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Fascination (1979)
By lngway2go | February 15, 2009
Director: Jean Rollin
Starring: Brigitte Lahaie, Franca Mai, Jean-Marie Lemaire, Fanny Magier, Muriel Montosse, Sophie Noel, Evelyne Thomas, Agnes Bert, Alain Plumley, Myriam Watteau, Joe De Lara, Jacques Sansoul
Fascination could most likely be described as Rollin’s most accessible film, and it is, but it’s also a masterpiece of 70’s European horror cinema. Those might be big words, but Rollin’s output is vastly under-rated and under-appreciated, so it only seems fair! And while we might normally equate achieving accessibility with selling out, this is far from the case with Rollin. Every moment of Fascination could easily find its way into any other Rollin film, except there are just more memorable moments, and the story is perhaps a little tighter than his other work.
Fascination is probably the best film to start with when looking for an introduction to Rollins work, it features many of his beloved traits; from the erotic female vampire duo through to the visual heights we have come to expect from Rollin. The film spins the tale of two beautiful women who are sent to a chateau in the French country side to lure an unsuspecting man to an annual gathering of women at the chateau. The gathering culminates in a vampiratic feast.
The poor unsuspecting victim in the game the women play is a member of a gang who happens to steal the gangs bounty. In an effort to escape from the gang he has upset, Marc (Jean-Marie Lemaire), stumbles upon a beautiful chateau surrounded by a moat. He enters the house and finds the two women inside. He holds them at gun point and demands to know if they are alone, they answer him with their big innocent eyes that they are indeed alone. They explain that company arrive in the morning, that they are there early to prepare the chateau for their arrival.
Marc just wants to hide until dark so he can make his escape from the gang that waits outside the chateau, so he locks the two women in their room. The two women have a key stashed in the room and they giggle together at their victory. The control Marc thinks he has is actually non-existent. It is already apparent that these women have far more control over the situation than Marc is ever going to have. It’s interesting to note that Rollin always portrays powerful women in his films, even if they do bare more than a bit of flesh. It is not too surprising to see female figures in roles of authority either, but while we expect authority figures to have dominance, the servants to the said authority also exude this overriding power over the men in the film; these are the women that are currently in the chateau, the servants.
Although also interestingly, there is still a chain of command regardless of gender. At the films opening Marc, the dominant force of the gang, uses the sole female member to gain his escape. He holds her at gun point and takes her with him in an effort to keep them at bay. When the two rest she makes an attempt to escape her captor by using her body, baring her breasts, but this fails and her position in the gang is demonstrated. But when she gets back to her gang of men there is an obvious dominance over the other men, although it is somewhat shared by her husband.
At the chateau under lock and key Eva (Brigitte Lahaie) and Elisabeth (Franca Mai) get down to some lesbian action and then make their escape. They don’t try and escape the chateau though, they go down to play with their toy; they are like cats playing with a mouse. Eva seduces Marc while Elisabeth steal his gun, although she is far from happy seeing Eva naked on the floor with the visitor. In a suspenseful moment Elisabeth manages to resist the urge of swallowing a bullet in a fit of jealousy.
Elisabeth seems to show some compassion towards the stranger, explaining that there is impending doom should he decide to stay till midnight. She warns him that he should leave, almost begs him to leave, at one point telling Marc that “At midnight you’ll see what seven women can do to a lone man!” Powerful words indeed, but more erotically intriguing than frightening, so it is no surprise when Marc decides to stay and see just what is going to happen to him when the other women arrive.
Eva meanwhile is taking the bandits bounty to the gang members waiting outside, most likely in an attempt to have them leave before the other women arrive. But they escort her to the barn where one of the men takes a liking to Eva, and forces her to have a roll in the hay. Eva stabs him while the act is underway, and then dons a clock and scythe and goes about removing the gang from the equation.
The scenes of Brigitte Lahaie naked underneath the black cloak and brandishing the scythe are quite possible the finest moments in Rollin cinema. The point at which she approaches the last gang member, the woman, on her way to the chateau is visually stunning. It encapsulates the beauty and violence that make Rollin’s films such compelling viewing. And, as is the way with Rollin, the moment is played out slowly, giving significant power to the scene. Although the finale, the murder, is fairly lackluster compared to say, the finale of a Dario Argento murder scene. But, it is not so much about how the death looks with Rollin, but more the idea of death; the budget just doesn’t allow for anything else.
It has to be noted that Rollin made Fascination with no script, and even more amazingly, over a two week period. The film works very well considering it’s limited resources, but this isn’t unusual for Rollin. His films are so visually stimulating, and in ways that aren’t very horrific, that the visual representation of moments of violence don’t need to display visceral accuracy. If they did, these scenes would feel out of place with the remainder of the film.
As with any Rollin film, there seems a strange juxtaposition with time. While Fascination seems to take place in the early 1900’s, if a car passed in the distance it wouldn’t feel out of place. Other films by Rollin set in more modern times, Requiem Pour Un Vampire (1971) for example, has the same feeling of a displacement with time, but its manner is reversed. This is something that gives Rollins a truly unique voice, there no other director that manages to warp all sense of time in such a way; the Rollin world is a surreal world.
When the other women arrive at the chateau the games really begin. The group of seven women begin toying and playing with Marc, much to his delight. But when the midnight hour arrives the women change into their costumes, all games come to an end. Suddenly there is a shift. When Marc finds the body of the female bandit he instantly sees that there is more to this gathering than he would have ever believed. He decides it it time to leave these women behind and heads to the stables to get a horse. Eva and Elisabeth are close behind.
As much as I enjoy Rollin’s work, he’s high on my list of important directors, his work is obviously not to everyone’s taste. The slow, dream like pacing of Rollin’s work often sends those who like a faster pace and a bigger bang heading into another kind of dream scape. Rue Morgue magazine recently reviewed the film and found it boring, saying it failed to live up to it’s reputation. But it would be unfair to compare the Frenchman’s work to ‘normal’ everyday horror films. There is far more art involved in the work of Rollin than there is in the more standard horror fare. The cinematography and direction is always interesting, with the camera lingering on beautiful flesh, beautiful landscapes, and littered with surreal images that scream of a search for visual perfection, even if on a limited budget. The dialogue is almost inconsequential. Rollin’s work is continually fascinating, and his voice is very unique in the world of horror. Rollin tells tales of a different kind of vampire, and Fascination is a different kind of film.
Under review is Redemption’s original 1999 release of this classic film. This release has been out of print for some time, luckily it was re-released by Redemption late last year. Unfortunately the new release is just a basic reissue of the previous release, with the addition of a couple trailers for other Redemption releases (including other Rollin titles). The print used by Rollin is nice looking, although there are some blemishes in places. The transferred was made from the Rollin’s own 35-mm inter-negative. There is no anamorphic transfer which this film desperately needs. Fascination could really do with special treatment from the Encore label in Europe who have released several Rollin features in special deluxe packaging; this seems unlikely though given that no new Rollin titles have emerged from Encore in a couple years now. Still, Redemption’s release is far from bad, and it’s good to see this film back in print where it belongs.
Topics: Brigitte Lahaie, French Horror, Jean Rollin, Vampire Films |