Bloodtype Online
For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
Fascination (1979)
If you are talking about French erotic horror films there might not be a better example of someone who makes these movies is Jean Rollin. Although I'm not a fan of many of his films outside of the criminally underrated "Grapes of Death" I was certainly intrigued by Redemption USA's release of his 1979 lesbian vampire art house flick "Fascination".
"Fascination" starts out with a thief double crossing his partners in crime for a box of gold coins. As they are hot on his tail he finds a deserted chateau to hide away and to his surprise he finds two beautiful young women staying there. They tell him that they are waiting for other servants to arrive although that's not totally the case. Obviously something strange is going on and it's up to our thief to figure it out before he's killed by the people on his tail, or even possibly by something in the creepy chateau.
Shot in a very art house style (like most of his films) the film is actually very pleasing to the eyes. The shot composition and the shots themselves win just about every time out, although that's all you can really say for the film. There's a lot of skin of the female variety which is probably the best thing about the film. Not to say that the story itself is bad, but it's very slow and plodding and will lose most horror fans halfway through. Although I think it's a good introduction to Rollin's films, I don't think it's his best. It may be one of his easiest films to follow, but with that being said it's not the greatest flick.
The major issue that I had with this movie is that you are waiting entirely too long for something to happen and when it does, you already knew it was coming. So therefore if you know what's coming then why would you want to sit through a painfully slow film to get there? Of course if you're a fan of art house flicks you may like this one, but I would think that only Rollin's strongest supporters would be the fan base for this release.
Overall I would say that "Fascination" is a good looking flick that just doesn't have enough substance to hold your interest. The Redemption USA release comes with a theatrical trailer, Jean Rollin promos, still gallery and video art as well. AVOID.
Rating - *1/2
-Ed Demko
