Two Orphan Vampires (1997)

 

Director: Jean Rollin

Screenplay: Jean Rollin

Cast: Alexandra Pic as Louise; Isabelle Teboul as Henriette; Bernard Charnacé as Dr. Dennary; Nathalie Perrey as a Nun; Anne Duguël as Mother Superior; Tina Aumont as the Ghoul; Véronique Djaouti as Venus

A Night of a Thousand Horror (Movies)

 

As a film made in the mid-nineties, it befits that French filmmaker Jean Rollin made a film which does not feel of its era at all. As much as I admire the nineties, one part of it is that it can be gleefully tacky as much as rich in great filmmaking. The one thing that is anyway comparable to the trends of that time is that, as many films reflected culture from an entire decade before, Two Orphan Vampires is the same, the opening contrasting postcards of religious paintings, fantasy and fairy tales, part of a work that will nod to advertising art for Houdini and magic shows, fantastical art and even Immoral Tales: European Sex & Horror Movies 1956-1984 (1994) by Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs, a book which helped praise Rollin's own work alongside other European auteurs in genre cinema who were known for blending erotic and horror cinema together. Here in the autumn/winter of his career, Two Orphan Vampires even if a horror film with blood and nudity feels at odds which what would be expected, as much an art film even against other titles in his career. It is amazing to think you can compare this to the work of fellow French director Eugène Green, of The Portuguese Nun (2009), with his long, almost Bressionian moments of dialogue, dangerously near the precipice of pretentious but ultimately charming and rewarding in being a bit more freer to let scenes play out as far as needed for mood and effect. This in itself will be an acquired taste even for those who can appreciate The Shiver of the Vampires (1971).

At Glycines Orphanage are two girls named Louise (Alexandra Pic) and Henriette (Isabelle Teboul), who one day could see in black and white, and then became blind, adored by the nuns as angels in mortal form. In truth, they are two vampires, who can see when it is at night, and still need to feast on blood. Theirs is a bitter sweet tale as it is clear in the dialogue between them, in their friendship/platonic love with each other, that they have died and reborn multiple times before, fearing the time they will not come back if it happens again. Immediately distinct in their identical clothes and white canes, the two are sympathetic in that, while they need to feed on the living, they are clearly close, engaging in their ponderings on existence, and obsessed with books on Aztec culture and magic while they believe they are reincarnations of the Aztec goddesses. The film is a series of events, ones from their previous lives, able to come back to life after being killed, as well as ones from their new life, as a doctor adopts them and they continue to explore the world around them. They are anti-heroines but in a way close to classic transgressive art of the early 20th century, fitting as they spend a night finishing Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye (1928) at one point, where there is more weight to this film's gleeful undercutting of religion, where they are the perfect pair in the daylight, going to mass and loved by all, but by night are blood thirsty vampires. The fact the film is sympathetic to the nuns, whilst doomed to eventually know their real selves, emphasizes this further They do encounter other supernatural entities, all of which are women, such as a she-wolf in a flashback who haunts a train depot to a female flesh eating ghoul. There is also a brief cameo from Brigitte Lahaie, whose work with Rollin became iconic in the likes of Fascination (1979). Baring the doctor who adopts the leads, there are no male characters in the film barring extras or minor roles, a world as a result onscreen which is frame entirely around who have the discussions on the meaning of life as well as the small dramatic plots. 

Its brief story is more of an engaging character piece, of characters doomed to repeatedly die despite their happiness, both girls having to feed and relishing it, but always at a risk of being caught. Its presentation could frustrate people, but bearing in mind, digging deeper with what Rollin was obsessed by, this is a waking dream of a film crossed with the kind of aesthetics of book illustrations that look exceptional when used in the opening and end credits of the film. It has an atmosphere too, even managing to shot in New York City on the Brooklyn Bridge, famous in horror for Zombi 2 (1979). The bright, vast locations of the day time to the blue lit environments of the night time scenes set up the mood immediately. His obsession with sexuality and sensuality is still there slightly in the vampires' relationship, including the sexual nature of how vampires bite a victim's neck that has always existed in the mythology, but barring two moments or so of nudity, this is quite a chaste film more concerned with friendship. The bonding of Louise and Henriette, at times like teenage girls onscreen, other times very wise and adult in their reflections of the world around them, is the centre piece of the film that, even if it feels languid next to other Rollin films, will be the thing that will immediately win viewers over if they can vibe on its tone.

The film's mind is more on magic and supernatural creatures than carnality of other films of his I have seen, and in mind the film before this, Killing Car (1993), was an odd tangent in his career as a distillation of a revenge thriller and the old Godardian term of a "girl and a gun", this whilst closer to his trademarks still feels idiosyncratic to them. Probably the biggest reason why people could be put off Two Orphan Vampires, if they are not prepared for it, is because this strips away the blood and nudity in Rollin's films and leaves the unconventional plotting, where two vampires get bored of their predicament and do whatever they desire to escape it, presented not as a conventional three act narrative. For me it is nice to go through such an abstract, dreamlike film that paces itself well. The dialogue is all of interest even if it is unconventional at times. It is an interesting take on vampires that does not compromise the mythology while adding new things for its own depiction. The two lead actresses are very charismatic as their characters, to the point that their potential ego in believing themselves to be gods is actually sweet natured and understandable pride in their existence than despairing their "curse", whilst emphasizing the idea of transgression with an old school weight to it when, rather than the horrifying thing in reality, an Aztec blood ritual of thousands to the point blood covers vast stairways is pictured here as a moment of glowing bonding between them. The distinct age fluctuation in their appearance in fact adds a strange air to the proceedings which makes their characters more interesting as well. The directions the film takes make sense - a world of supernatural beings who are methodical and languid, none of the hectic tone of, say, the Twilight films, and most horror films, where two vampires can kill time as best friends for most of the running time.

Nothing feels contrived in the film in what happens, anything odd feeling appropriate for the dreamlike tone. It feels like spending a week with these characters in their immortal lives only with a few deaths at their hands taking place, and the danger they will be discovered and killed themselves adding dramatic tension. It looks good, and even if the score is dated synth for this decade when it is was made, it feels like it is actually from the eighties, the depth of that era's music here to and adding to the material. There is nothing in Two Orphan Vampires that feels amiss, and that Rollin made a film completely against what is expected with these genre tropes is admirable, more so in that he succeeded for me.