★ 5 / 10
First of all I watch this film because
Sofia Florina
First of all I watch this film because of **Brigitte Lahaie** and this is also the first **Jean Rollin** film I have watched. I don't know if his other films…
First of all I watch this film because of **Brigitte Lahaie** and this is also the first **Jean Rollin** film I have watched. I don't know if his other films are like this but in general this film is a bit 'illogical'.
I like the tranquility and subtlety of this film, mostly because of its urban settings, it's lovely according to me. The 'enough' nudity, including a soft sex scene which I think is actually optional, is shown in this film and adds to the flavor of this film even though it will be eaten away by its flimsy plot. It's thrilling of course, plus with some 'bright red' blood, you know what I mean.
However, this film is slow, yes it's slow and personally I generally don't like slow films. There are many scenes which actually may not be 'slow' but it seems like they are intentionally made that way to make the audience expect what will come next. It might be meant to accompany the 'illogical' plot, maybe. There is almost no story development of course but thankfully there is a lot of dialogue.
People don't have to read subtitles to understand a film like this but it's melancholy when you know what the characters are talking about, especially since this film heavy on dialogue. I can't say if the ending of this film is good or not but it's ethereal. The last thing I want to say is that it is not pleasant to see people who have no memory whatsoever who are like 'blanks' in a mental institution but they feel locked up or imprisoned there and want to get out of there.
Quote from the film:
_The only thing left for us to do is to touch our own bodies. It's our only pleasure. The only one we don't forget._
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★ 5 / 10
Rollin meets Kafka
Thom-P
The ever gorgeous Brigitte Lahaie wanders aimlessly through this Kafka-esque plot about an amnesiac trying to escape from a strange clinic where the staff…
The ever gorgeous Brigitte Lahaie wanders aimlessly through this Kafka-esque plot about an amnesiac trying to escape from a strange clinic where the staff tortures and sexually abuses patients as part of some undefined rehabilitation process. Could have been interesting had the ideas been better developed, but director Rollin concentrates more on getting Ms. Lahaie and the other female cast members out of their clothes rather than trivial matters such as story and characterization. The sterile atmosphere makes for some bland visuals and without Rollin's trademark gothic settings, there is little to entice the eye, apart from said lovelies.
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★ 6 / 10
The Dark Tower
Bezenby
A young man driving through an unnamed French city chances upon a startled girl in a nightdress. To say she's confused is an understatement, as she asks for…
A young man driving through an unnamed French city chances upon a startled girl in a nightdress. To say she's confused is an understatement, as she asks for help, forgets about asking for help, forgets about where she is, what her name is, and general seems to have her mind wiped completely clean. The young man drives her back to his house, unheeding of the other girl left behind in the woods.
The rescued girl is called Elisabeth, but that's about all she remembers. Our young man, Robert, settles her down in is home, not knowing that some mysterious people have followed them there in a car. After a morally dubious, lengthy sex session with Elisabeth, Robert sets off for work only for a doctor and nurse to appear and take Elisabeth 'home', which turns out to be a huge monolithic black tower.
By the time Elisabeth has forgotten all about Robert, and is taken back to what she's told is her room, where a similarly stricken girl called Catherine lives. Elisabeth, as far as she can perceive, realises that everyone in the tower block is like her, with the exception of a rape happy orderly, the doctor, and those armed guards stopping anyone from leaving. There's also Veronique, who turns out to be the girl who tried to escape with Elisabeth at the start of the film.
The question is, why is Elisabeth there and what is the purpose of the doctor and his minions? Don't expect a custard pie fight and a sing-a-long at end of this one as the film descends into gory murders and suicides, gun fights, and another escape attempts due to Elisabeth finding Robert's phone number in her pocket (she doesn't remember him of course, but he remembers her!).
Between this and The Grapes of Death, I cannot believe that Jean Rollin was the man responsible for the terrible Zombie Lake. Both Grape and this are short on plot but high in atmosphere, and this one, although not exactly a pulse-racing action fest, is fascinating as a mystery and a grim modern horror. The clinical interiors of the black tower just add to the unease, as does the brutal violence that comes out of nowhere.
This being a Jean Rollin film, and a French film, every lady in this one gets naked. This is why I love tracking down all these films, there's always one or two that come out of nowhere and surprise.
I've never made to the end of Zombie Lake, but I'm going to give it another go.
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35%
AUDIENCE
· 100 ratings
5.5/10
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Raising Arizona PLEASEEE!!!