06 Dec 2005: The latest from Encore Films in Holland is Rollin's La morte vivante, Limited to 2500 pieces.

Three disc digipack with slipcase and a 64 page full color book! 2 DVD 9 and bonus soundtrack CD! Special edition limited to 2500 pcs. Living dead girl was made at the time when bloody slasher films and ultraviolent zombieflicks were in fashion, and director Jean Rollin served up a very bloody movie, highlighted by gory SPFX courtesy of Benoit Lestang (The Fifth Element). But despite the intense bloodletting, Rollin manages to tell a tragic and compelling tale about the unusual friendship between two girls, who share a love for each other that goes beyond the grave.

Catherine Valmont (Fran¨oise Blanchard), recently deceased, is resurrected when a strange chemical substance is spilled into her tomb. She tries to track down her past life and discovers a huge castle, inhabited only by her mourning childhood friend Barbara (Marina Pierro). The two are happily reunited, and when it turns out that Catherine can only survive by drinking blood, Barbara gladly helps out by supplying human victims. But when Catherine becomes disgusted by her own lust for blood, things are bound to go terribly wrong.

Disc one:

06 Dec 2005: The latest from Encore Films in Holland is Rollin's Lèvres de sang, Limited to 2500 pieces.

Lèvres de sang is one of Jean Rollin's most lyrical films; he calls the script "the most personal I have ever written". The French maestro indulges in his fascination for sexy female vampires, eerie cemeteries and atmospheric urban landscapes, but above all the film is a tragic, melancholy love story with a highly provocative twist. Frederic (Jean-Loup Philippe) is haunted by childhood memories. He remembers visiting a remote castle at night, where he meets Jennifer (Annie Brilland), a beautiful and enigmatic young woman dressed in white. When he asks his mother (Nathalie Perrey) about this, she tells him he's raving. But Frederic starts to investigate his past and meets Jennifer, finding out that his family has been plagued by an ancient curse. A terrible drama from long ago is casting its shadow towards the present...

Disc one:

07 Oct 2005: The latest from Encore Films in Holland is Rollin's Réquiem pour un Vampire, Limited to 2500 pieces.

Many fans consider Requiem for a vampire as one of the best films by French cult director Jean Rollin. This strange mix of surrealism, eroticism and horror manages to cast a tantalising spell on its viewers, by use of superb photography, wonderful locations, a haunting musical score and last but not least the sensuality of the two highly memorable female leads. Two girls, dressed up as clowns, are on the run. For whom or what we do not know. At last they arrive in a remote castle, where they meet a vampire and his servants. The vampire is the last of his breed and driven to melancholia because his decadent empire is crumbling before his feet. But he has plans with the two girls: they have to join him and his following...

Réquiem pour un Vampire (Requiem for a Vampire)

Disc one:

Feature film: Réquiem pour un Vampire

Les Démoniaques (Demoniacs)

06 Sep 2005: On the 15th of September, Encore Films (in a deal with UK's Redemption Films) will release the first DVD-set in a series that will present the definitive versions of Jean Rollin's films. The collection is strictly limited and kicks off with...

A three dvd digipack and slipcase, including 64 page full color book, Limited to 2500 pieces.

Directed by French cult director Jean Rollin, Les Démoniaques is a stylish hommage to the old serials, spiced up with strong violence, a steamy blend of eroticism and a completely original touch of fantastic cinema. The film is stunningly shot by the late great Jean-Jacques Renon and Pierre Raphs beautiful score evokes a strong sense of melancholia. The ever growing army of Rollin-fans agrees that this is one of the director's greatest achievements, a unique piece of fantastic cinema that will continue to stand the test of time. Two beautiful young women are washed ashore at night on a remote island and encounter a group of savage beachcombers, who rape and kill them. But the girls return from beyond the realms of death to claim their revenge.

Disc one:

Feature film: Les Démoniaques

The Iron Rose on UK DVD

18 Feb 2005: Britain's Redemption Films have recently issued Rollin's The Iron Rose (aka La rose de fer, 1972). The DVD, with a running time of 77 minutes, includes a Rollin interview (conducted by Dr. Patricia MacCormack), a theatrical trailer, a stills gallery, posters, advertising, video art and an unrelated gothic music video. he film was passed uncut by the BBFC, so this is a good opportuninty to own this film.

Some of you might remember the lead girl, who is played by none other than Mind Your Language's François Pascal.

Buy The Iron Rose on DVD

Naked Vampire on UK DVD

15 Jan 2005: Britain's Redemption Films have announced the long-awaited release of Rollin's The Naked Vampire (aka La vampire nue, 1969). The DVD includes a theatrical trailer, stills gallery, video art and some totally unrelated gothic music videos, which tie in with the comapny's attempted onslaught onto the goth scene..

