400-419 Jean Rollin

[thirtyframesasecond]

Thanks all - my blu-ray player and Smart TV are several years old now - so would be due an upgrade soon so that they're 4K UHD standard, so I may as well hang onto Fascination. It was £25 and if I'm desperate to watch it now, it's on the BFI Player subs. Obviously you want to see Brigitte Lahaie swinging a scythe in as vividly as possible, so that's a good motivation to upgrade.

[Finch]

Are there any 4k TVs that you can't go wrong with and don't break the bank completely? I was thinking of Sony and LG.

[MichaelB]

I asked David Mackenzie this last year, and he told me that LG OLEDs were pretty unbeatable right now - and are a lot cheaper than they were. So that’s what I bought, with no regrets whatever.

[Finch]

Thank you!

[MichaelB]

I had to have Dolby Vision for professional reasons (this is why I asked David specifically, as the author of the discs that I'd be QCing), but I don't think I had to pay any extra for it - if I remember rightly, I bought a 55" LG C2 set for about £1,500, and could have knocked a chunk off that by going for the previous year's all-but-identical C1 model.

[ikms]

I bought a 55" LG C2 set for about £1,500, and could have knocked a chunk off that by going for the previous year's all-but-identical C1 model.

I bought my first 4K set, a 55" LG (in 2019) LED backlight LCD for about a third of that price, and re-watching the 4K of Daughters of Darkness last month (improved color gamut aside) it struck me how decidedly non-black the black sections of the film were. I typically watch on a projector where dynamic range is further limited, but I encourage buyers to take advantage of the outstanding technology available if considering a panel display. It is worth mentioning that typical 35mm film stock projected barely had any dynamic range to speak of, perhaps as low as six stops. A constant light source illuminating a thin layer of film couldn't attenuate to the level of the negative film capture itself (as much as a 12 stop medium), certainly not where black levels are concerned. I am pretty sure OLED combined with an HDR source is actually the first time we have had the means to eclipse traditional capture mediums and reproduce light intensity we might experience in real life.

Bringing this back around, I too "took the plunge" with the 4K of Fascination and find the detail improvement alone astonishing. I didn't want to rebuild my Redemption collection, but I have gone and ordered the other five Indicator releases to support this effort. Between this and the Michael J Murphy collection, this massive dedication to a commercially uncertain but intrinsically worthy undertaking leaves me in awe. I first felt it via the Alan Clarke set, but these fully exemplify the particular ethos of curation & craftsmanship (& perfectionism?) shared by the family DNA of UK boutiques (BFI-Arrow-Indicator-Radiance) distinct from their American counterparts - even (sadly) those helmed by British ex-pats. Incredible work, and I will spread the word.

Of the six so far, and when it comes to year-end considerations, does anyone have a favorite for "most improved" or "supplemental-ly impressive" over previous editions?

[MichaelB]

It’s interesting that you bring up the Alan Clarke set, because that was also the brainchild of Sam Dunn, just before he left the BFI to co-found Powerhouse. Day to day production chores are overseen by the credited producer, but Sam is extremely hands-on when it comes to forensically inspecting the disc builds, and I’ve long resigned myself to the fact that they’re never going to get past him without being extensively tweaked along the way. (But this is a good thing.)

[MichaelB]

CineOutsider on the 4K UHD disc of Fascination:

A film that I ultimately found myself captivated by, for the beauty of its aesthetics, and especially for its potent feminist subtext and the way it ultimately ties all of the narrative elements together, including what initially feels like a completely disconnected opening scene. Indicator has done another fabulous job here, with a pristine 4K transfer and an excellent collection of special features. An absolute must for fans of the cinema of Jean Rollin, and as a member of this collective, I have no problem recommending this one highly.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Deeply impressed by the new edition of Night of the Hunted especially the Tim Lucas and Stephen Thrower contributions.

[JSC]

I recently finished watching Rollin's complete mainstream features chronologically from Le viol du vampire to La masque de la Meduse, and
it's been a truly unpredictable path from beginning to end. Some films are better than others, but there always seems to be that commitment
to his personal obsessions, even as they run headlong against the various confines and dictates of low-budget genre filmmaking. I hope
Indicator plans to put out more new editions... especially La rose de fer, Les raisins de la mort, and La masque de la Meduse.

[swo17]

They're releasing 19 of his films. Latest title speculation

[JSC]

I hope they don't neglect his final two films. I know they were shot on lower quality video and transferred to film, but as
a summation of his career they shouldn't be excluded, especially as they're not readily available. (Personally, I can do
without Zombie Lake as Rollin was essentially a last minute replacement for Jesus Franco).

