Lips of Blood Jean Rollin

(aka "Lips of Blood" or "Lèvres de sang" )

directed by Jean Rollin
France 1975

While at a party to promote a new perfume, Frederic (co-writer Jean-Loup Philippe, RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE ) recognizes the setting of one of the ad campaign photographs from a vague childhood memory involving a mysterious woman (Anne Brilland). His mother (Natalie Perry) tries to discourage his delving into the past but he is eventually lead by the ageless apparition of this woman to a crypt where he accidentally unleashes a quartet of vampire women from their tombs. As Frederic continues to pursue the mystery woman, his mother dispatches henchmen to deal with the vampire epidemic and goes to extraordinary lengths to keep the past a secret.

One of Rollin's least financially successful films (after THE IRON ROSE ), LIPS OF BLOOD is one of his most densely plotted vampire films. It is less dream-like than his others but more suspenseful and action-oriented. Despite the modern setting, it has its share of striking imagery as scantily-clad vampire women prowl the city (one segment where two nurses remove their face masks to reveal fangs may have inspired a notable unused sequence in HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II), Frederic follows his mystery woman (he sees her in a theater screening RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE though it advertises THE NUDE VAMPIRE outside), and his flashbacks lead him to a location full of crumbling ruins and Rollin's favorite shooting location: the beach at Dieppe.

Eric Cotenas

Poster

Theatrical Release: 18 May 1975

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DVD Comparison:

Image Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Encore Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the Screen Caps!

(Image Entertainment - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Encore Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Image Entertainment Region 0 - NTSC	Encore Entertainment Region 0 - PAL
Runtime	1:26:48	1:23:15 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.65:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.99 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.33 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 Entertainment
Audio	French (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)	French (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	English, none	English, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Image Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterboxed - 1.65:1 Edition Details: • Still Gallery • Director Filmography DVD Release Date: 9 November 1999 Amaray Chapters 14	Release Information: Studio: Encore Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Introduction by Jean Rollin (in English - 10:00) • Disc Two • This Beach That Follows Me featurette (in French with English subtitles - 24:39) • Interview with Jean-Loup Philippe (in French with English subtitles - 16:01) • Interview with Nathalie Perrey (in French with English subtitles - 12:23) • Interview with Serge Rollin (in French with English subtitles - 13:14) • Interview with Cathy Tricot (in French with English subtitles - 14:47) • Photo gallery • Disc Three • Selected Scenes Commentary with Jean Rollin (in English - 32:55) • Les Amours Jaunes short film (in French with English subtitles - 10:10) • French theatrical trailer (2:19; 16:9) • Demoniaques Trailer (2:57; 16:9) • Requiem for a Vampire French Trailer (3:00; 4:3) • 64 page booklet DVD Release Date: 30 November 2005 Digipack in Sleeve Chapters 8

Comments

While the wealth of extras (including the standard incredibly informative 64 page booklet) is worth the price, Encore's transfer is problematic in a few areas. Firstly, it has been cropped rom 1.66:1 to 1.78:1 (Encore's RAPE OF THE VAMPIRE - link - was stretched from 1.66:1 to 1.78:1 while their LIVING DEAD GIRL's 1.78:1 transfer revealed more peripheral information than the 1.66:1 transfer from Image) which often crops off the top of heads (especially the taller Philippe). Secondly, while the action under the credits is present on the transfer the title overlays are missing (they were present on the Image transfer from which the title cap is sourced). Thirdly, the end credits on both transfers are extensively damaged. It should be noted that the selected scenes commentary on the third disc appear over the earlier 1.66:1 transfer containing the credits missing from the feature on the first disc. While other releases in the Encore series have included alternate and deleted scenes, LEVRES DE SANG's extras do not include the alternate hardcore footage (mostly involving the models at the photographer's studio) for the X-rated re-edit SUCE-MOI VAMPIRE released in France to recoup the money lost on the original film (Encore's release of NIGHT OF THE HUNTED includes hardcore inserts for that film as Easter Eggs in addition to other alternate footage). Some of the day for night exteriors have also been tinted blue with varying degrees of success (see capture 6 which is actually a more arresting image without the tint).

The second DVD features interviews with Philippe, Perry, the director's son Serge (who plays Frederic in the flashbacks), and Cathy Tricot (THE NUDE VAMPIRE - link) and the featurette "The Beach that Follows Me" about Rollin's favorite Dieppe shooting location. The short film "Les Amours Jaunes" is featured on the third disc (it is also an extra on the US DVD of THE NUDE VAMPIRE) along with trailers for the feature (absent from the Image DVD), DEMONIAQUES, and REQUIEM FOR A VAMPIRE along with an extensive 64 page booklet.

A new anamorphic US DVD has been announced by Redemption USA - HERE that will apparently contain some of the extras from the Encore set as well as the "Virgins and Vampires" documentary already included on their release of KILLING CAR. It will likely be a PAL-NTSC standards conversion.