Two Orphan Vampires

Released by: Kino/Redemption
Released on: August 28, 2012.
Director: Jean Rollin
Cast: Alexandra Pic, Isabelle Teboul, Bernard Charnace, Natalie Perrey, Brigitte Lahaie, Tina Aumont
Year: 1996
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The Movie:

When Jean Rollin wasn't able to get his Return Of Dracula film off of the ground, he turned his attentions from filmmaking to writing and churned out a series of five books about a pair of young orphan vampires. When it came time to get the word out about the books and boost attention to their awareness, it was decided that he'd make a film using the two central characters - and as such, we have 1996's low budget 16mm Two Orphan Vampires, a return to horror moviemaking for the director.

The central storyline begins in an orphanage where a nun (Natalie Perrey) cares for two beautiful blind girls Louise (Alexandra Pic) and Henriette (Isabelle Teboul). Life seems hard for them until they are adopted by the specialist looking into treating them, Dr. Dennary (Bernard Charnace), who flies them to New York City. As Dennary tries to cure their blindness, we learn that the girls are actually the living dead and that they're only too happy to feed on whatever source of blood they can find - be it a dog (later buried by the caretaker played by Rollin himself), a woman lost at the circus (Brigitte Lahaie) or one another. When Dennary leaves them alone so he can go on a business trip, they meet a creature of the night named Venus (Veronique Dajouti) who sports bat wings, but as the movie heads towards its finish, tragedy strikes.

Two Orphan Vampires has a few problems - first, it's slow. Very slow. Even by the admittedly already slow standards of Rollin's movies, this one chugs along at a snail's pace, particularly during the first half hour or so. The film was also made on a very low budget, and there are a few scenes (the most obvious being when they meet the bat-winged Venus) where this hurts things and makes the movie feel almost amateurish. Amidst all this, however, are the trademark Rollin traits - a pair of young girls, vampirism, abandoned locations, religious iconography, an empty cemetery, a desolate rail yard, and bizarre lighting - all of which make it completely watchable and occasionally quite interesting.

The movie deals spends a lot of time wandering, be it in the cemetery near the orphanage or on the streets of New York City (where the movie makes some obvious nods to the director's Lost In New York) and that odd dream like atmosphere that only Rollin could conjure up the way he did is omnipresent even during the slower moments. Alexandra Pic and Isabelle Teboul make for an interesting pair, the two leading ladies make the most of their inexperience here and play their roles gleefully, with some moments that show a sort of childlike innocence which contrasts in interesting ways with their predatory nature. Guest spots from the lovely Brigitte Lahaie and the equally lovely Tina Aumont are welcome additions to the cast, while Natalie Perrey makes for a charmingly kind nun.

Those expecting the sex and blood so prevalent in many of Rollin's other films may be disappointed that this particular film features only very minimal gore and very fleeting nudity but the soundtrack from Philippe D'aram and the excellent camera work more than compensate for that. Ultimately, this isn't one of Rollin's best efforts, it's simply too disjointed and too slow to rank up near his best works, but it is one that has more than enough going for it to make it an intriguingly bizarre watch.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Kino presents Two Orphan Vampires on Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.78.1 mastered from the original 16mm negative. The first five minutes or so of the movie show a fair bit of minor print damage, mostly just white specks, but this subsides as the movie progresses even if it never entirely goes away. Is this transfer going to floor you? No, but it offers a nice step up from the previous DVD release from Media Blasters that was a bad PAL conversion. Given the low budget origins and elements used, this isn't a film that's ever going to look perfect and this is one instance where a bit more cleanup work might have helped things but detail isn't bad for what it is and the grainy, gritty, ethereal atmosphere that Rollin seems to have been going for with this film is certainly left intact. Color reproduction is decent and shadow detail, while not amazing, is okay.

LPCM 2.0 audio options are offered in French with optional English subtitles or in an English dubbed option. The French track is the way to go as it simply suits the movie better than the English track does but both sound fine. The score has some nice resonance to it and the levels are properly balanced. Again, the film's low budget is obvious here and there in that some scenes sound a little on the flat side but overall, the audio is fine.

If the film isn't one of Rollin's best, the supplements on the disc are never the less quite excellent, starting with a forty-two minute long retrospective featurette entitled Memories Of A Blue World. Here we're treated to interviews with leading lady Isabelle Teboul and Rollin's go to composer Philippe D'Aram among others in which the interviewees discuss their work on the picture. Teboul has a lot to say about how she was cast, how this was her first role and what it was like working with Rollin while Teboul discusses his relationship with the director as well. We learn about the scenes shot in New York, the books that Rollin wrote which the film was based on, the involvement of the late Natalie Perry (who saw Rollin as a poet and reportedly did 'everything' on set when she wasn't in front of the camera) and quite a bit more. It's a very thorough and interesting peek into the history of this lesser entry in the director's filmography. Also worth checking out is a career spanning interview with the late Rollin himself, who cheerfully talks about his career starting in the sixties by contrasting himself with the French new wave movement that was happening at the time before discussing many of his other films up to and including the feature on this disc. Shot in 2008, it portrays the director as warm and intelligent and he offers not only some interesting stories about his career but also some equally interesting insight into how and why it became what it became.

Rounding out the extras are a theatrical trailer for the feature as well as trailers for nine other Rollin titles available from Kino, animated menus and chapter stops. Inside the case is another booklet of liner notes from Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas which detail the story behind Living Dead Girl and Two Orphan Vampires (available on the same day). Well worth reading, they offer some critical analysis and make some interesting comparisons between the two movies and also provide some welcome background information as well.

The Final Word:

Two Orphan Vampires isn't the film that Rollin is going to be remembered for but it's an interesting picture with enough going for it that we can overlook its flaws and appreciate it for the bizarre fever dream that it is. Kino's Blu-ray offers up the film in a vastly improved transfer compared to previous DVD issues and with some pretty important extra features as well, making this a strong package for a film that isn't always a complete success.

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