Les paumées du petit matin

Although there is no horror and only a bit little sleaze and violence (courtesy of Brigitte Lahie no less) this is an unmistakable Jean Rollin film - nobody else could, or even wants to make films his way. Two girls, one rebellious and the other one almost catatonic, run away from a borstal-like psychiatric clinic, meets a butch pickpocket-girl, some black strippers and a bunch of sailors and ends up in various adventures. This almost plot less, commercially doomed movie, equally pretentious as it is naive, was bound to make 95% of its audience either laugh or leave their seats, but for a Rollin fan there are some beautiful shots to be found. The figure skating scene was incredible and so was some of the shots at the junkyard. I also liked the sad ending. Not among his best but an interesting footnote in his filmography... for a Rollin fan that is, all others beware! The most shocking thing about this film for me is that there is no...*gulp*... beach scene! What happened, Jean? A few years back you couldn't even shoot a cheap porno without a trip to the beach?

Michelle and Marie (Laurence Dubas and Christiane Coppe) escape from a mental institution. While Michelle is strong and determined to get away, Marie is more emotional and grows very attached to Michelle.

Their journey leads them to a traveling troupe of performance artists (aka: strippers). When they join the group, Michelle desires thrills, excitement, and male companionship. Poor Marie only wants to be with Michelle. Forever.

When the pair hook up with a thief named Sophie (Marianne Valiot), they seem to have found peace at last. Alas, Marie's true insanity comes into play.

This is another adult fantasy film from Director Jean Rollin. Filled with odd characters and bizarre situations, THE ESCAPEES is, at its heart, a love story. There's far less nudity -at least until the finale- than in most Rollin projects. The plot is also more straightforward, less surreal.

Rollin drastically retrains his penchant for absurdity here! This does allow for some stretches of dullness, including the long-long-LONG goodbye sequence near the end! Fortunately, Marie's anthropophobia saves the day!

The denouement is pure, bloody Rollin...

Two young women escape from an insane asylum and are taken in by a travelling erotic dance troupe. When the travelling show is raided by the police they are out on the lamb again. They meet another young woman and come up with a plan to escape via ship. However, as with all of their adventures, nothing ever seems to go to plan.

Quite weak. Plot is a rambling, unfocused mess. There really doesn't seem any point to anything - it's just one random event after another. There are some reasonably interesting scenes towards the end but by then any engagement you had with the story or characters is gone, so the conclusion occurs in a vacuum.

Performances are okay but that's about the only positive thing I can find.

Marie and Michelle are escaping from a lunatic asylum. Michelle is a tough girl who knows how to survive on the road, but the extremely shy Marie desperately clings to her until Michelle gives in and promises help. The two get into a lot of trouble which puts their friendship to a test.

Rollin's lost movie, and lost for a good reason, as the director told in several interviews (one on the British DVD, for example): it was simply so poor no distributor bought it. The director blames this mostly on the scriptwriter. The producer had hired someone to keep the director from continuing with his usual vampire mystery stuff, and that kind of co-operation against each other couldn't work. However, "The Escapees" has enough magic moments to be worth watching. Especially when people stop talking such as in the ending, or when Marie skates on the ice, imagining she is admired by a crowd, but only Michelle is secretly watching her.

Rollin's 'Les Paumées du petit matin' is finally being released in the UK and US by Redemption Films, re-titled 'The Escapees'. In the same vein as Night of the Hunted and Requiem for a Vampire, Rollin tells the tale of two young runaway girls escaping from an institution.

It might not be as accomplished as some of Rollin's greats, but it contains truly unforgettable scenes, imbued with all the ethereal, surreal qualities of a stylish Rollin masterpiece.

The stunning Britte Lahaie makes an appearance, which is as good a reason as any to buy this film, and Redemption promise an original negative in their release.