[Adam X]

Zombie Lake is interesting, and gets better towards the end, but I wouldn’t disagreee. His last few films deserve much more attention. That said, if they restore it, I’ll probably buy it.
Rollin tragic that I am.

[reaky]

They're releasing 19 of his films. Latest title speculation

I wonder if it’s a mistake to allocate one title per spine number: in boxes like the Michael J Murphy, two or even three films share a single number. This would allow for SCHOOLGIRL HITCHHIKERS and COUNTESS X to be a single Adult-Rollin release, and shorter works like LOST IN NEW YORK and THE MASK OF MEDUSA to be on one disc.

[MichaelB]

I wonder if it’s a mistake to allocate one title per spine number: in boxes like the Michael J Murphy, two or even three films share a single number. This would allow for SCHOOLGIRL HITCHHIKERS and COUNTESS X to be a single Adult-Rollin release, and shorter works like LOST IN NEW YORK and THE MASK OF MEDUSA to be on one disc.

The only spine numbers that have been revealed are 400, 402, 407, 410, 411 and 417.

Everything else is pure guesswork by people who don't have access to the production schedule.

[colinr0380]

Zombie Lake is interesting, and gets better towards the end, but I wouldn’t disagree. His last few films deserve much more attention. That said, if they restore it, I’ll probably buy it.
Rollin tragic that I am.

Sadly the cut down to one minute version of Zombie Lake video has been removed from YouTube, but that is pretty much all that you need to see of that film. Although I would actually love it to be released separately from this pure Rollin run as a double feature with Jess Franco's (similarly bad, but fun if in the right mood) Oasis of the Zombies, as they are both Eurociné productions from the same year and I seem to vaguely remember some bit of trivia that Rollin and Franco ended up swapping films for some reason. That's probably why Franco regular Howard Vernon turns up in Zombie Lake!

[reaky]

And didn’t Rollin shoot some zombie footage that got spliced into Franco’s VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD?

[therewillbeblus]

Bringing this back around, I too "took the plunge" with the 4K of Fascination and find the detail improvement alone astonishing.

I was blown away by the presentation in DV as well - the dreamy aesthetic is perfectly rendered. Kudos to Indicator, though now I feel compelled to pick up all these 4Ks purely for the visual feast

[Thornycroft]

Although I would actually love it to be released separately from this pure Rollin run as a double feature with Jess Franco's (similarly bad, but fun if in the right mood) Oasis of the Zombies, as they are both Eurociné productions from the same year and I seem to vaguely remember some bit of trivia that Rollin and Franco ended up swapping films for some reason. That's probably why Franco regular Howard Vernon turns up in Zombie Lake!

Stephen Thrower's weighty Franco tome Flowers of Perversion doesn't mention the trivia about Rollin and Franco swapping films so I assume it's apocryphal, though apparently Franco abandoned Zombie Lake the day before shooting started leaving Eurociné scrambling to enlist Rollin at the last minute. Which does explain the presence of Howard Vernon and Franco's regular composer Daniel White (who recycles a couple of familiar cues from earlier Franco films).

[colinr0380]

I think that Rollin coming in to take over the film after Franco dropped out is what I was getting confused with swapping, as that seems to ring a bell! Thanks Thornycroft!

[Adam X]

The film was apparently co-directed by Julian de Laserna under a joint pseudonym, and most of the music was taken from a few other Franco films (as Thornycroft mentioned). It sounds like Franco left the project after disagreements with Eurociné, due to a shrinking budget amongst other things, and they never worked with much to begin with. Franco managed to produce some good work produced by Eurociné but Zombie Lake certainly couldn’t be said to be that. Still, the moments where Rollin’s style and themes come to the fore make it just a little worthwhile to watch, but is probably best left til last.

[MichaelB]

THE DEMONIACS
(Jean Rollin, 1974)
Release date: 22 April 2024
Limited Edition 4K UHD (World premiere)

Pre-order here (UK BD), here (UK UHD), here (US BD) or here (US UHD).

The Demoniacs (Les Démoniaques) sees director Jean Rollin eschew his regular subject of vampirism for a brutal nautical tale of ritual horror and supernatural vengeance.

A gang of ruthless pirates, known as ‘the wreckers’, rape two survivors of a shipwreck. The women, now mute, are guided by a mysterious clown to a ruined castle, where they receive magical powers with which to exact their revenge on the gang.

