Vampire films are usually very attractive: some of them are masterpieces ("Nosferatu", "Dracula" (1931), "Dracula" (1992)); others are cult, like the Hammer productions, "Near Dark" and "The Lost Boys"; others are only entertaining. But they always have audiences of fans to worship the different stories and versions of the vampire, the supernatural being created by Bram Stoker in his novel and brought to the cinema by F.W. Murnau for the first time.Unfortunately, "La fiancée de Dracula" is probably the worst vampire movie ever made, with a combination of exploitation with a terrible screenplay recalling Jesus Franco films. There is no development of the characters or situations and the viewer sees a mysterious professor (that physically recalls Christopher Lee, only physically) and his awkward assistant Eric performed by a ham actor hunting down Dracula. In-between there are crazy nuns, breasts and naked bodies exposed in a senseless story. My vote is one (awful).Title (Brazil): Not Available (fortunately)

I'm fairly new to Jean Rollin's output (as I've only watched "The Living Dead Girl" and "Requiem for a Vampire"), but again like those aforementioned films (even though I wasn't blown away from this one) I enjoyed the strange, surreal quality of one of Rollin's latest works; "Dracula's Fiancée". The supernatural meets sensual erotica, in what is a crazy canvas for Rollin to let loose providing a sense of wonder with its moody atmospherics, brooding performances and demented butchery. A professor and his assistant are trying to hunt down the tomb of Dracula, which leads them to Dracula's fiancée and through her they can uncover his remains as they get drawn in to a parallel world. The pictorial story is jadedly convoluted and slow-moving, but fancifully gripping in the surrealistically Gothic universe that's created as its populated with eccentric creations ranging from Dracula, a she-wolf, baby-eating Ogresses, vampires, dwarf-jester and some raving mad nuns within a attractively remote backdrop of castle ruins and sprawling beach line. It's the macabre meeting the beautiful, as Rollin's hypnotically symbolic imagery is richly presented (like the boat ride) and arrestingly captured by its whimsical, haunting soundtrack. Sometimes you find yourself being lost in this bewildering world, forgetting about its ponderously thick script filled with many abstract ideas. There's a lot going on, than what is actually shown even when it favours its sparse long stretches. It's an atypical character journey of a Dracula tale, but at its core it's the usual love story filled with unrest, desire and heartache. Still underdone in the details. The theatrical performances are acceptable and the make-up FX is passable. Erotically nightmarish blood sucking entertainment."May you rest in peace".

I've seen a handful of Jean Rollin films, and the only ones I liked were his zombie flicks The Living Dead Girl and The Grapes of Death; which is pretty ironic when you consider that ninety percent of his filmography is made up of lesbian vampire films. Well I must be a glutton for punishment having seen this film after seeing so many Rollin films that I didn't like; but to my surprise it would seem that four decades of lesbian vampires has actually taught Rollin something, and while The Fiancé of Dracula suffers from most of the same problems as Rollin's other films; it is actually surprisingly good! As you should expect, the plot is completely made up of nonsense and focuses on some Van Helsing wannabe and his dopey assistant as they go around hunting "parallels" (hot lesbian vampires, basically). Their investigation leads them to a strange convent (via a circus dwarf) and the pair soon discovers that the nuns are harbouring a young woman who just so happens to be the fiancé of the almighty Count Dracula...Naturally, the film is completely incoherent and nothing after about the first fifteen minutes makes a lick of sense...but Rollin films generally aren't meant to, and he does at least get the ambiance right. Most of the actresses used are stunningly beautiful - even more so when given lesbian vampire roles and Rollin makes good use of them; in particular Rollin stalwart Brigitte Lahaie who has an interesting role as a 'wolf woman'. It soon becomes easier to just take the film scene by scene rather than trying to enjoy it as a whole and the film features plenty of interesting scenes - one that involves a young girl eating a baby is a highlight. Given that Rollin made most of his films between the late sixties and early eighties; it would be reasonable to assume that The Fiancé of Dracula is merely an imitation of his earlier works, but actually that's not the case and this film appears to be as 'true' to Rollin's style as anything he made earlier on in his career. There's not much point talking about the ending because it makes just as much sense as the rest of the film; but while this film isn't brilliant, it's better than most of Rollin's stuff and his fans should enjoy it.

This is a wonderful return to form by an idiosyncratic master. Obviously, his physical infirmities have not hindered his vivid imagination and ability to conjure up startlingly iconic visuals. His latter films tend to have a more playful, fairy tale quality than his early masterpieces, which some have interpreted as self-parody. More likely, it's the result of his adapting his own fantasy novelettas, as well as a personal mellowing with the knowledge that his work is now appreciated by a new generation. There certainly are many homages to his past successes here, particularly the grandfather clock acting as a cache for vampires. These elements have been integrated into the new mythology of "parallels", giving the film a bit more cohesiveness than his previous homage to his own work, Two Orphan Vampires. The denouement -- amid the broken wrecks and piers of the French seacoast, naturellement -- contain striking surrealist images that rival those of Robbe-Grillet, Jodorowsky, and Arrabal. Quite a magical experience, whose delicacy is tenuous but rewarding.