THE SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES (1971) (Indicator Series Blu-ray Review)

THE SHIVER OF THE VAMPIRES (1971) 

(Le frisson des vampires)

Limited Edition Blu-ray Review

Label: Powerhouse Films

Region Code: Region-Free

Duration: 94 Minutes 35 Seconds 

Rating: Unrated 

Audio: French or English PCM 1.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1) 

Director: Jean Rollin

Cast: Sandra Julien, Marie-Pierre Tricot, Michel Delahaye, Jean-Marie Durand, Jacques Robiolles

In Jean Rollin’s third feature film The Shiver of the Vampires (1971) honeymooners Isle (Sandra Julian, House of Cruel Dolls) and Antoine (Jean-Marie Durand) are driving through the French countryside and make a detour to visit the bride's estranged cousins. They stop in a small village to ask for directions and are told that the cousins have died quite suddenly. Despite the bad news the newlyweds push on to pay their respects and arrive at the crumbling castle where they are greeted by nameless servant girls (Marie-Pierre Castel, Requiem for a Vampire and Kuelan Huerca), the sexy Renfields of the story, who invite them in and tell them to make themselves at home. When Isle visits the cemetery to pay her respects she meets the Isabelle (Nicole Nancel) mourning at the burial site of the cousins, and appears to have been romantically entangled with both men. Later that night as the honeymooners prepare for bed Antoine is expecting to consummate their marriage, but Isle finds herself in a poor state of mind following the death of her cousins and send him to sleep in a separate room. As Isla is trapsing nude around her room nude she is visited by lesbian-vampire Isolde (Dominique, Requiem for a Vampire) who creepily emerges from a grandfather clock in her room, seducing her under the nose of Antione

During their stay at the castle the newlyweds undergo a series of surreal and sinister encounters, and only too late realize that they are the prey of the resident vampires, including Isle's cousins (Jacques Robiolles & Michel Delahaye, both from The Nude Vampire) who return from the grave, after dark 'natch, as if nothing strange has happened. We discover that they were hippie vampire hunters who fell prey to vampiress Isolde whom they were hunting. The trio of bloodsuckers set about making Ilse the latest addition to their nocturnal clan, much to the chagrin of her new husband Antoine who sensing the wrongness of the situation, without fully comprehending what's happening, attempts to thwart her being turned into a bloodsucker before it's too late. 

This was director Jean Rollin's third film and would prove to the film that established his particular eurocult vibe and aesthetic, which he achieved with the help of cinematographer Jean-Jacques Renon, and a tasty psyche-rock score by Acanthus that sounds like first they could be outtakes from an early Syd Barret era Pink Floyd album. The narrative is more moody atmosphere than any intricate plot, it's basically an shabby erotic lesbian vampire flick with artful and enigmatic visuals steeped in layered colored lighting with retina-searing reds and striking blues. It might be near plotless but it is a sumptuous looking bit of low-budget softcore with eye-popping colors and creepy Gothic castle eeriness. I've never thought the acting was particaurly great with this one, it has a certain off-kilter campiness to it, with the cousin vampires having a bizarre effeminate camp-factor to their performance that I actually quite love, their former hippie vampire hunters turned bloodsuckers schtick it a hoot.  

The lesbian vampire angle offers copious amounts of female nudity, basically every woman in the film is either constantly dropping clothes or never really putting them on to begin with, as is the case with the servant girls who wander around in sheer see-through gowns while carrying candelabras in nearly every scene. The very bohemian-mod looking vampire queen Isolde is also quite striking, and usually naked. The bloodletting is not overly graphic in this one, the film is happy to offer eerie surreal atmosphere and erotic lesbian delights without adding much of any significant gore. We have a few scenes of neck biting, a vampire staking, and the slicing of arms fill a goblet with blood, but not real gore. The most shocking bit is of Isolde dispatching poor Isabelle with a  pair of spikes protruding from her nipples that she plunges into Isabelle's nipples, it's a pretty wild scene. 

The surreal atmosphere is dripping off the screen, the while the at times unrestrained color-lighting seems like overkill it works, it's quite trippy, with even the exterior walls of the castle being lit up like a rainbow at night. It's not going for realism by any means but it creates a hallucinatory vibe that is quite memorable.  

