Two Orphan Vampires

Art is of its time. And even though the best examples of cinema are “timeless,” it’s awful hard to reproduce the magic behind those classics in the first place. Actors, writers and directors reach a creative peak, and then fade into the Smithsonian of pop-culture (if they’re lucky) or unheralded anonymity (if they’re not). French director Jean Rollin only enjoyed appreciation for his work decades after it was released. But that late success provided him the chance to return to his favorite filmic themes with Two Orphan Vampires – a film produced in 1995 but existing somewhere in the director’s mid-70s oeuvre.

Critics might contend that Rollin never had all the much skill to begin with. But even so, his ability to pick up exactly where he left off in terms of style, ideas and execution is pretty amazing. The film itself is much like his tone-poem vampire entries Fascination and Lips of Blood but more restrained in terms of violence, sexuality and budget.

Henriette and Louise are two blind orphans who are taken in by a genial ophthalmologist. Little does he know, their sight returns at nightfall when they prowl the streets looking for victims to quench their thirst. The synopsis suggests predictable genre fare, but Rollin rarely accedes to those conventions. He has his own philosophical angles to explore – sometimes corny, sometimes pretentious, sometimes flat-out bizarre – but never predictable.