Buy The Naked Vampire on DVD

Lips of Blood on UK DVD

19 Apr 2004: Britain's Redemption Films have recently changed their name (back from Salvation Films) and are issuing some of their US releases over in the UK, thus marking their UK DVD debuts. The first batch includes Rollin's Lips of Blood (Lèvres de sang, 1975). I'm sure this release is identical to the previously issued US DVD, apart from the recent cover art makeover - it would appear Redemption are now marketing their products at goth youth.

Buy Lips of Blood on DVD

Zombie Lake on UK DVD

06 Feb 2004: Britain's Arrow Film Distributors are set to release Rollin's (here credited as J. A. Lazer) Zombie Lake on UK DVD soon, with an English language soundtrack.

Buy Zombie Lake on DVD

Rollin on DVD from DarkSide magazine

27 Sept 2003: Britain's Darkside magazine have issued two Rollin double-features on DVD. The titles were sub-licensed from Salvation films, and the original 4:3 masters were converted to 16:9 anamorphic by putting them through an A.R.C. (Aspect Ratio Converter). Obviously, new 16:9 telecines would have been the best way to go, but due to the extra expense involved, this was the cheaper option. Fake anamorphic is betterthan none it would seem.

The first disc features Requiem for a Vampire and Fascination. Although Fascination was never cut by the BBFC, Requiem for a Vampire was cut by 6m 55s, and it is this cut version which appears on this DVD. There are a host of extras, including a 30-minute Eurotika Documentary - Virgins And Vampires (from Pete Tombs), a 30 minute interview with Brigitte Lahaie and Jean Rollin, a 30 minute documentary on Rollin made by Scooter (Shatter Dead) McRae, Stills galleries, Behind-the-scenes pictures, Posters, Video Art, Original French language and English-dubbed, X-Rated Brigitte Lahaie Photo Gallery, Easter Eggs.

The second disc features The Living Dead Girl and The Rape of the Vampire. Both titles were originally cut by the BBFC, by 2m 29s and 41s respectively. However, instead of issuing the BBFC approved versions, DarkSide have instead opted to take a risk and issue the complete uncut versions! Extras include an eye-popping look at the hottest female bloodsuckers in the movies, trailers, posters and stills galore, a DarkSide Poster Gallery and last but not least, a hidden intro from DarkSide's illustrious editor, Allan Bryce.

Both discs are available directly from the DarkSide website. Note however that they do not have a secure server for taking card details - the risk is yours.

The Vampire Collection

Image Entertainment will be issuing three of Redemption's Rollin titles (The Rape of the Vampire, Requiem for a Vampire and The Shiver of the Vampires) in a special budget priced Vampire Collection box set. If you haven't already picked these titles up, then here's your chance - and you can save around half the price of the individually priced DVDs too!

Buy The Vampire Collection Box Set on DVD

Bacchanales Sexuelles

Synapse Films have sent me over the cover art for their upcoming American DVD release of Fly Me the French Way (aka Bacchanales sexuelles) which was previously available on video from Something Weird in an English dubbed version. This DVD will feature the French language, English subtitled version only, and will utilise a brand new master created from the original negatives. Features: 16:9 Anamorphic Transfer (1.66:1 Aspect Ratio), Uncensored Version Containing Almost 30 More Minutes of Footage (the same length as the Something Weird edition). Original French Language with Newly Translated English Subtitles. Click Here to view the sales sheet.

Buy Bacchanales Sexuelles on DVD

The Sidewalks of Bangkok (aka Les trottoirs du Bangkok) on American DVD

After a two year delay, Redemption USA's long awaited release of Rollin's The Sidewalks of Bangkok (aka Les trottoirs du Bangkok) is finally being released on DVD, courtesy of Image Entertainment.

Buy The Sidewalks of Bangkok on DVD

More Rollin coming to American DVD

Shriek Show, an offshoot of Media Blasters, will be releasing Rollin's two most recent films, The Two Orphan Vampires (aka Les deux orphelines vampires) and The Bride of Dracula (aka La fiancée du Dracula).

Buy The Bride of Dracula American DVD

Buy Two Orphan Vampires American DVD

The Rape of the Vampire comes to American DVD at last!

Finally, Image Entertainment will release the Redemption DVD of Rollin's first feature, the fully uncut and restored (see below) The Rape of the Vampire (aka Le viol du vampire, 1968). As pointed out last year, this release includes footage never seen before. The footage, which includes some additional shots of nudity, was discovered when Rollin's original negative was used for this brand new transfer.

