Fiancée of Dracula
(La Fiancée de Dracula, 2002)

Jean Rollin

France

91 min, color, French (English subtitles)

Review © 2005 Branislav L. Slantchev

Careful! These nuns have gone totally berserk!

After the generally disappointing The Two Orphan Vampires, I thought that maybe Rollin has lost his touch, has gone commercial (whatever that may mean for anything in this genre), and has switched from trying to satisfy his fantasies to pandering to more common tastes. I am happy to say that Fiancee of Dracula is a lot better than the previous film, and that's despite its talkiness, its generic script, its rather uninspired story, and the somewhat gratuitous gore.

Interlopers in the world of the supernatural	The vampire dying of thirst

This is a visual film that does not just glorify style over substance, it revels in style and abhors substance. There is some pretense at story-telling depth with one character reciting nonsensical fantastic lines that purport to be relevant to the "other" world in which she dwells, but that is no more than a nuisance, a distraction that does not get in the way of inspired creativity involving some pretty neat typical Rollinesque sequences.

Wild and crazy nuns	Isabelle with the voices in her head

As far as the so-called story goes, it's as simple as it is blasphemous. Rollin has never been known to hew to the dominant Christian line, and he's sort of an equal-opportunity offender when it comes to denominations. But this time he's taken a direct swing at Catholics (he's French, after all), with this entry in the perennially fun to play with nuns-gone-wild genre. In this instance, they have literally gone mad because of the unhealthy influence of one Count Dracula. Whereas some of this madness has a somewhat pedestrian quality to it (skipping rope, reading books, playing with a ball-on-a-stick), some is the more common nunnery deviance involving decidedly unchaste sisterly interactions.

This sister is not very happy	Would you trust these two?

It isn't just the nuns that have gone haywire, Rollin has thrown the encyclopedia of the creatures of the night at this outing. In addition to Dracula (Thomas Desfossé), there's his eponymous slightly unhinged fiancee Isabelle (Cyrille Iste), the baby-devouring ogress (Magalie Aguado), the ethereal vampire (Sandrine Thoquet), the left-leaning she-wolf (Brigitte Lahaie), the witch (Nathelie Perrey), the murderous warlock (Bernard Musson), the sister-kissing former gypsy Martha (Sabine Lenoël), the madly in love with the vampire dwarf Triboulet (Thomas Smith), not to mention the whiskey swilling Mother Superior in Paris (Marie Laurence), and her counterpart on the isle (Danièle Servais-Orth).

Not sanctioned by the Pope	The ogress wounded in her lair

It's a crazy mosaic of weird and beautiful supernatural creatures who have somehow become entangled with this world. Despite their murderousness, they still depend on it in strange ways, some needing the help of mortals to survive (the vampire), other both repelled and attracted to this reality to the point of developing either dementia or schizophrenia (the ogress). In this fascinating mix, Rollin then throws the meddling of two guys, a professor (Jacques Régis) and his assistant Eric (Denis Tallaron). In their attempt to rid the world of the seductive Dracula, they will disrupt the uneasy balance, which will result in the death of those night creatures but the liberation of the most dangerous of them all.

About to meet God a lot sooner	Interspecies relations

The story itself concerns Isabelle, who is betrothed to Dracula (who dwells god-knows-where) but who is kept under lock and key plus strict surveillance by an order of nuns. Isabelle has essentially gone crazy because the annoying Dracula keeps whispering in her head, and you do not need to be a vampire's bride to start reciting blank verse when you hear voices in your head. This influence the undead exercises over her has also spilled over the nuns in attendance, and they have started doing some things that the Church tends to frown upon. There's smoking, drinking, illicit lip-acrobatics, and who-knows-what going on.

My heart will go on... NOT	Flowing gowns and windswept beaches

The Professor and his intrepid, but unbelievably stupid, assistant decide to use Isabelle's link with Dracula to locate him. No, they don't want to pay their respects, they want to do to him what every professor since Van Helsing has aspired to do to the count. This prof is more sophisticated, being versed as he is in the secrets of insta-hypnotism that he uses to suggest to Isabelle that she escapes her house arrest that very night. Unfortunately for this plan, two of the sisters are actually agents of the bad guys, so they decide to use the opportunity and whisk away Isabelle to their Master.

