The Rape of the Vampire (1968)

People are voting emotionally.

One of my all time favorites.

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely Fantastic

When Jean Rollin died earlier this month, cult-cinema lost an iconic director who always made exactly the films he wanted to. Rollin is considered a true master by many of my fellow Eurohorror fans. Admittedly, I have never counted myself among his biggest fans. While Rollin's visual and atmospheric mastery is undeniable, I found most of the confused and weird plots of his films to be rather low on substance. The fantastic 1978 Zombie film "Les Raisins de la Mort" (aka. "The Grapes of Death") and the interesting "La Morte Vivante" ("The Living Dead Girl", 1982) are the two exceptions to this. However, it must also be seen to Rollin's credit that he never seemed to care to give his films a conventional storyline and therefore arguably make them more accessible. Rollin is primarily known for his countless Erotic Vampire films, which are usually visually stunning, atmospheric and highly artistic but utterly weird and confused.Rollin's feature length debut "Le Viol Du Vampire" aka. "The Rape of the Vampire" aka. "Queen of the Vampires" (1968) is one of the films that epitomize Rollin's style of filmmaking. Since it was made in the 60s the film is not quite as explicitly sleazy as Rollin's 70s and 80s efforts, but doubtlessly incredibly sleazy for its day. Visually, this black and white film is maybe even more astounding than Rollin's later efforts. The film has a beautiful and eerie Gothic atmosphere from the very beginning, and every sequence is filmed with sinister elegance. The first half of the film is generally interesting to watch. Sadly, it gets somewhat tedious in the second half."Le Viol Du Vampire" was originally meant to be a short film, which would have probably suited the film better. However, Rollin decided to make it a feature length film; therefore, the film is divided in two chapters, the second of which is the longer, more confused and more tedious one. As it is the case with most of Rollin's Erotic Vampire films, it doesn't really make sense to give a plot description here. The first chapter, which is about 30 minutes long has a confused storyline, but one that is interesting enough to be saved by visual beauty and atmosphere. The second chapter, which is an hour long has some interesting moments, but overall it is way too long and doesn't make a lick of sense, which makes it quite tedious to say the least. As it is the case in every Rollin film, the female cast members are beautiful and have exhibitonist tendencies. The appearance of many hot naked women, Sadomasochistic scenes which must have been outrageous at the time, and a whole lot of bizarre stuff is vaguely enough to make "Le Viol Du Vampire" rewarding, however. Most of the second chapter just seems to be an excuse to make the film longer, and it shows. Overall, most of "Le Viol Du Vampire" is Rollin-typical visually astonishing nonsense, with a beautiful female cast and a mesmerizing score.R.I.P. Jean Rollin. While I personally will probably never be one of his most enthusiastic fans it is undeniable that the man did exactly the films that he wanted to make, and very obviously didn't care to meet any accepted standards. Even though "Le Viol Du Vampire" is somewhat tiresome, and therefore only recommendable to those who like Rollin's weird style of filmmaking, it has to be considered a classic of Erotic Eurohorror and pioneering Erotic Vampire film. The atmosphere and visual style are stunning. Nonetheless it is hard to watch the film all the way through without getting bored. One for Rollin-fans.

I had read about Rollin's work for years, but I only recently had the opportunity to see any of his films. This is, to date, the only one I have seen, and it far exceeded my expectations. To call the film "challenging" is an understatement; but, I believe, the director's intent is not to present a coherent narrative, but to indulge in his interest in dark poetry. The film plays less like a conventional "movie" than it does like avant-garde theater, and with this in mind, harsh critiques of the performances and the writing are immaterial. The structure with which the film unfolds makes perfect sense in every way. The monochrome images are stark, beautiful, radically unusual, striking, and unforgettable. Violence and sex scenes are artful as opposed to pornographic (reminding me of Jodorowsky's El Topo in this respect). Individual scenes play well within the format wherein they are presented. The budgetary limitations are negligible: the film's beauty is beyond reproach for all but the most closed-minded or prudish viewers. Approach the film as a two-act visual poem, and its rewards to the viewer will be manifold.

I truly thought it was made in the 30s.The bad acting, the jagged B&W cuts, the seeming lack of a plot! (and GOD don't get me started on that unconvincing model the old bloke hides behind that our "vampire queen" reports to!) I don't care if it's supposed to be ironic - it's cheap & amateurish.The ABYSMAL sword fight - leave it out!!I'm really sorry, but I watche dthis film and deflated as it went on - it's everything Brecht would have hated, Schechner would have found it a joke, and Sarah Kane probably saw 30 minutes less in than I did.But hey! I adore Star Trek: Hidden Frontier.Judge for yourself.(It AIN'T "Fire walk with me" - that had gravitas!!) D

First looking at Jean Rollin's debut feature Viol Du Vampire was not very impressing. It looked very cheap, and the editing seemed almost amateurish. After a while though I learned to appreciate the movie's very unique pacing and artistic approach. Its been long since I've seen a movie as pleasant to look at. I found an interesting saying by a user at the amazon page: "Its boring, but in a good way". Which of course doesn't make sense to most people, but try seeing this. Relaxing, yet exciting. The low-tempered experimental music really is nice. You don't really have to understand what is going on though. Lots of nudity, blood, poetry, interesting characters... Yes, I really enjoyed this! If you like old art-house movies you should try it. Jean Rollins should be deemed as a great great artist.