The Two Orphan Vampires (1997)

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nTitle: The Two Orphan Vampires (1997)

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nDirector: Jean Rollin

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nCast: Alexandra Pic, Isabelle Teboul, Bernard Charnace

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nThis film comes to use from one of the great French horrorndirectors, Jean Rollin. Now this of course depends on who you ask because some criticsndismiss Rollin as a pornographer, an amateur filmmaker or simply a maker ofnsleazy, gratuitous b-movies. But I beg to differ, I really do. Sure Rollin’snfilms had gratuitous nudity and violence, but to me Rollin’s films are alsonpoetic and haunting and though some of them might come off as empty examples ofnstyle over substance, I also find relevant themes in his films. Take fornexample The Two Orphan Vampires, one look at it and you might say the film isnpaper thin, with little in the way of plot. And in a way you’d be right,nbecause it is a simple film, but if you give this film a deeper look you’llnfind a film that comments on religion and the contrasts between new ways ofnthinking versus the old.

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nIn The Two Orphan Vampires we meet Henriette and Louise, twonyoung girls living in a catholic orphanage. Their unique situation is that theynare both blind, nobody knows why, nobody knows how, they simply are. One day,nan ophthalmologist comes visit the orphans to inspect their eyes and soonndecides to adopt and take care of them, he becomes their father figure, takingnthem from the orphanage and welcoming them into his home. The nuns are happynthe orphans finally have a home, the orphans are happy they are finally out ofnthe orphanage and the doctor is happy to help these two blind girls. But unbeknownstnto all these people, the two orphan girls are only blind during the day! Atnnight they become vampires and can see just fine! When night unfolds, the twongirls roam the city streets looking for victims to feed on. How long will theyncontinue this charade before others discover their secret? Will they ever bencaught?

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nThematically speaking, The Two Orphan Vampires is all aboutnbeliefs. First off we have these two girls living a lie. They live in a catholicnorphanage, where they give this façade to the nuns, making everybody believenthey are these two angelical blind girls. Now the meanings behind the girlsnbeing blind while living in a catholic orphanage are pretty obvious, this was Rollin’snway of addressing how religion can blind people, shutting their eyes to thenrealities of life. Humans are always drawn towards the lurid, seedy aspects ofnlife, this is why the girls go out at night. It’s after they sneak out at nightnthat these girls enjoy life, it’s at night that their vision returns, it’s whennthey escape the confines of the orphanage that they have their fun in the world,nthis is the time when they really see life for what it is. A mix of fun and strugglento survive, a dog eat dog world with moments of wonderment as well asnsuffering, a bitter sweet existence. An interesting aspect of all of this is thatnthe girls are teenagers, a time when most people succumb to the more rebelliousnaspects of life; the teenage years are a time when you question everything andnwant to push your limits. This is why the girls escape their elders to smoke theirncigarettes and drink their alcohol. So the film depicts two rebellious teenagengirls giving their backs to Christianity in order to have their fun in life.

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nAt the same time, the film addresses existential issues. Thentwo orphan vampires are constantly questioning who they are and where they comenfrom. They are vampires who have died many times over and have come back tonlife, with foggy memories of who they use to be. Problem is they can onlynremember a few of the lives they have lived, they can’t go that far back intontheir existence, so they start to wonder who they used to be in earlier livesnand they come upon this book about Aztec civilization that gives them the ideanthat they were these ancient Aztec gods. Kind of like how humanity has anrecollection of past civilizations, but at some point our history becomes foggynand we end up asking ourselves where we all really come from? Same as the twonorphan vampires, we too have a foggy memory about these things. The two girlsncan only imagine they were Aztec gods, they are not certain, the same way wencannot find the answers to the big questions in life, so we make up answers andncall these answers religion.

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nThe Two Orphan Vampires features Rollin’s signature poeticnvisuals, the film is also told at Rollins usual slow pace, as if it was in nonhurry to tell you its story, it simply unfolds at the pace it wants to whethernyou like it or not. I’ve grown to like this aspect of Rollins films because tonme they are a breath of fresh air when compared to the frenetic pace of some ofntoday’s films. So in that sense Rollin fans will find this to be like many ofnRollins other pictures. But where this one takes a left turn is in the absencenof nudity and violence, there’s very little of both on this film. Also, thosenlooking for lesbianism will find the film lacking in that aspect as well, fornwhile the girls hug a lot, it is never implied that they are in love. Theynfunction more as sisters. There is one scene where they are naked together, butnit’s a completely unnecessary scene and seems to be spliced in the movie onlynto appease the producers who always asked Rollin to fill his films with nuditynand violence. When compared to previous Rollin films, this one feels restrainednin these areas, which was something that hardcore Rollin fans didn’t like aboutnthis film, personally, this didn’t stop me from enjoying this one.

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nThe Two Orphan Vampires was made late in Rollins life, henwas into his sixties when he made this one, and very ill I might add, yet thenfilm still retains many of the aesthetically pleasing elements that I enjoyed aboutnhis earlier works like The Grapes of Death (1978), The Living Dead Girl (1982) and Fascination (1979), and though this film isn’t nearly as good as these I’ve mentioned, there are still many good things to say about The Two Orphan Vampires, for example, thenbeautiful localizations are present…this was one thing that Rollin loved aboutnfilmmaking, shooting in actual beautiful locations, so we still have thesenbeautiful shots of actual places, sometimes Rollin would compose these shots onnthe spot, an aspect of his films that I love. True, this is not Rollins bestnfilm, it has a few flaws, like the actresses who play the orphan vampires, thoughnbeautiful this was the first feature film for both, so sometimes theirnperformance isn’t the best. The bad dubbing kind of hinders the enjoyment ofnthe film; it makes the poetic dialog come off as robotic and unnatural. Still,nI enjoyed the visuals, the music and the themes, it is not the disaster thatnsome would have you believe. Sure it was late in Rollins career, but wow, thenguy made this film through some serious illness, sometimes going from thenhospital to the set, it’s a miracle he managed to pull off a beautiful lookingnfilm and on such a low budget! Admirable in deed.

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nRating: 3 out of 5     

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