Fascination (5 Stars)

This is Jean Rollin's tenth film, made in 1979. It's yet another vampire masterpiece. The film takes place close to Paris in 1905. A jewel thief called Marc has betrayed the other members of his gang and is on the run across the countryside. He takes a refuge in a mansion occupied by two women, Eva and Elisabeth. They claim to be servants looking after the mansion while the owners are away, but Marc doesn't believe them. Unknown to Marc, the two women are waiting for the arrival of five other women to perform a yearly ritual.

While dancing with Elisabeth, she tells Marc, "At midnight you'll see what seven women can do to one man". There are only five women in this photo, but I'm sure they can handle a man as well. As a matter of fact, even one woman is too much for a man to handle. We see this when Eva kills the four gang members hunting Marc by herself.

Eva is played by the French actress Brigitte Lahaie. Jean Rollin met her when she took part in "Vibrations Sexuelles", a hardcore sex film that he made in 1977 when he was desperate to make money. He recognised her as a talented actress and promised he would give her a part in one of serious films. He hired her a year later for "Grapes of Death" (not yet available in 4K). She went on to appear in another three of Rollin's films, including "Fascination".