Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Lips of Blood (The Cinema of Jean Rollin)

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Todd Jordan
    Smut is good.

  • Lips of Blood (The Cinema of Jean Rollin)



    Released by: Kino Lorber/Redemption Films
    Released on: 1/24/2012
    Réalisation: Jean Rollin
    Cast: Jean-Loup Philippe, Annie Belle, Catherine & Marie-Pierre Castel, Natalie Perrey, Serge Rollin
    Year: 1975
    Purchase from Amazon

    The Movie:

    Number four in Redemption's “The Cinema of Jean Rollin” Blu-ray series, Lips of Blood tells the tale of Frederic (Jean-Loup Philippe), a man in his 30s who never realized he was looking for something. Attending some sort of party for the launch of a new fragrance with his mother (Natalie Perrey), one particular piece of advertising utilizing some old ruins catches Frederic's eyes. He is suddenly thrown into a repressed childhood memory, one that takes place at the ruins and involves a young woman whom he fell in love with instantly, at the ripe of age of twelve. As a boy (played by Jean Rollin's son Serge) he meets her in the night and gives her a toy, professes his love to her, and then takes off to be with his mother, never seeing her again. Fast forward twenty years later and the single photograph of the ruins puts him on an obsessive path to find them. It's also a very dangerous path, as it appears someone doesn't want him to find the ruins.

    After some perseverance, and the appearance of the girl he loves who tips him off, he finds the ruins. But in nosing around he inadvertently releases four vampires from their entombment, who in turn seem to be protecting the man with the ultra-perm from whatever people are trying to keep him from discovering the truth about the girl and what happened to her. When he finally does find the truth, it's from a source he doesn't expect. He's being told to do something he doesn't want to, and must make a decision as to where his loyalty lies.

    At its core this is a love story. Boy meets girl; boy falls in love with girl; boy goes on a mission to find the girl. But in the true fashion of a Jean Rollin picture, it's all about the visual side of things. Although not as surreal as say The Shiver of the Vampires, Rollin still throws in some telltale signatures found in his other works. Long, flowing, and see through vampire outfits, wonderfully copious amounts of gorgeous female nudity, an amazing location, long takes, and really interesting camera movements. Fascinating castle ruins, run-down buildings, and some beach action make for some great settings. The man had a wonderful eye for what makes an interesting shot, and he exploited that to his fullest potential.

    Unlike the aforementioned Shiver, and also Fascination (the only other Rollin movies this viewer has seen up to this point), Lips of Blood seems to be less symbolic and more of a straight-up story, with only one main character rather than numerous ones. It's a lot easier to follow than the other two, and it moves along at a quicker pace as well. Absent is the lesbianism, but there's plenty of vampire action to go around, and two of the four vampire ladies are pretty much naked for their duration of screen time. Heck there's even some female masturbation thrown in for good measure. It's pretty tough to complain about that.

    Atmospheric, gothic, and quite eerie at times, Lips of Blood should give horror movie lovers something to talk about. This one feels less like arthouse fare and more like a Hammer movie, giving it a different feel that the other mentioned Rollin films, but it is no less entertaining. From start to finish, there's always something interesting going on or something appealing to look at.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    Kino/Redempion do a fine job giving the movie its high-definition debut, with a 1080p AVC encoded image, and a 1:66:1 aspect ratio. Good detail, the colors look pretty solid, although not the kind to hit you over the head, and the blacks seem deep and consistent. There are white flecks through out, but they aren't distracting and given the age and low-budget roots of the film, it's totally forgivable. There seems to be no edge enhancement or DNR, and there's plenty of what looks like natural grain to behold. Missing are artifacts or aliasing. No apparent authoring issues to mention. The audio is an LPCM 2.0 French language track with easy to read English subtitles. The only complaint is the volume seems louder than the average, but once you find a level that agrees with you, the balance seems to be correct. A little age is apparent in the sound, but it does its job just fine.

    For supplements, there's a short introduction by the director, and he addresses some troubles with the filming and is pretty candid about his thoughts on the finished product. Also to be found is a ten-minute or so interview with Rollin script-girl Natalie Perrey, who plays the mother in the movie. The interview is in French with English subtitles, and she speaks of her experiences on the film and with the director, and her relationship with his son, whom she shared lodging with during the shoot. She smokes the entire time she talks. HD trailers for other films from the series are also present, and as with the others releases, a 20-page booklet by Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog, is included.

    The Final Word:

    This writer can't compare this film to anymore than two Rollin films at this point, but Lips of Blood is every bit as entertaining and interesting as the others. Kino/Redemption has done a great job with these movies, and here's to hoping more are in the works.

    Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!






























    • Ryan K
      #1
      Ryan K
      Brock Landers
      Ryan K commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks for the reviews, Todd. Lips of Blood looks great on Blu. I already own the 3 disc Encore set but ordered this anyway since it's my favourite Rollin movie, it was only $15, and I needed to see Screenshot #5 in 1080P. Beatrice Harnois!

    • Todd Jordan
      #2
      Todd Jordan
      Smut is good.
      Todd Jordan commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks Ryan. Yeah it looks nice and so does the lady in that picture. Ian did the screen grabs, and I'm glad he snagged the one with the movie poster. I totally forgot to mention Frederic sits in a theater watching The Shiver of the Vampires.

    • Randy G
      #3
      Randy G
      Senior Member
      Randy G commented
      Editing a comment
      Looks great, tried to order this from an Amazon dealer and it was already out of stock!
    Posting comments is disabled.

Latest Articles

Collapse

  • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Severin Films
    Released on: April 30th, 2024.
    Director: Lee Frost
    Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
    Year: 1969
    Purchase From Amazon

    Hot Spur – Movie Review:

    Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
    ...
    03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
  • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Mondo Macabro
    Released on: April 9th, 2024.
    Director: Max Pecas
    Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
    Year: 1985
    Purchase From Amazon

    Death Squad – Movie Review:

    Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
    ...
    03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
  • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Quality X
    Released on: February 28th, 2024.
    Director: Chuck Vincent
    Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
    Year: 1982
    Purchase From Amazon

    Roommates – Movie Review:

    Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
  • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Blue Underground
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Jess Franco
    Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
    Year: 1970
    Purchase From Amazon

    Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

    Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
  • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Saul Bass
    Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
    Year: 1974
    Purchase From Amazon

    Phase IV – Movie Review:

    Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
    ...
    03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
  • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
    Ian Jane
    Administrator
    by Ian Jane


    Released by: Radiance Films
    Released on: March 26th, 2024.
    Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
    Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
    Year: 1969-1972
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

    Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
    ...
    03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
Working...
X