Lips of Blood is a 1975 French horror film directed by Jean Rollin from a screenplay co-written with Jean-Loup Philippe.
The latter stars, alongside Annie Belle (House on the Edge of the Park), Nathalie Perrey, Martine Grimaud, Catherine Castel, Marie-Pierre Castel, Hélène Maquin, Anita Berglund, Claudine Beccarie, Béatrice Harnois, Sylvia Bourdon, Mireille Dargent, Paul Bisciglia, Willy Braque, Julien Etchevery and Serge Rollin. The writer-director has a cameo as the cemetery keeper.
Plot:
A man begins to have visions of a young woman dressed in white who is locked behind the gates of a château.
At a reception for the launch of a new perfume, a man named Frédéric sees a photo of the ruins of an old château by the sea. His mind takes him back to when he was a young boy, speaking with a girl who appears to be a little older than he is. Frédéric opens the gate and the girl tells him to go to sleep, and later she returns and wakes him, he leaves her and closes the gate behind him. The girl tells him to open the gate but he promises her that he will be back to free her. Frédéric’s mind comes back to reality and he becomes convinced that the meeting between him and the girl actually happened.
Jennifer, the girl from the château, begins to appear to Frédéric in a number of visions, but she does not speak to him. On one of her appearances, she leads Frédéric to a cemetery where she makes him open up a number of coffins that unleash a hoard of female vampires…
Reviews:
“One of Rollin’s least financially successful films (after The Iron Rose), Lips of Blood is one of his most densely plotted vampire films. It is less dream-like than his others but more suspenseful and action-oriented. Despite the modern setting, it has its share of striking imagery as scantily-clad vampire women prowl the city…” DVD Beaver
“While ultimately, Levres De Sang is as much a romance as it is a horror movie (as many of his movies are), it’s an engrossing and absolutely gorgeous looking film that provides enough gratuitous nudity, lesbian vampire action and mild bloodshed to appeal to the genre enthusiast but also manages to tell a rather sad and completely interesting story at the same time.” DVD Talk
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“Lips of Blood looks pretty damned good on Blu-ray, like all of the Rollins do. The very natural-looking image produces vivid colors and beautiful detail and textures throughout. There is some minor print damage, as with all of the discs, but nothing that might be considered a deal-breaker looks pretty damned good on Blu-ray, like all of the Rollins do. The very natural looking image produces vivid colors and beautiful detail and textures throughout.” Twitch Film
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Notes:
A much smuttier version titled Suce Moi Vampire was released in 1976.
Original title:
Lèvres de Sang
