New York, NY – May 2, 2012 – Following the Blu-ray releases of five films by French cult filmmaker Jean Rollin, Kino Lorber and Redemption are proud to announce the release of three erotic horror films made during the prime of Rollin’s career: The Rape of the Vampire (1968), Requiem for a Vampire (1973), and The Demoniacs (1974).

These three films come to Blu-ray and DVD mastered in HD from 35mm negatives. Each disc comes with a special 16-page booklet with an essay by Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog. Each one has a street date of May 29th, with individual SRPs of $24.95 for the Blu-ray, and $19.95 for the DVD.

Each Blu-ray and DVD comes packed with special features, providing an illuminating look at these unique films. Bonus features on the discs include a special introduction by Jean Rollin, deleted scenes, documentaries, interviews with Rollin’s collaborators, trailers, and – on The Rape of the Vampire disc – two bonus short films directed by Jean Rollin. (See below for details of special features included on each disc).

The Rape of the Vampire (1968)

“A psychiatrist (Bernard Letrou) ventures to a remote castle to convince a brood of four vampire sisters that they are misguided, brainwashed by superstitious villagers, and not truly creatures of the Supernatural. The villagers (including director Jean Rollin) confuse and abuse the sisters, before finally storming their castle. The cast descends on a hospital run by a young doctor (Jean-Loup Philippe), charged by the Queen of the Vampires (Jacqueline Sieger) to discover a cure for vampirism. The bewildering action culminates in a “blood wedding” presided over by Sieger, in her regal hot pants, on the legendary stage of the now-defunct Theatre du Grand Guignol. The shoot was anything but professional. Everyone on the crew was making their first film. All copies of the script managed to get lost within two days, which quickly forced the production into improvisation mode. Rollin opted to let the film become what it wanted to become. It was in the spirit of the times to experiment.  The resulting film, The Rape of the Vampire (Le Viol du Vampire) is a glorious puzzlement, like nothing else in the horror genre.” (excerpt of the essay by Tim Lucas)

Requiem for a Vampire (1973)

“Requiem for a Vampire (Requiem pour un vampire) was Jean Rollin’s favorite of all his films. Because he dredged the scenario from his subconscious, and because it was rushed into its written form so quickly (Rollin claimed that he wrote the entire script in only two days), he felt it was his purest work. True to Rollin’s roots in serials and the Bizarre, the film opens with an action scene already in progress: two women in full clown makeup (Marie-Pierre Castel, Mirielle d’Argent), firing guns at a retaliating car behind them, as a handsome associate mans the steering wheel. This being a Rollin film, we quickly dispense with the man and get on with the general absence of story and the vital accumulation of fetish. Eluding their pursuers, our two clowns continue their never-explained flight on foot, journeying to a cemetery, then a chateau inhabited by ‘the last of the vampires.’” (excerpt of the essay by Tim Lucas)

The Demoniacs (1974)
(Unrated Extended Cut)

“A Poe-like study of guilt and revenge, The Demoniacs (Les Demoniaques) concerns a band of ‘wreckers’ who rape and murder two young sisters, the survivors (Lieva Lone, Patricia Hermenier) of a ship they have lured into coastal rocks and plundered. The ghostly sisters haunt the Captain and obtain help from a mysterious clown (Mirielle d’Argent) who leads them to an impressive disused cathedral. There they meet a gnostic priest (Ben Zimet) standing guard over a cell that harbors the Devil himself (Miletic Zimovir), who empowers the angelic girls sexually with the evil necessary to exact their vengeance. If ever one of Rollin’s films was presided over by a singular compelling presence, it is that of Joelle Coeur, the mysterious auburn-tressed female lead. As Tina the Wrecker, Coeur seems to incarnate the perverse libido, stripping and publicly pleasuring herself while in thrall to the rape and pillage of her gruff associates.” (excerpt of the essay by Tim Lucas)