Shiver of the Vampires

Rating:
Summary: Shiver of the Vampires (1970) d: Rollin, Jean
Review: ...A surreal and psychedelic vampire horror film. Full of vibrant colours and eccentric existential characters. A tastefully directed picture with deliberately cliched horror elements. Quick editing techniques with touches of Mario Bava type camera work, wherein the whole room in each scene is captured in one slow moving camera spin. '...Beautifully macabre, with eerie medieval castles'.
A newly married bride appears at the doorstep of a castle, in hopes of visiting her two cousins. After being warmly welcomed by two beautiful servants she and her new groom are told that the two cousins have recently passed away. Shaken by the recent news the bride; too upset to consummated her marriage, wonders around the castle discovering a surreal hippy female friend who pops out of a grandfather clock at midnight. The virgin is taken to the graveyard for a fiendish lesbian vampire ritual and lots of excuse to show naked women, Her husbands quest for knowledge is slowed down a little in the library, as he is attacked by the entire book stacks. Shortly after it is discovered that the two hippie cousins are not dead, just un-dead vampires who live in a world of sex and violence, in the castle of horror.

Rating:
Summary: Recommended, with Reservations
Review: I an overjoyed that after years of bad bootlegs, Redemption is releasing pristine copies of Jean Rollin's films. However, while the beauty of this transfer cannot be denied (it probably never looked this good when it was originally released) this particular version has 4 scenes that are missing, and that were available on a Something Weird version (which was missing a key scene that Redemption has)...
Since Redemption claims to work from Rollin's originals, I wonder why these scenes are missing. Well, just one of those mysteries...
Still, despite this, this DVD is well worth owning. It remains one of Rollin's best works, along with Lips of Blood & Fascination.

Rating:
Summary: Far from shivering...
Review: I debated as to whether or not I should review this DVD...After all, when it comes to this 'genre' of releases, it's really all about personal taste; and generally, if you dig these works of lesbianic-vampire grooviness (which I do), replete with the classic 'sexadelic' soundtracks, (largely, why I dig them) then it's usually a no-brainer...

However, this film definitely left me shivering, as my cold, lifeless body fell asleep on the couch and woke up several hours later with no blanket, wondering, "Did I actually fall asleep?"

And did I? YES.

The movie is a bore. From the opening scenes, it shows promise. Fairly decent music (though, truly more of an acid-jam band, rather than the fab 'progressive-rock' that is touted on the inside cover of the DVD) and a truly impressive transfer made it seem like a winner...But it just went downhill from there.

Little dialogue, little story, and little snippets of vampirotica make this one a dud. It hardly shines like the classic 'Vampyros Lesbos', and again, a great transfer alone does not a good movie make.

I will say this...If you are truly a collector of period pieces, and can stand the long, drawn out, obviousness of a movie going nowhere...well, then step up and shell out .....But, if you're truly into the 'real-deal'...seek out something else.

Rating:
Summary: Visionary vampire film
Review: No one makes movies like Jean Rollin, and this is his masterpiece. Like most of his visions it seems to be about innocence and corruption, the attraction Evil has to Good,(and vice versa,)and the discovery of beauty in the unlikeliest of places. This movie is very sexy, very slow, very weird. The music, lighting, absurd dialogue, and slow pacing help create a more poetic and imagistic type of film than we're used to here in the go-go States. If your taste in vampire movies runs more toward the Alyssa Milano variety then you'll probably not like this--it has more in common with Pasolini's Arabian Nights than The Hunger. And the DVD edition is terrific, with a trailer, photo gallery, and Redemption's trademark gothed-out lesbo introduction (which rates five stars all by itself.)

Rating:
Summary: Visionary vampire film
Review: No one makes movies like Jean Rollin, and this is his masterpiece. Like most of his visions it seems to be about innocence and corruption, the attraction Evil has to Good,(and vice versa,)and the discovery of beauty in the unlikeliest of places. This movie is very sexy, very slow, very weird. The music, lighting, absurd dialogue, and slow pacing help create a more poetic and imagistic type of film than we're used to here in the go-go States. If your taste in vampire movies runs more toward the Alyssa Milano variety then you'll probably not like this--it has more in common with Pasolini's Arabian Nights than The Hunger. And the DVD edition is terrific, with a trailer, photo gallery, and Redemption's trademark gothed-out lesbo introduction (which rates five stars all by itself.)

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the trouble
Review: The first thing that struck me was the picture quality ..it stinks !! ..I really don't know what the fuss is all about with dvd.. but anyway, the movie itself has an average story line however, the heavenly creatures that appear from time to time makes up for it

Rating:
Summary: Fun, highly stylized and sexy horror film.
Review: This film, like all of Jean Rollin's films, is not for everyone. He has a style all his own, which is on display in this movie. This film is notable for the hippie cousins, who are funnier than any other Rollin characters in any of his films. The DVD transfer is very clean and clear, some peopl have remarked that they couldn't believe it was made in the 70's. If you're a fan of this type of horror film, and keep in mind this isn't normal horror, then this one is quintessential.