probably most of the rest of Rollin's output (certainly the ones that I've seen) is that it's all so similar to previous efforts. Lips of Blood was my first Rollin vampire flick, and every time I see another one, I am constantly reminded of the fact that I really shouldn't have bothered. The plot takes place in 1916, and follows the story of a young thief who stumbles upon a castle while on the run. The castle is owned by two beautiful and seductive women, who proceed to toy with and torment him for their pleasure. However, there's something more sinister about them and they turn out to be part of a vampire blood cult! If Jean Rollin was better at writing, his films could be masterpieces. The director clearly has a great eye for detail, and his art direction is superb as the film looks lovely and benefits from several memorable shots. Furthermore, Rollin's scene setting is good; the sequence that sees one of the women in a black cape with a sickle being a particular standout. However, the rest of the movie is entirely forgettable; as the characters spout awful lines of dialogue at one another, and resort to having sex with each other every time that Rollin can't think of what else to do. The film doesn't take long to get tiresome, and after a while I found myself just admiring the locations rather than trying to connect with the cold and lifeless plot. The surreal atmosphere is well felt, however, and the director does a good job of ensuring that his film always feels like it is taking place in a dream world, which helps the erotic side of the movie. However, for a film about vampire lesbians; Fascination isn't very erotic at all, as Rollin films the sex with little or no feeling. Overall, this movie is bound to delight fans of Rollin's other vampire films, as it's essentially more of the same; but personally, I don't think I'll see any more vampire films from the sleazy French director.