Rape of the Vampire

(aka "The Rape of the Vampire" or "Viol du Vampire" or "Reine des vampires" or "Queen of the Vampires")

directed by Jean Rollin
France 1967

Three strangers arrive at a chateau inhabited by four women believed to be vampires. But are they vampires or are they under the hypnotic machinations of an old man? Rollin shot the first part of this film as a short subject to be billed with an American vampire film bought by a distributor that just over an hour (it too was designed for double billing). His producers were impressed with what he accomplished with next to nothing and asked him to expand the film to feature length. Thus, the first half hour (part one) is an intriguing short that makes the most of its found locations, make-shift production design, and available lighting (and a very early example of a turntable effect around two arguing actors to heighten the intensity of the scene). The second half (which necessitates resurrecting several of the characters that were killed at the end of the first and introduces the Queen of the Vampires played by Jacqueline Seiger (who was an instructor at Felix Guattari's anti-psychology clinic at the time). Lacking the structure of the first part, the near-plotless remaining hour allows Rollin to cram in an entire serial's worth of car chases, mad doctors, vampires, fist fights, and gun fire as well as several more arresting - and iconic in the Rollin oeuvre - images to bring the short to feature length. Part 2 features also Olivier Martin (the protagonist of Rollin's LE VAMPIRE NUE - forthcoming from Redemption USA) and, despite his large role in the part, an uncredited Jean-Loup Philippe (co-writer and star of Rollin's LEVRES DE SANG).

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release:

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Image Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Encore (Limited Edition 2 Disc Set) - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the Screen Caps!

(Image Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Encore (Limited Edition 2 Disc Set) - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Image Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC	Encore Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:30:42 (4% PAL speedup)	1:30:42 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.62:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.46 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.98 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Image Entertainment
Bitrate: Encore (Limited Edition 2 Disc Set)
Audio	French Dolby Digital 1.0 mono	French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
Subtitles	English, none	English, Dutch, German, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Image Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.62:1 Edition Details: • Gallery of Stills and Promotional Materials • Theatrical Trailer (4:24) DVD Release Date: 19 March 2002 Amaray Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Encore Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Disc One: • Audio Commentary by Jean Rollin • Disc Two: • The Story of Nuit des Horlanges (22:29) • Trailer (4:23) • Still Gallery • Interview with Jacqueline Sieger (14:07) • Interview with Alain-Yves Beaujour (20:04) • Interview with François Tusques (13:30 • Censored Scenes (2:24) • Trailers for Les Demoniaques (2:57); • Shiver of the Vampires (3:59); Night of the Hunted (3:16) • La Morte Vivante (1:24) • Booklet on the film (28 pages) DVD Release Date: 20 October 2007 Digipack Chapters 8

Comments:

Although the OAR is 1.66:1, the new Encore DVD is letterboxed at anamorphic 1.78:1 yet nothing seems to be missing from the image. In fact, the Encore transfer reveals a sliver more info on the sides and is sharper thanks to the higher resolution inherent in 16:9 transfers. The image has actually been stretched slightly from 1.66:1. The effect is not damaging in long and medium shots but faces look squat in close-up (especially the bewitching Ms. Seiger as the Queen of the Vampires who far outclasses anything Anne Rice could come up with). Anamorphic 1.66:1 should not be an alien concept to any company that cares about preserving films. The lavish extras for such a marginal film (and their 6 previous Rollin releases) suggest that they do indeed care about them.

Interviews are provided with "La Reine des Vampires" Jaqueline Sieger, composer (of part 2) Francois Tusques, and co-writer Alain-Yves Boujour. The interview with Sieger was shot in Rollin's apartment and he makes an appearance. She mentions that she made most of her own costumes (inspired by some of poster artist Philippe Druillet's artwork). The feature length audio commentary is subtitled in English (some of the previous releases have had Rollin doing selected scene commentary in English). "The Story of la Nuit des Horlanges" is an interview piece on Rollin's latest film (also known as La Nuit Transfigurée).

As with the previous Encore Rollin releases, a lengthy production essay by Rollin on the making of the film, lavishly illustrated with rare behind the scenes stills, is included as a separate booklet (these alone are worth the prices of the sets).

With a sharper transfer and good extras, the only drawback is the aspect ratio but owners of the Image R1 or Redemption R2 DVDs should not consider that a deal breaker (especially if their televisions can rescale the image).

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus
(Image Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Encore (Limited Edition 2 Disc Set) - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)