Starring Joëlle Coeur (Schoolgirl Hitchhikers), John Rico (Blood Orgy of the She-Devils), Willy Braque (Lips of Blood), and Mireille Dargent (The Iron Rose), The Demoniacs is one of its director’s most shocking and violent tales of the fantastique.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION 4K UHD SPECIAL FEATURES

• Brand-new 4K HDR restoration from the original negative by Powerhouse Films;
• 4K (2160p) UHD presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) - UHD versions only;
• Three presentations of the film: the original theatrical version; the longer, explicit export version; and Curse of the Living Dead, the alternative English-language cut;
• Original mono audio;
• Audio commentary with film expert Tim Lucas (2024);
• Selected scenes commentary with Jean Rollin (2005);
• Jean Rollin Introduces ‘The Demoniacs’ (1998);
• One of the Demoniacs (2024): new presentation of an interview with regular Rollin collaborator Jean-Pierre Bouyxou;
• Newly edited archival interview with actor Willy Braque (2024);
• Critical appreciation by author and musician Stephen Thrower (2024);
• Outtake footage;
• Original theatrical trailer;
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material, and behind the scenes;
• New and improved English translation subtitles;
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for Curse of the Living Dead;
• Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, an archival piece on the making of the film by Jean Rollin, an archival interview with Rollin, an archival interview with actor Monica Swinn, and full film credits;
• World premiere on 4K UHD;
• Limited edition of 10,000 individually numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US.

All extras subject to change

#PHILE406U
BBFC cert: 18
REGION FREE
EAN: 5060697922820

[MichaelB]

THE NUDE VAMPIRE
(Jean Rollin, 1970)
Release date: 22 April 2024
Limited Edition 4K UHD (World premiere)

Pre-order here (UK BD), here (UK UHD), here (US BD) and here (US UHD)

Jean Rollin’s second feature film, and his first in colour, The Nude Vampire (La Vampire nue) finds the master of the fantastique combining his trademark erotic-vampire themes with an homage to the mystery serials of his youth.

When Pierre (Olivier Martin), the son of a wealthy industrialist, witnesses a beautiful woman (Caroline Cartier) being pursued and captured by men in bizarre masks, he decides to investigate, uncovering a sinister vampire cult...

Starring Caroline Cartier (Lumière), veteran French character actors Bernard Musson (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) and Paul Bisciglia (The Demoniacs), Lettrist artist Maurice Lemaître (co-writer of Rollin’s The Iron Rose), and Rollin regulars Olivier Martin (The Rape of the Vampire) and twins Cathy and Marie-Pierre Castel (Lips of Blood), The Nude Vampire is one of Jean Rollin’s most eccentric and effective works.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION 4K UHD SPECIAL FEATURES

• Brand-new 4K HDR restoration from the original negative by Powerhouse Films;
• 4K (2160p) UHD presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) - UHD versions only;
• Original French and English mono soundtracks;
• Audio commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby (2024);
• Jean Rollin Introduces ‘The Nude Vampire’ (1998);
• Le Passage (2024): updated documentary on the making of The Nude Vampire by Rollin’s personal assistant, Daniel Gouyette, including interviews with key collaborators Natalie Perrey, Jean-Noël Delamarre, and Jean-Pierre Bouyxou;
• Fragment d’un dialogue (2024): extracts from selected interviews with Rollin conducted by Gouyette between 1998 and 2003;
• Interview with archivist Lucas Balbo exploring Rollin’s connection to the French anarchist union (2024);
• Critical appreciation by author and film historian Virginie Sélavy (2024);
• Original French and English theatrical trailers;
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity material, and behind the scenes;
• New and improved English translation subtitles for the French soundtrack;
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing;
• Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a selection of new and archival writing including a new essay by David Jenkins, an archival introduction by director Jean Rollin, an archival interview with Rollin, and full film credits;
• World premiere on 4K UHD;
• Limited edition of 10,000 individually numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US.

All extras subject to change

#PHILE401U
BBFC cert: 18
REGION FREE
EAN: 5060697922721

[jlnight]

I'm guessing The Demoniacs got through uncut then? When Redemption submitted the film it was cut for "an image of rape and accompanying images of sexualised nudity which further eroticise the sexual violence", but that was back in 2004 and do not appear to have been compulsory cuts. Maybe the guidelines have changed?

[MichaelB]

It's still with the BBFC, but thus far they've passed everything in Indicator's Rollin project, including a full-on hardcore extra for The Night of the Hunted. And cuts made to The Rape of the Vampire have also been reinstated.