''Fascination'' is a 1979 French

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

written and directed by

Jean Rollin Jean Michel Rollin Roth Le Gentil (3 November 1938 – 15 December 2010) was a French film director, actor, and novelist best known for his work in the fantastique genre. Rollin's career, spanning over fifty years, featured early short films a ...

, and starring Franca Maï and

Brigitte Lahaie Brigitte Lahaie (born Brigitte Lucie Jeanine Van Meerhaeghe; 12 October 1955) is a French radio talk show host, mainstream film actress and former pornographic actress. She performed in erotic films from 1976 through 1980 and is a member of t ...

. It focuses on a thief who seeks refuge in a remote

château A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking re ...

where two mysterious women with potentially sinister intentions are residing.

Plot

In April 1905, a group of fashionable Parisian women arrive at an

abattoir In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat ...

to drink the blood of an ox as a way to cure

anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...

, and find the result successful. Nearby a man named Marc, a thief, escapes from four other thieves. He is planning on heading to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with a bag of gold coins, but must take refuge from his pursuers. He discovers a

isolated in the mountains looked after by two chambermaids, Elizabeth and Eva, who are awaiting the arrival of the Marchioness and her servants. The women, who appear to be

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

and in a romantic relationship, are not scared that Marc is possibly taking them hostage; rather, they find it, and him, attractive. Eva sleeps with Marc, spurring jealousy from Elizabeth. The group of thieves discover where Marc is hiding, and begin shooting at the château. Eva goes outside to hand over the gold, but while two of them count it, the wife of one of the thieves takes Eva's dress. Eva seeks revenge by seducing her husband inside the stables before stabbing him to death; she also kills the woman and the two other men with a

scythe A scythe (, rhyming with ''writhe'') is an agriculture, agricultural hand-tool for mowing grass or Harvest, harvesting Crop, crops. It was historically used to cut down or reaping, reap edible grain, grains before they underwent the process of ...

. The Marchioness later arrives with her servants, and they hold a party in which Marc is the only male, so he gets all the attention. When midnight comes, it is revealed that the women habitually lure people into the castle and drink their blood. Elizabeth helps Marc escape, so they hide out in the stables. Eva discovers them and Elizabeth shoots her out of jealousy. Elizabeth and Marc flee and Eva stumbles back to the château where the servants drain her blood. Marc confesses that he loves Elizabeth, whereas she admits that she never loved him and kills him. Elizabeth and the Marchioness go into the sunrise together.

Cast

Release

''Fascination'' was released theatrically in France by the Consortium Européen Cinématographique on 2 January 1980.

Critical response

Reviewing the film on Blu-ray, Charlie Hobbs of

Twitch Film ScreenAnarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

wrote, "Upon my first viewing of this film, I found myself struggling a little bit to remain engaged at first, however, around the halfway point, the film picks up significantly and the third act is a thing of beauty". Budd Wilkins of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'', who reviewed the film as part of the five-disc set, wrote, "In ''Fascination'', more than any other film in the set, the sexuality is staged in a manner befitting French erotica". Steven Jay Schneider, writing in the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's Screen Classics book ''100 European Horror Films'' (2019), likens ''Fascination'' to the

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s of

Louis Feuillade Louis Feuillade (; 19 February 1873 – 25 February 1925) was a French filmmaker of the silent film, silent era. Between 1906 and 1924, he directed over 630 films. He is primarily known for the crime serial film, serials ''Fantômas (1913 ser ...

, citing is sparing use of dialogue, adding: "The movie has a delirious dreamlike aura that is hard to shake off afterwards."

Home media

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

released ''Fascination'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in the US in 1999.

Redemption Films {{unsourced, date=February 2021 Salvation Group is a UK-based media company, specialising in exploitation film and alternative music. The company's original name and current trading name is Redemption Films. The Salvation Group was dissolved in No ...

released it on DVD in the UK on 28 October 2008 in its original aspect ratio, with special features including a trailer and stills gallery, and again in 2012. In 2011,

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art film, art ho ...

acquired the Redemption Films catalogue, and released ''Fascination'' on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

in 2012 as part of a five-disc

collection, along with '' La Rose de Fer'', '' La Vampire Nue'', '' Le Frisson des Vampires'' and '' Lèvres de Sang''. A standalone Blu-ray and DVD were also released by Kino the same year. Wicked-Vision Media released a limited

mediabook Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

Blu-ray edition in Germany with three alternate covers in 2019.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * {{Jean Rollin 1979 films 1979 horror films Erotic horror films French vampire films 1970s French-language films Films directed by Jean Rollin Films set in castles LGBTQ-related horror films 1979 LGBTQ-related films 1970s French films French LGBTQ-related films Lesbian vampire media