So, have you got your art-house hats on? Popcorn with nutritional yeast and balsamic vinegar? Then let's begin. Requiem - like all of Rollin's films - is emblematic of both the director's sole motivation and also of his crippling weaknesses. Crammed full of symbolic illogic, Requiem meanders for an alternately confusing and beautiful 45 minutes before throwing us for a loop by introducing a plot. From the opening moments, we're thrust into something from a delirious dream, as two hot girl-clowns work to extricate themselves from a frantic car-chase/gunfight. Eventually they find themselves in the type of chateau that Rollin loves, one that's half ruins, and half fur-covered boudoir in which the clowns might strip naked in order to caress each other.

Childlike naked girls wandering around having sex; this is Rollin in a high-concept nutshell. This time, the girls have also stumbled upon a secret enclave controlled by a vampire. Rollin fans will note this is the exact same plot of every film Rollin ever committed to celluloid. Somehow, this engages the viewer's intellect for a moment, when it becomes apparent that the girls are divided in their approach to their newly appointed mission: catch victims for the vampire to eat. (They might have to find pretty soft victims, since this sharp transfer reveals the vampire's fangs to be most likely made of cardboard.) If things are to come to an acceptable conclusion, it's up to the girls to eventually actually speak on camera, briefly explaining everything that's happened.

Rollin films are a difficult to acquire taste, and they can be maddening. Watching two in a row, as I attempted for this review, will test the most-stout cinephile. Yet quite often, Rollin really nails it, as he does consistently in Requiem. Languid, carefully composed shots of the girl-clowns wandering around the chateau evoke aching nostalgia and dream-like beauty. Rollin's penchant for allegories of sexual awakening are plain, and it doesn't get more clear than while watching girl-clowns strip down to explore their bodies before being caught out by the 'adults'. Yet I'm guessing behind the director's kinks and adherence to surrealist imagery is a severe longing for the simple magic of childhood. His best shots equal early 20th-century surrealist painter De Chirico's works in their ability to turn areas of light and shadow into the bewitching, endless torpor only kids aimlessly roaming on a Summer's evening can know.

Other images don't quite as powerfully hold sway, though they're all compelling in their own ways. The girls in their clown get-ups prefigure '80s fashion, and as such are captivating and horrible. They walk up to a mysterious puddle of goo. Is it blood? Milk? Or both? (I don't know because I turned my head from the screen for that half-second.) They then slowly walk backward up an embankment. Entering a decrepit barn as clowns, they exit as Euro-hotties from 1973. Yowza! This welcome eye-candy softens the blows of Rollin's numerous soft-core sex scenes, which range from stilted and tedious to fairly torrid. (A dungeon scene between a chained lass and some weird bearded guy cranks up the heat on the old cauldron of boiling oil, if you understand where I'm coming from.) Yet, even near-constant nudity can't justify filming a woman being raped by a bat. Actually, the bat action in this movie, though brief, could be considered a major selling point to schlock fans.) More sumptuous visuals, frankly awesome nudity, and weird crud with vampires brings us back to Rollin's story, which gains some unique fairy-tale specificity before sending us back into the cold woods.

Requiem For A Vampire covers a lot of ground in Jean Rollin land. It's both: aimless and confusing, and actually driven by a somewhat complex storyline. It features rampant nudity and sex - both steamy and ridiculous - while striving to remind us of the simple mysteries of childhood. It's full of sumptuous symbolic imagery, and the most laughable bat special effects ever committed to celluloid. In other words, it's vintage Rollin.

The DVD

Video:
Mastered in HD from the 35mm negative, this transfer of Requiem comes in an anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen ratio, and looks pretty darn good. I noticed one small instance of wobble in the image, and occasional dust and damage at reel-change points, but those are the only negatives I detected. Colors are subdued, yet natural, and black levels are fairly healthy - good for a pretty dark film. Grain is minimal and evocative, detail levels are nice, and I sure didn't notice any other compression problems.

Sound:
French Digital Mono Audio (with optional English subtitles) and dubbed English Mono Audio tracks clearly won't wow listeners with anything beyond clarity and a decent mix between dialog and music levels. At that, the DVD doesn't disappoint, without much of anything in the way of damage or distortion. The weird score is a bit overloud for my tastes, though not so much that you need to ride the volume control or anything.

Extras:
Redemption treats this release like the others in its roster of Rollin releases. (You ever notice how Internet hacks like to get alliterative?) That means a nice sampling of modest extras is included, starting with a great 16 page Liner Notes booklet with an essay by Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog. (The booklet is the same for all of Redemption's Rollin DVDs.) The movie comes with a short Introduction by Jean Rollin, Original Theatrical Trailers, and seven other Rollin Trailers. A nice ten-minute Interview with Louise Dhour (courtesy of Encore Filmed Entertainment) covers a fair amount of ground, while a 17-minute documentary, "The Shiver of a Requiem" goes in-depth about the film and working with Rollin in general.

Final Thoughts:
Requiem For A Vampire covers a lot of ground in French horror auteur Jean Rollin land. It's both: aimless and confusing, and actually driven by a somewhat complex storyline. It features rampant nudity and sex - both steamy and ridiculous - while striving to remind us of the simple mysteries of childhood. It's full of sumptuous symbolic imagery, and the most laughable bat special effects ever committed to celluloid. In other words, it's vintage Rollin, and looks better than ever on this DVD. For fans, it's Highly Recommended.

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