Lèvres de Sang - 1975

[Zaharoff]

Lèvres de Sang - 1975 - 7/10
AKA - Lips Of Blood




Moody, atmospheric, dreamlike Horror film is a must for Jean Rollin fans.
A man sees a photo of a ruined caste, which triggers a childhood memory of an encounter.
He starts inquiring about the castle, the photo, and finds opposition to his search.
After a trip to the city tombs, he unleashes four female vampires, nude save for the sheerest fabric imaginable.
Most of this was filmed at night in a cemetery, urban wastelands, and underground.
Rollin’s films always have a measured pace, but he has a photographer’s eye for details.
As vampires, the ladies are fairly laughable, especially when the teeth appear.
Most will gaze through the fabric, however, I daresay.
A rewarding film. Novices, be warned, this is close to arthouse.
Prudes - nudity galore.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

I had kind of a Rollin phase a year or two ago. None of the films were properly great (indeed they can be pretty bad at times) but he's refreshing in some ways and shows admirable restraint with dialogue. He's a book writer too but barely any of his work is in English.

Grapes Of Death is probably the best one, which is a shame because it's not one of his signature gothic vampire films. Also quite fond of Shiver Of The Vampires and Iron Rose but those have the cutest girls in my view. Lips Of Blood, Fascination and Requiem For A Vampire probably the next best ones.

[Zaharoff]

Growing up, I had read about Euro films, but my chances of seeing most were slim to none.
Laserdiscs changed that and I bought many films from Redemption and Salvation on LD.
The campy Eileen Daly presented each. She was fun the first time, but wore thin on rewatching.
Later DVDs had the opening intro, but no dialogue from Miss Daly.
Between both formats, I bought several Rollin and Franco movies.
Very different shoestring directors and worth seeking out.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Yeah, that's how I got my Rollin films. My copy of Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders was on the Redemption label.