This is French film director Jean Rollin's first feature film. It was released at a time of local political unrest, and was one of only a few films available. As such, it drew large audiences who were often angry and scathing at the unconventional nature of the story-telling. A lot of the back-story is initially conveyed by narration. The four sisters who are convinced they are vampires are suitably seductive and other-worldly, and the three who travel from Paris to 'cure' them of their perceived illness are, by contrast, very ordinary. No professional actors were used for budgetary reasons.Typical Rollin flourishes are here from the outset: it takes less than three minutes for a young topless girl to be seduced, for example. In a scene where the character of Brigitte is stumbling across an open field, there are glimpses of the real world – society, industry – in the distance, but always out of reach, always on the periphery. The events are firmly rooted in a heightened reality, cocooned almost by the unreality of the world of the vampires. This is a theme prevalent in many Rollin pictures.Denying a Rollin film colour is stripping it of one of his most defining hallmarks, but monochrome nevertheless gives his usual flair for imagery starker, more desolate tones far removed from the comparative 'comfort' of his love for rich palettes. The dilapidated buildings look colder, the skeleton trees in the woodland look starker. It isn't until act two (the film was originally intended to be a short, before but another chapter was added so that it could be released as a full-length film) that we see the first glimpses of 'Rollin beach' (Pourville-lès-Dieppe) which would feature in many future productions. It is this location in particular that Rollin favoured as it left a haunting impression on him as a child, and that eagerness to lend a child's view impression on his projects is what makes them so appealing to fans of 'personal' films. The filming here always takes place in the cold months, under grey, heavy skies – in black and white, it looks very barren indeed. A perfect location for the arrival of the vampire queen (Jacqueline Sieger). Sieger's acting is very theatrical, but there is no denying she brings an extreme and exotic nature to her character that sets her apart from the others.The chaotic jazzy/violin soundtrack is used to both work for and against the unsettling mood: 'against' because it seems so inappropriate, and 'for' because that very jarring quality makes even straightforward scenes unnerving.The vampire fangs are achieved more successfully here than in probably any other Rollin film. More subtle than usual, they are located on the teeth outside the incisors.The titles of the two chapters are 'The Rape of the Vampire' and 'The Vampire Woman/Queen of the Vampires'.

'The Rape of the Vampire' is split up into two parts. While the first segment is rather linear and 'normal', with super-expressive, daring camera angles, the second part, "La Reine Des Vampires" is a lot more confusing, while exhibiting the same level of visual excellence and dreamlike, naive atmosphere. The story is very fragmented and it's hard to follow the ever-multiplying characters. I find films like Franco's 'Succubus' or Jodorowsky's 'Holy Mountain' to be slow and pretentious, but I didn't have have any problem with the similarly haphazard and unstructured 'The Rape of the Vampire' doesn't feel artificial because it's got its heart in the right place, which can be said about majority of Rollin's films. He may not have professional actors, but he nevertheless gets them to deliver emotional performances and create moving, if not realistic, characters. The acting may be unpolished, but Rollin has a gift for drama which he displays more consistently then the other Eurotica directors(Franco, D'Amato) with whom he often gets bundled as a sexploitation director. The story is a mess, but a poetic one, and images are arresting. In terms of cinematography 'The Rape of the Vampire' is more more adventurous than director's more popular films 'Fascination' and 'La Morte Vivante'. I have the warmest feelings for this very brave film and will be re-watching it again.

Popular French art/cult director Jean Rollin's first foray into the horror genre calls itself a two-part melodrama and is divided into two segments that overlap; "Part One: The Rape of the Vampire" and "Part Two: The Vampire Women." In the first portion (which is the shorter of the two), psychoanalyst Thomas, his friend Marc and Marc's girlfriend Brigitte go to a mansion to investigate claims of vampirism. Living at the large country home are four psychologically troubled young women who are rumored to be ageless vampires by the superstitious townspeople. The villagers try to keep the women inside at all times by staking crosses everywhere and using a weird-looking, hairy-faced scarecrow that an old man provides the voice for. Thomas suspects the women have been brainwashed into believing they're actually vampires when it fact they're not, and sets out to get to the bottom of things. Even though the acting's not great, the dialogue is terrible and the editing is horrible, this segment is visually very beautiful. The images, the camera set-ups, the framing of shots and the clarity of the black-and-white photography are all done well. The director also proves to have a nice eye for detail, outdoor scenery, light and shadow. The art direction is also good, and though the storyline is a bit muddled it's still not too difficult to follow. Unfortunately, immediately after this shorter portion concludes, the film basically falls apart and it never recovers.With several of the principals either dead or turned into vampires at the end of "Rape," we now enter the second segment "The Queen of the Vampires." The "Queen" is an arrogant short-haired woman who is carried around on a bed by two of her goons and has a bunch of hipster followers at her side to do her bidding. No clue what she really wants or what's driving her, but it seems like she's power mad and wants to put on some kind of theatrical wedding where two people will have sex in a coffin that's nailed shut. She and her minions have also blackmailed a doctor into trying to come up with a cure for vampirism. They have turned the doctor's girlfriend into a vampire to edge him along. Several characters from the first segment wander in and out every once in awhile. It's all extremely confusing to watch and hard to keep track of what's going on, who is who and what it is whoever is trying to accomplish. This second and much longer portion also seems more rushed and less stylish than the first. It's also full of continuity errors and hacky editing splices that make it even more confusing. Both segments feature plenty of T&A shots, which were quite risqué for 1967 I'm sure.Discounting Rollin's super-cheesy living dead disaster ZOMBIE LAKE (which even his most devoted fans have a hard time defending), this is my first real look at the work of this director. I see a fantastic visual stylist with a lot of potential who needs a little help on his narrative structure and pacing. A happy medium can be met. Throwing a little clarity in every once in awhile never hurt a film. Of course, some people can and will defend the most senseless films ever made as long as they look good, calling them "poetic" or "dream-like" or "experimental." That's perfectly fine if this is a masterpiece in some people's eyes, but to me a movie this illogical really needs to sustain that other-worldly feel throughout to keep me interested. The first segment almost seemed to hit the right note, but the second didn't even come close. I'll certainly still check out more films from Rollin based on the positives here even though I was less than enthusiastic about this effort.

A psychoanalyst and his wife go to a château in the country, which is inhabited by four vampire sisters. Rollin's first feature is distinguished by good photography and score, which manage to overcome the bizarreness of the plot and the deliberate pacing. An atmospheric horror classic, but decidedly not for all tastes.