Strategically adorned Cyrille Iste	The Convent of the Leering Eyes

That's precisely what they do, and Isabelle ends with Triboulet who takes her to a castle where all the otherworldly creatures get together for a ritual that involves the brutal sacrifice of three nuns. Some of the best sequences are here. There's the reprise of the grandfather clock idea from Shiver of the Vampires, and that's only for starters. In an unforgettable scene, one of the nuns (Céline Mauge) has her heart ripped out. She is left for dead, but awakens and then walks across the castle to a room with a lit furnace where she kisses her bleeding heart and tosses it into the fire. It is so well acted that one can easily forget that the entire scene is symbolic: the undead nun relinquishes her human heart for ever.

Reprising Sandra Julien's clock scene	Supposed to be check-mate in two moves

When Dracula appears in a vision to Isabelle, her legitimate status as his bride is confirmed, and she is taken to a remote island, where more nuns guard the Master himself. These have not only gone crazy, but they have committed atrocious sins, for they have had to feed Dracula and keep him alive. As that Mother Superior said, "God moves in mysterious ways." Indeed. They prepare Isabelle for the sacrifice that would take her from this world to Dracula's reality and help him acquire physical form so he can then return with her back to our reality. They take her to the beach that is apparently Rollin's favorite location: he's used it in The Rape of the Vampire, Lips of Blood, and The Demoniacs at the very least (these are the ones I can recall right now). It really is a beautiful spot, and quite convenient for all sorts of ritual sacrifices.

Isabelle engulfed by the tide	The God Squad

On this occasion, the nuns tie Isabelle to a pole so that the rising tide would drown her. Then they wait until all the supernaturals show up to see the arrival of their Master. The Professor and Eric, who is by now totally smitten with the stunning Isabelle, also arrive, just in time for the Professor to get knifed in the gut by Triboulet, and then eaten raw while still breathing by the ogress and the vampire. It's not like Eric has scored any better either: he makes it to Dracula's lair only to see him rise from the coffin and elope with Isabelle through the grandfather clock, which serves as this film's teleportation device. Meanwhile on the beach, the nuns have gone totally berserk and have julienned the supernaturals. In the final scenes, the ogress is driven mad with hunger and takes a bite out of the vampire who is tied to await the sunrise without any sunblock, and this act of interspecies violence prompts the dwarf to fly into rage and dispatch the ogress to oblivion before doing a quick seppuku on himself. The film does have a happy ending, with Isabelle and Dracula walking along the beach, enjoying the rolling surf.

Isabelle finally meets her future husband	Successful arranged marriage

The story really seems to have been an afterthought to what is essentially a series of vignettes based around beautifully crafted scenes that represent Rollin's wild dreams and fantasies. I have absolutely nothing against this, and, if anything, would have preferred that his characters talked even less. This film has by far the most dialogue of any Rollin outing, and it does not really compliment his skills in that department. I usually cringe when the characters go for some sort of nonsensical poetry or deep thoughts, and there's not just more of this fluff here, but we also get the horrible "let's explain to the audience what's going on" type of dialogue. As if we really care about the intricacies of supernatural logic.

This guy is totally screwed	Larger-than-size dwarf rage

The acting is actually top-notch, it's as if Rollin has finally realized that his films can benefit from hiring professional actors. I was very partial to the vampire (who is his niece) and her portrayal of a very sad ethereal creature who is so vulnerable that despite her long fangs I felt sorry for her. The ogress was done admirably as well, and even though Isabelle's role is mostly to stare vacantly into the distance, I thought that she was superb as well. In particular, the last scene where she says farewell to her human suitor with both contempt and sadness is quite touching. I nearly fell apart myself at this point, so I felt for Eric, even though he was too stupid to deserve anything. Overall, an excellent cast that complements the visuals.

The vampire about to be incinerated	A happy ending

The Shriek Show DVD is surprisingly good. Now, I know this is a recent film so it would be a miracle if they screwed it up, but studios are known to achieve the impossible when it comes to degrading quality. The picture is presented in anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen, and has rich colors and nice contrast that is especially useful in the dominant night scenes. I did not listen to the English dub, so I cannot comment on it. The mono French soundtrack is quite good, however, even if the music was a bit subdued for my tastes. The English subtitles are excellent (I did spot one or two mistakes, but nothing to whine about). The extras include trailers and, most importantly, a 10-minute interview with Rollin where he talks about the film, and the actors. A solid DVD for an excellent film. This is definitely recommended.

December 12, 2005