My Review of Lips of Blood (1975) SPOILERS
"Scents are like memories, the person evaporates but the memory remains"
Wow! What a gutsy choice by YT Horror Group moderator, Brian Bly. Lips of Blood is the first X rated film reviewed by this group. A French art-house film in English subtitles. Personally, I loved the movie. I was previously unfamiliar with the originality and unique approach which is found in 1970's European sex/horror cinema, of which director, Jean Rollin was considered the master. Jean Rollin enjoys an impressive cult status and his 'hot-vampire-chicks films' in particular are notorious.
Jean Rollin was both one of the writers as well as the director of this surreal low budget horror film. Rollins also makes a cameo in Lips of Blood as the caretaker killed in the cemetery by the female vampires. As a director, Jean Rollin specializes in haunting, sensual, visually impressive movies that frequently concern memory, or memory loss, and obsessively feature beautiful naked women, usually vampires. Rollins' films have been characterized as bringing on a sense of bewilderment, unease, and sexual desire. His approach to the horror genre is said to be unique, extremely atmospheric and erotic in an elegant way.
Lips of Blood" is wonderfully shot, and strangely romantic in its own way. It's both artful and exploitative and manages to pull off being both very well. This movie flowed like visual poetry. A slow burner that captured my full attention and transported me to an ethereal, dream like world filled with nubile naked vampire women. Luckily, for those like me that hate subtitles, this film is largely dialogue free. Then in the last 20 minutes the film is crammed with dialogue and explanations for all of the questions posed in the viewer's mind over the previous hour. While some may complain that the acting was wooden, this oddly adds a surreal edge to the film. The locations are stunning and lovingly shot. The camera lingering over the enticingly-lit castle, the sound effects were spectacular, the score with its eerie flute music really adds to the intended atmosphere. The shot of the shadow of a statue of a bull was rather striking imagery. Vampire girls, wearing flowing, nearly transparent wraps, slowly and seductively walking through the cemetery late at night is now one of my favorite things. The tall blonde vampire in purple is remarkably beautiful. In one scene the vampire-women are all standing on a windy rockface and one of the girls' dresses blows over her head, leaving her naked with her face obscured by an upswept dress. In the context of the howling wind and gothic imagery, it looks fantastic. Lips of Blood is filled with castles, chateaus, beaches and vampire girls. The bizarre locations, ranging from haunting shots of castle ruins to a graveyard full of crypts to various nighttime Paris locations including 1970's style apartments and offices to an abandoned nocturnal aquarium, are cool. Just the camera work and settings alone make this movie worth a watch.
Okay, I know I seem to be focusing a lot of my attention on the female vampires, but they really stole the show. They were very effective as horror villains when, back lit in the distance with traces of blood on their lips, but much less scary in close up shots because of their comically over sized fangs. The two most famous female vampires were the two blond Castel twins (featured on much of the promo posters and trailers) Director, Jean Rollin, used the twin girls, Marie-Pierre and Catherine Castel in some of his other sex/horror movies in the 1970's. Rollin is known for his unique take on vampirism. In Lips of Blood, the vampires are unlike typical pop-culture versions of vampires familiar to a 1970's audience. Rollins' vampires are both sexy and dangerous, yet in some scenes their hunger is so apparent that its discomforting.Somehow the vampires are also sympathetic as they emote a sense of isolationism. These vampires are completely cut off from the rest of the world.
Lips of Blood was filmed in three short weeks. Director, Jean Rollin describes this as his best written film, but not his best screenplay. The reason for this is that a week before filming commenced, one of the producers decided not to be involved, and withdrew his funding. This meant that instead of four weeks' filming allocation (already a pretty tight deadline), there was now only budget for three weeks. Also, director, Jean Rollin was known for promoting his earlier works, so, in Lips of Blood, when the male lead visits a movie theater, outside is the poster for Rollins' earlier movie, "The Nude Vampire". And inside the movie theater the movie screening is Rollins earlier movie, The Shiver of the Vampires. Another Rollin's movie, The Phantom of Liberty is plugged in a poster appearing on a subway wall in Lips of Blood. In a blatant cash grab, the year after Lips of Blood was released, in 1976, the film was reformatted with new hardcore inserts and re-released as the more exploitative movie Suce moi vampire (1976).
Jean-Loup Philippe was both the writer of Lips of Blood as well as the star playing the role of Frédéric. The themes expressed in Lips of Blood are mainly about returning to what made you happy in your childhood; memories; love; longing; desire; eroticism; romance; and, bewilderment. These themes struck a chord with me, particularly this October week when I watched Lips of Blood and I left the movie charmed.
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