Das Lustschloss der grausamen Vampire

Rollin in his usual mode impresses with place, color, dreamlike reverie. His women are unappealingly scrawny and bland, but his teasing of the cinematic imagination works for me enough to want to step in his ether - his films feel much less constructed than what passes as sensual these days, the night air and architectural walls of the thing always feel real, the texture real.

The film opens with a distraught 'virgin' being followed in dark streets by mysterious masked figures, everything in the film that is of that same somnambulist quality carries resonance and I would not dissuade you from watching. It really is fine in ways that you will seldom see in a horror film and that Kubrick bombastically killed in Eyes Wide Shut (it breathes here).

But damn it all to hell, if he isn't utterly inept as a storyteller and ruins every pleasure of touch. I don't mean that he wants to confound logic, I like that he does. I welcome filmmakers of the sort - Lynch, Ruiz, Zulawski, those who tether you to narrative threads you have much less control of than usual then pull and leave you scudding through the shattered story-parts.

It's quite the opposite with Rollin. Though the world feels real, the interplay of story dynamics is cartoonish at best. Every initially baffling element has to be explained in due time, and each explanation is dumber than a sack of rocks. He is not illogical in the sense that we cannot fathom more than bits of a deeply inscrutable world, quite simply he jots down a coherent story from a few absurd/fantastical elements then gives it to us in conveniently random ways.

In this case, the movie about vampires is a horror show being put on, the vampires are only vampires because we believe they are. This is repeatedly stressed out for us.

The point of all this is apparently the celebration of the rigor and 'purity' of youth, remember those where the Vietnam years, who in Rollin's garbled set of metaphors are equated with a mutant race of immortals.

Rollin's problem is that he is not content to be a perfume master who seduces the senses, he wants to be a bit like the meditating mentor in this film, someone who promises initiation into the 'hidden dimension' of truths so he ends up being as silly.

The eighth Jean Rollin film I have watched is also possibly the weirdest; the intriguing plot (such as it is) seems initially to be too flimsy to sustain even its trim 84 minutes but it somehow contrives to get inordinately muddled as it goes along! A would-be female vampire (scantily-clad, as promised by the title) is held in captivity inside a remote château and emerges only to 'feast' on the blood of willing victims (who are apparently members of a suicide club) As if unsure where all of this would lead him, the writer-director ultimately has the human villain – actually the blank-faced hero's kinky father – ludicrously revealed as a mutant(?!) from the future! The languorous pace and dream-like atmosphere (the cultists wear hoods and animal masks to hide their features from the sheltered girl) are, of course, typical of both the film-maker (ditto the seashore setting at the {anti}climax) and the "Euro-Cult" style, as are the bevy of nubile beauties on display. Personally, the most enjoyable thing about the whole visually attractive but intellectually vacuous affair was watching familiar character actor Bernard Musson (who appeared in six latter-day Luis Bunuel films) crop up bemusedly through it from time to time!

Bizarre vampire/sex fantasy about rich brat Martin, who stumbles upon secret bourgeois-like society, which conducts secret perverse ceremonies in a mansion rented by his father.

Let me say, this is a prime example of style over substance. While I am sure there is substance here (most of which does not make any sense), that is overshadowed by colorful costumes, strange alien vampires and just an array of unpredictable moments -- many connected in some way to nude women.

Best part of the movie? The chicks falling down the stairs. While one twin takes it pretty seriously, the other one is determined to reach the bottom step, even if she has to keep pushing herself. Sure, it does not look natural, but it got me chuckling a little.

With no dialogue for about the first 8 1/2 minutes, The Nude Vampire begins with a woman being pursued by a bunch of masked cult members. Seeing that she is in distress, a young man tries to assist her with her escape, but to no avail. She is gunned down by a man in a deer mask and carried away. The man helping her flees up a train bridge (in fear for his life), but makes an attempt to follow the men carrying her away.

The young man turns out to be the son of some elite member of the cult. But despite warnings to steer clear...he can't resist.

He tries to get in, but is denied without an invitation. So he mugs someone with an invitation and cons his way in. Now he can find out, first hand, what this odd sect of individuals are up to...

As soon as he gets in, a young woman seems to be randomly chosen...and willingly commits suicide. Bags are put over everyone's heads. Another young woman comes down and drinks blood from the suicide victim.

Little does he suspect that he is next to be chosen... He pretends to go with it, until they give him the gun. Then he kills the unmasked leader and attempts to flee. Luckily for him, some spies on the inside- who have a connection with his family- help him make it out alive and in one piece. After which he is told to report to his father, "where more mysteries await".

Turns out that his father is running a cult based around this vampire chick- who can heal right away as along as her internal organs aren't damaged. His goal is to absorb her immortality for himself. But to do this he needs a vampire of the same blood type- so that he can breed them. In the meantime, he has organized a separate suicide cult in her honour...as means to keep her fed.

There also seems to be another cult working against the boy's father...one trying to free the vampiress from her life of captivity. Other vampires perhaps? Whoever they are, they have chosen him (or he has been destined) to become an initiate. But perhaps not everything is as it seems...

The film concludes on an incredibly philosophic note with a positive message...in another dimension!!! (haha)

I absolutely loved this film! It's certainly not your typical "vampire" story; and the whole cult angle makes it particularly intriguing. Everything is beautifully framed and shot. And, well, if you came here for the tits...there's lots of those too.

However, I enjoyed it most for the gnostic themes revealed in it's final twist.

An underrated gem. Check this one out, especially if you are philosophically inclined.

8.5 of 10

From the title and the opening sequence of 'La Vampire Nue' it looks like you're in for a dreamlike erotic nudie vampire flick ala Jess Franco (which is not a bad thing mind you!). Very quickly though it metamorphoses into something more complex, and difficult to categorize. The mysterious and sensual title character played by Caroline Cartier actually has very little to do on screen, but is the key to the mysterious events involving scientists studying immortality, and a surreal suicide cult. A young man discovers his father is somehow involved in a secret society who favour animal masks and (apparent) murder. When he investigates he finds that not everything is as it seems, and that the enigmatic, mute beauty at the centre of it may hold the key to the future of mankind's evolution. A very strange, poetic and unique piece of 60s exploitation, quite unlike any other. I was fascinated by the whole thing. Highly recommended to fans of the offbeat and unusual.