Audio/Video: The Shiver of the Vampires (1971) arrives on Blu-ray from Indicator Series with a brand-new 4K restoration from the internegative by Powerhouse Films, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.66:1 widescreen. Film grain is well-managed, skin tones look natural, depth and clarity are pleasing, and the blacks are nice and deep. Audio comes by way of French or English PCM 1.0 Mono with newly translated optional English subtitles for both the French and English language tracks . Both tracks are solid and if you have an aversion to foreign language the English dubs is quite a good one. Both tracks are clean and well-balanced, the score from psyche-rockers Acanthus  has a good showing in the mix. 

Indicator offer up a selection of new extras for their release, starting off with a new Audio commentary with Sylvia Kristel: From ‘Emmanuelle’ to Chabrol author Jeremy Richey who does good work elaborating on the film's visuals style and themes, as well as talking about the career of Rollin and the cast. I've only seen a handful of Rollin's films and haven't done a lot of reading about him so I found this new commentary quite wonderful and informative. Also new is the 18-min Rouge vif (2023), a mini- documentary about the making of film with Rollin’s personal assistant, Daniel Gouyette, including interviews with key collaborators Natalie Perrey and Jean-Noël Delamarre. Topics discussed are the visual style of the film, the soundtrack, the cast, including how actress Nicole Nancel won over the cast & crew after being initially disliked by proving how game she was to be dunked in the stinky moat. The last of the new extras is the 8-min Macabre Psychedelia (2023), a critical appreciation by the author and film historian Virginie Sélavy. 

Indicator also port over archival extras from past editions, starting with a 4-min Jean Rollin Introduces ‘The Shiver of the Vampires’ (1998), plus a a 2006 Audio commentary with director Jean Rollin, the 41-min Fear and Desire (2004) featuring a discussion between Jean Rollin and the film theorist Patricia MacCormack, the 25-min of Export Inserts, these being seven explicit sequences filmed for foreign markets that are pretty wild with lots of lesbian sex and torture. The quality of these inserts range from near pristine 35mm elements to dupey looking VHS rips. Also included are the 4-min Original French Theatrical Trailer, the 4-min English Theatrical Trailer, plus a Original Promotional Material Gallery (91 Images) and Behind the Scenes Image Gallery (79 Images).

We were only sent a "check disc" for the sake of this review without any packaging extras, but the retail copies will include Limited Edition Exclusive 80-page Book with a new essay by David Hinds, an Archival introduction by Jean Rollin, an archival interview with the director by Peter Blumenstock, an archival interview with actor Marie-Pierre Castel, Andy Votel on Acanthus, the mysterious group behind the film’s soundtrack, and full film credits. Please note that this limited edition release is limited to 10,000 numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for both the UK and US markets. I have the 4K UHD on pre-order and will possibly update the review in the near future. 

Special Features: 

- Brand-new 4K restoration from the internegative by Powerhouse Films
- Original French and English mono soundtracks
- Audio commentary with director Jean Rollin (2006)
- Audio commentary with Sylvia Kristel: From ‘Emmanuelle’ to Chabrol author Jeremy Richey (2023)
- Jean Rollin Introduces ‘The Shiver of the Vampires’ (1998, 4 mins)
- Rouge vif (2023, 18 mins): updated documentary on the making of The Shiver of the Vampires by Rollin’s personal assistant, Daniel Gouyette, including interviews with key collaborators Natalie Perrey and Jean-Noël Delamarre
- Fear and Desire (2004, 41 mins): lengthy discussion between Jean Rollin and the film theorist Patricia MacCormack, filmed in Paris
- Macabre Psychedelia (2023, 8 mins): critical appreciation by the author and film historian Virginie Sélavy
- Export inserts (25 mins): seven explicit sequences filmed for foreign markets
- Original French Theatrical Trailer (4min)

- English Theatrical Trailer  (4 min) 
- Image galleries: Original Promotional Material (91 Images), Behind the Scenes (79 Images)
- New and improved English translation subtitles for the French soundtrack
- New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by David Hinds, an archival introduction by Jean Rollin, an archival interview with the director by Peter Blumenstock, an archival interview with actor Marie-Pierre Castel, Andy Votel on Acanthus, the mysterious group behind the film’s soundtrack, and full film credits
- Limited edition of 10,000 numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US

The Shiver of the Vampire (1971) gets a superior region-free release from Powerhouse Films/Indicator Series, the hallucinatory low-budget eurocult classic looks absolutely stunning on Blu-ray and I can only imagine the UHD version with the wider color gamut color grading is gonna wow even more. A terrific release, if you're a fan of erotic eurocult and of the surrealist macabre films of Jean Rollin this is a must-own. 

Screenshots from the Powerhouse Films/Indicator Blu-ray: 

Extras: