On the one hand, 'Le Viol du Vampire' feels like an art film taking a painstakingly restrained approach to vampires. The voiceovers, the stilted delivery and movement, the subdued moments of what would be robust action, the inelegant and sparing realization of scenes, the camerawork, the music, the dialogue, and more: Every single aspect seems purposefully, concretely deliberate and ham-handed, brought to fruition with only the most sparing, delicate, and softest of touches. This is most especially reflected in the first half hour - the first part of the film, which accordingly was originally intended as only a short - but is certainly a consistent truth throughout the whole length. It is one of the most understated and underhanded stories about vampires I've seen to date, and considering as well that it marked the first feature of filmmaker Jean Rollin, it wouldn't be wrong either to say that this comes across as the avant-garde project of a film student. For all that: I really like the core ideas of the narrative. Bare-bones as the production is, owing to a meager budget, against all odds the deeply austere style of the feature is weirdly captivating, refreshing, and gratifying.
That's one perspective. But on the other hand, an alternative point of view: this is pure amateur schlock. I gather that no one appearing in front of the camera was a professional actor, and it shows. Rollin's inexperience is unmistakable in the inauthentic manner in which scenes are arranged and executed, and the technical craft in all regards. What appears through a generous lens to be a light and discriminating brush, through a more critical lens looks to be a heavy-handed, uncaring shove. Some scenes and dialogue are laughably bad as they are presented to us. There is definite plot, but the writing is in every way so loose, weak, and flimsy that it's often difficult to discern what exactly is going on without the aid of an outside source to provide context. Some instances are moments of important plot that are rendered with so little clarity as to be wholly opaque without a secondary analysis; still other sequences pass with no apparent purpose at all, or even perhaps without any meaningful connection to the rest of the plot.
Personally, I'm of the mind that - bizarre as it is - the plainly gawky, undexterous, ascetic, and superficially ungenuine tack of the picture is altogether intriguing - and gratifyingly so. Given its proper due, it would be a very unique and unusual exploration of a horror staple - undoubtedly divisive, but singularly fascinating. Unfortunately, I also recognize that what I perceive and wish is not what 'Les Viol du Vampire' truly represents. I think it's safe to say that the movie before us is the result not of hamstrung artful intent, but of very green, fresh-faced cinema rookies making a feature to the utmost extent of their novice capabilities, and by pure chance hitting on a novel idea in the process. And even if the concept's actualization as we see it were in fact by design, it remains that the writing is far too deficient to achieve the full potential of what this curiosity could have been.
Alas. This is so peculiar. I don't think it's outright bad; rather, I think it's accidentally almost good. I want to like this movie - I want to see a consciously exacting, artistic version of the genre - but its shortcomings are too great. For the most patient and open-minded horror fan, and for fans of Rollin specifically, this is an oddity worth checking out despite its faults. For anyone else, I'm hard-pressed to recommend 'Le Viol du Vampire' - I don't absolutely dislike it, but above all, I just yearn for what could have been.
That's one perspective. But on the other hand, an alternative point of view: this is pure amateur schlock. I gather that no one appearing in front of the camera was a professional actor, and it shows. Rollin's inexperience is unmistakable in the inauthentic manner in which scenes are arranged and executed, and the technical craft in all regards. What appears through a generous lens to be a light and discriminating brush, through a more critical lens looks to be a heavy-handed, uncaring shove. Some scenes and dialogue are laughably bad as they are presented to us. There is definite plot, but the writing is in every way so loose, weak, and flimsy that it's often difficult to discern what exactly is going on without the aid of an outside source to provide context. Some instances are moments of important plot that are rendered with so little clarity as to be wholly opaque without a secondary analysis; still other sequences pass with no apparent purpose at all, or even perhaps without any meaningful connection to the rest of the plot.
Personally, I'm of the mind that - bizarre as it is - the plainly gawky, undexterous, ascetic, and superficially ungenuine tack of the picture is altogether intriguing - and gratifyingly so. Given its proper due, it would be a very unique and unusual exploration of a horror staple - undoubtedly divisive, but singularly fascinating. Unfortunately, I also recognize that what I perceive and wish is not what 'Les Viol du Vampire' truly represents. I think it's safe to say that the movie before us is the result not of hamstrung artful intent, but of very green, fresh-faced cinema rookies making a feature to the utmost extent of their novice capabilities, and by pure chance hitting on a novel idea in the process. And even if the concept's actualization as we see it were in fact by design, it remains that the writing is far too deficient to achieve the full potential of what this curiosity could have been.
Alas. This is so peculiar. I don't think it's outright bad; rather, I think it's accidentally almost good. I want to like this movie - I want to see a consciously exacting, artistic version of the genre - but its shortcomings are too great. For the most patient and open-minded horror fan, and for fans of Rollin specifically, this is an oddity worth checking out despite its faults. For anyone else, I'm hard-pressed to recommend 'Le Viol du Vampire' - I don't absolutely dislike it, but above all, I just yearn for what could have been.