Buy The Rape of the Vampire American DVD

The Grapes of Death (aka Pestizide) on German DVD

Björn Niehüser from Germany's Cine Club Medienhandel tells me they are due to release Pestizide imminently. This uncut, anamorphic DVD will include both the original French and German soundtracks, plus German and English subtitles. The original German and French theatrical trailers will also be included. The DVD will be distributed by Anolis Entertainment, who can be contacted at schelo@web.de.

The Grapes of Death (aka Pesticide) on American DVD

Synapse Films are set to release a brand new, remastered DVD of The Grapes of Death (aka Les raisins de la mort / Pesticide). It will be French language with optional English subtitles, and will be 16:9 anamorphic. A trailer and other extras will be included.

Buy The Grapes of Death on DVD

Vibrations sexuelle on Italian VHS

Italy's Tabú recently released Rollin's Vibrations Sexuelles (1977) on budget priced PAL VHS, under the title Vibrazioni. Made under Rollin's Michel Gentil pseudonymn, this is the full 75 minute hardcore version, dubbed into Italian. Most collectors will want to pick this tape up to see Brigitte Lahaie in action, as well as Catherine Castel. Included with the tape is an informative (if you can read Italian!) booklet and filmography.

Buy Vibrazioni on VHS

The Rape of the Vampire DVD update

The UK DVD release will be released on October 22 2001, and will include the same extras, but will unfortunately be trimmed (41s) to comply with the BBFC. However, those expecting the same scratchy version that previously appeared on VHS can think again - this one has been completely remastered from the original negatives, and is a taster for the uncut US release. The UK DVD will be PAL, All Regions encoded.

Buy The Rape of the Vampire British DVD

Zombie Lake on US DVD and Video

America's Image Entertainment have released Rollin's Zombie Lake (along with Jess Franco's Oasis of the Zombies) as part of their Euroshock collection. Featuring a widescreen 16:9 anamorphic transfer, extras include deleted scenes, a trailer and an alternate French soundtrack.

Buy the Zombie Lake DVD

Buy the Zombie Lake VHS

Redemption DVD releases: Update

Salvation Films (the British arm of Redemption USA) have created brand new digital masters from Rollin's negatives of La vampire nue (aka The Nude Vampire,1969) and The Rape of the Vampire (aka Le viol du vampire, 1968). The exciting news is that whilst looking through the cans of negatives, some previously unseen footage was discovered from The Rape of the Vampire. Three extra shots of nudity have been included in this new master, which we can confirm looks jaw droppingly gorgeous. The mastering for this film was completed on the absolute state of the art C-Reality telecine suite, of which there are only a handful in Europe. And that's not all! Also recently mastered for the first time ever are Rollin's first short Les amours jaunes (1958) and his later short Le pays loin (1965), which Salvation hoped to include as extras on thefuture (delayed) DVD release of The Sidewalks of Bangkok (1991). However, these are now more likely to appear as extras on another title.

Redemption USA

The company who can lay claim to have popularised Rollin's work more than anybody else are UK based Salvation / Redemption Films, who acquired many of Rollin's titles for video release during the mid 1990's for video release in Britain. Since then, these titles have been released Stateside by Redemption / Image in stunning, brand new uncut transfers made from Rollin's internegs. You won't see these films looking any better elsewhere!

Current USA DVD releases:

Buy on DVD Shiver of the Vampires (1970)

Buy on DVD Requiem for a Vampire (1971)

Buy on DVD Demoniacs (1973)

Buy on DVD Lips of Blood (1975)

Current UK DVD releases:

Buy on Video or DVD Requiem for a Vampire (1971)

Buy on DVD Lips of Blood (1975)

Buy on Video or DVD Fascination (1979)

Buy on Video or DVD Living Dead Girl (1982)

UK Video

Requiem for a Vampire, Fascination and The Living Dead Girl are also available on VHS Pal videotape, as well as Rollin's first, unreleased in the USA The Rape of the Vampire

UK Cuts

Alert! The UK releases of Requiem for a Vampire, The Living Dead Girl and The Rape of the Vampire have been edited slightly to comply with the BBFC's guidelines.

Video Search of Miami

Beware! Video Search of Miami also offer Rollin's films on videotape, but these are best avoided at all costs. Their "masters" are merely copies from the French VHS video releases, albeit several generations down. I've seen most of these myself, and apart from a brief introduction by Rollin, the picture quality (and their asking price) leave a lot to be desired.

Virgins and Vampires

There is an excellent book from Crippled Dick Hot Wax in Germany. It features essays by Rollin on most of his films, plus more than 650 rare colour and black and white photographs, many from Rollin's personal collection and never before published. It also includes a limited edition exclusive CD soundtrack to Rollin's The Two Vampire Orphans. 156 pages. Sadly, it is now out of print.

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