Les deux orphelines vampires

No pun intended obviously as always. Jean Rollins - I reckon reading and seeing that name, people acquainted to him and his movies in general (most likely to be fan of his), will have some inkling ... but more an expectation of what to expect here. And then the movie comes and blows away all that - not in the sense you may think (not that kind of movie here).

The movie has one interesting new item/fact or whatever you would call it. I mean you can watch the whole thing under the prism of what is real and what is not ... but if we take this for what we are being shown, than we do get to see Vampires who are "daywalkers" ... but can not see when the sun is out.

So a nice spin on the whole blood sucking thing (individuals). If you are here for nudity and other such things ... well do not bother! It does have some nudity, but not to the degree you may be accustomed to when it comes to Rollins or other directors (and even some of the actors involved - like Brigitte Lahaie, who has a minor role in this).

It has a sort of over arching story .... but it is more about cinematography and getting from one place to another. And some "cameos" along the way. Though sometimes the lighting does not work in any way that would be good ... that aside, the effects are decent to say the least. Not much substance but still at least fragments of the fantasy (world) Rollins likes to delve in ... if you can dig it ... well you need no more ... (nudity/other things) ...

It starts well enough with the lovely orphan girls and their white sticks and their apparent blindness. Alexandra Pic and Isabelle Teboul are great throughout but the film is rather long and some of it seems to be repeated again. I understand that Jean Rollin was unwell at the time and, of course, this is a rather late of his films.

A dreamy dark fairy tale about two lesbian orphans who are blind. Also they are vampire and can see in blue vision at night.

I haven't seen many Jean Rollins films, but I enjoyed this one much more than Demonaniacs. It was dark, but sweet. It was dream like with poetic dialog. The relationship between the two orphans was wholesome and Ioving. They weren't strong, they questioned who they are, and they enjoy some brandy to go with their blood. The movie was a great watch and I now feel the need to watch more of Rollins films.

(aka: TWO ORPHAN VAMPIRES)

This DVD has some serious compression problems. Everytime the camera pans to the left or right, the whole screen gets blurry. Plus whenever the characters move, it looks like the speed has been turned down half a notch.

That said, the film itself is a low budget affair (which is a typical feature of Jean Rollin's films) about two female vampires who are blind during the day, but can see at night. They have lived throughout eternity, being killed off occasionally through the ages, only to be resurrected later. By what, this is never explained.

No where near as good as Rollin's THE GRAPES OF DEATH or his later film FASCINATION, but there are worse such as the schlock Jess Franco puts out. The film goes on about 20 minutes too long with a lot of pointless talk about how mankind just doesn't understand them and that they have to kill in order to keep existing in the neverworld that they are condemned to live in.

All this talk just bores the hell out of me. 3 out of 10

Now *this* is the film that separates the men from the boys. If it's in-yer-face sex and horror you want; then I suggest you bugger off now, because Jean Rollin has concocted something very very different... And are you man enough to take it?

Rollin's filmic obsession with vampires- and let's face it, with erotic young women- has never looked this beautiful. Like many films to come out of Europe, this eschews huge action and movement in favour of stillness and thought. It's beautiful to look at, and within the frame Rollin has trapped a whole other world- a vivid, colourful world of rich tones and contrasts, waif-like vampires and deep brown earth. Like some kind of comfortable dream on a hot Summer's evening, 'Two Orphan Vampires' slides from plot point to plot point at its own leisure. At times there's not a lot going on; but there's always something to look at.

Perhaps the most astonishing thing about the film, is the way in which Rollin makes the tiny budget work to his advantage. We meet a vampire queen, a ghoul and a werewolf. But we are only *told* this is what they are- they appear outwardly 'normal'... and although it's a cliche to say 'our imaginations do the rest', here it is so true. Late in the film there is a scene in which one of the characters explains some of her past; stuff that Hollywood would salivate over. Rollin has her hunched over a table and s-l-o-w-l-y tracks the camera towards her. No fuss, no noise, no elaborately staged flash-backs and set-pieces. Stillness. Quiet. And an otherworldliness that will leave you changed. It's like looking at a painting that illustrates a poem you strongly admire, and finding the artist has got it just 'right'. 'Two Orphan Vampires' is a tribute to the enduring presence of Jean Rollin- a writer/director of integrity, vision and wit.

Steev