Fascination - Das Blutschloss der Frauen

A thief who is fleeing the partners that he double-crossed comes across a mansion with only two beautiful (and odd) occupants. His plan to stay until nightfall seems to be easily achievable when he finds out the home owners have no desire for him to leave.

From this simple premise Rollin creates his most engrossing work with the thief coming to realize that his greatest threat may not be the crooks outside the house but the ladies within. Though slow moving this film ratchets up the tension as midnight approaches and a mysterious ceremony is soon to begin.

Strong performances abound with special mention to frequent Rollin star Brigitte Lahaie who has never looked (or acted) better. The women in this film are all incredible and like in all of his films, Rollin shows a photographer's eye for beauty. Once again Rollin indulges in his fondness for lesbian sex scenes but they don't overpower the film like they do in some of his other works.

For anyone who has not yet seen a Rollin film, either this one or 'Grapes of death' would make excellent starters although, obviously, keep the kids away.

I've seen only a handful of Jean Rollin films and I have to say that this one is the best yet. Though still hampered with low budget set-up and stiff acting and stilted dialogue, FASCINATION remains watchable from beginning to end. The concept is excellent and the film never gets off track from its interesting story.

This idea is so good, the film should be remade with a suitable budget and a capable cast of real actors. The whole thing would be quite spectacular. The lesbian sex scene would probably be dropped, which would disappoint Rollin fans but I wouldn't mind seeing a classy version of this film if it meant a few changes from the original.

But in the meantime, make sure to check this film out. It's worth it if you like slightly odd and out-of-character bloody dramas.

I'm an admirer of Jean Rollins work, and this film is the one which to me best represents his style. It succeeds in blending the sexual predator images of the more successful Hammer vampire movies, with the doomed romanticism of French cinema. The production values are low, presumably they operated on a very small budget, but as I was starting to experiment with my own super8 films, I was inspired by how much it achieves in spite of its limitations. The film is driven by a series of powerful images, notably the semi-naked girl wielding a scythe, and the odd bit of lesbian love action. As with all of Rollins best films, you get the feeling of getting a glimpse of, and being allowed to share, a very personal obsession.

Sooner or later anyone doing the rounds of horror is confronted with Rollin; the sensually paced, purely ephemeral wanderings around mansions or cemeteries, at least in his better films, pale naked skin dripping with blood, almost always. It is relatively easy to deal with them, with none of the hard anchors in story or characters one either concedes to dream with him or not.

So yes, largely nonsense in conventional terms, here about a man who is stranded in a secluded château with a host of beautiful women who are waiting for midnight to perform a mysterious ritual, but attached to a poetry of images.

The frequent comparison is to Jess Franco; but whereas Franco at his best intuited feverish images that always seemed to zoom at the verge of cacophony, Rollin exhibits painterly control over his. His gaze is methodical, attuned with the aural qualities of film; notice here for example how the winds howling outside the mansion stop and start every time someone opens a door.

It's simple really, the ritual a tone poem about the unveiling of naked beauty. The twist, if it can be called that, is that what we expect to be vampires imbued with some supernatural capacity are only women lusting for blood. The man - our surrogate viewer in the midst of beauty - is lusting himself and so concedes to be part of the dream.

A strange love triangle, where you can't quite figure out who's madder. Or more "evil" even. I reckon you may come to one conclusion or the other. You may also be able to see where this is going (not tough to see and no extra points if you do), because it is quite predictable. The main blonde woman/character is quite pretty if I may say so. And whatever that means to you, she is going to undress for this movie (so hopefully you're not easily offended).

Jean Rollins does have a reputation to uphold I reckon. One of them being giving us two female friends. You could conclude some things about his preferences and other things in his life. But he's just having fun. Whether that is something that is fun for you too, is up to you to decide. The end may seem inevitable and yet it's still shocking when it finally comes around .... deservedly or not, it is what it is