Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

The Demoniacs Blu-ray Movie Review

Jean Rollin at his most devilish.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater May 21, 2012

When you think of the cinema of the late Jean Rollin, you inevitably think of vampires—lesbian vampires, hippy vampires, vampire twins, but always vampires. Like George A. Romero and zombies, vamps were Rollin's supernatural subject of choice, and he used the tropes associated with them—the sadness of immortality, the perverse sexuality of bloodsucking, the corruption of innocence—to stake his own claim to a dreamy, morbid territory on the outskirts of le fantastique.

He did make a few non-vampire films—besides the slew of bill-paying pornos he directed under the pseudonyms Robert Xavier and Michel Gentil—and of these, 1974's The Demoniacs stands out as one of the most unusual, with a classic gothic horror premise involving guilt, revenge, and a deal with the devil. It was also one of the few times that Rollin was afforded a budget large enough to pull off what we might call a "spectacle" sequence; in this case, the burning of an oceanside graveyard for derelict ships. Still, though there's not a vampire in sight, there's no mistaking The Demoniacs as anything but a Jean Rollin movie. The directorial trademarks are all here—the codependent female leads, the "poetic" pacing, and of course, the borderline incomprehensible story and gratuitously rampant nudity.

Set at the end of the 19th century, The Demoniacs opens on a dark beach, where a narrator introduces us to four "wreckers" who lure ships to the rocks and plunder them—the evil Captain (John Rico), his begrudging minions Bosco (Willy Braque) and Paul (Paul Bisciglia), and his lascivious, big-breasted mistress Tina (Joëlle Coeur), the siren of the group. These landlubber pirates fear "neither God nor the law," and if the events of the film are any indication, they tend to do more raping than pillaging. Two shipwrecked sisters (Lieva Lonne and Patricia Hermenier) wash up onshore looking like creepy Diane Arbus twins, and Paul and Bosco promptly beat and ravage them while the Captain and Tina look on, sexually excited. The sisters are killed—or possibly only left for dead—and later, at the local drinking hole/whore house, the Captain begins seeing guilt-induced visions of the girls as blood-covered ghosts. After hearing the specters have also been spotted down at the ship graveyard, the Captain and his crew set the place ablaze, hoping to flush the vengeful spirits out. Because, as everyone knows, ghosts hate fire. Or something.

If you're new to Rollin's films, you'll learn quickly that it's wise to avoid trying to make sense of his often not-entirely-sensical stories. At best, there's a kind of dream logic at work in The Demoniacs, allowing the two sisters, who seem fairly clearly to have been murdered, to be both ghostly and corporeal, spirit and—most importantly—flesh. The girls retreat to a nearby island, where they encounter a woman in a modern clown costume—once again, try not to think too much about it—who leads them to the spectacular ruins of a medieval cathedral. This was a smart, production value- boosting move on the part of Rollin, who shot at the ancient Cistercian abbey near Villers-la-Ville, in Belgium. Here, the sisters find a Raspuntinish- looking gnostic monk (Ben Zimet) who guards a crypt containing none other than Satan himself. Or, at least, a goofy 1970's version of Satan, with feathered hair, way too much eyeliner, and an Elvis outfit. For some reason, the devil (Miletic Zimovir) can only be "liberated by innocent hands, victims of evil," and the sisters certainly fit the bill. They free him and offer up their sexual services in exchange for the power to exact retribution on their rapists. "Let's get this straight," you might rightly ask, "in order to get revenge on the the guys who raped them, the girls literally have to get screwed over by Satan? Yep. "That doesn't seem worth it, does it?" Nope, can't say that it does.

So, no, The Demoniacs doesn't make a lick of sense. And at 100 minutes, the film is far longer than it needs to be. There are several scenes that could be drastically shortened or outright cut, and it certainly doesn't help that Rollin worked primarily with unknown and, frankly, untalented actors, who either overplay the material—see the wreckers—or, in the case of the two sisters, spend most of the film staring lifelessly into the middle distance. The only remotely memorable performance is from bosomy erotica actress Joëlle Coeur, and that's only because her sex pheromones are so powerful you can practically smell them through the screen. Her frequently undressed character is an unremitting sadist, and the film's most (in)famous scene features her arching her back and pleasuring herself on the beach while the two girls are tied down and abused. The film is obviously not for the prudish or easily offended, but even diehard fans of Euro-sleaze may find the rape sequences more than slightly distasteful. That said, as tempting as it is to write off Rollin as a misogynistic hack with a severe deficit in storytelling skills, you can never entirely dismiss his key strength—an ability to conjure up a mood that's distinctly his own, a combination of gothic decay, softcore titillation, and the creeping feeling that anything might happen.

The Demoniacs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

If you've been following or collecting Kino and Redemption Film's other Rollin releases, you already know exactly what to expect from The Demoniacs—a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that's essentially presented "as is." There's been no real digital restoration work done here, and you'll notice frequent but minor print damage in the form of white flecks, vertical scratches, and slight color fluctuations. On the other hand, the fidelity of the picture hasn't been compromised by edge enhancement or texture-erasing noise reduction. That's a tradeoff I'm willing to make, although I'm curious to hypothetically see what a company like Criterion could do to clean up a film like this. In terms of clarity, The Demoniacs was probably never sharp to begin with, but this new high definition remaster is an unquestionable upgrade from previous home video editions, refining textures and preserving the picture's naturally filmic look. Colors seem faithfully reproduced too, with no overzealous boosting in contrast or saturation. I've noticed that Kino has started using dual-layer discs more often, suggesting a higher bit-rate, and subsequently, I didn't notice any compression-related quirks or artifacts here. Barring a time-intensive restoration in the future, this is probably as good as we can expect The Demoniacs to look.

The Demoniacs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, The Demoniacs washes up on Blu-ray with an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 track—in the original French—that sounds as good as can be expected from a low-budget 1970s horror film. You'll notice some top-heavy brashness to the mix, along with a few pops and crackles and some low hissing, but nothing out of the ordinary for a movie of this caliber. Most importantly, the dialogue is always listenable and nicely balanced, requiring no volume adjustments. Not much stands out here, audio-wise, but semi-frequent Rollin collaborator Pierre Raph does give the film a nice, mood- appropriate score, with minor-key pirate melodies and martial snare drum rhythms. The disc defaults to optional English subtitles, which appear in easy to read white lettering.

The Demoniacs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction by Jean Rollin (1080p, 3:08): Rollin talks about how this was his first film with a "budget," comparatively speaking.
• Deleted Sex Scenes (1080p, 3:37 and 6:41): Two deleted softcore scenes, one with Isabelle Copejams and Yves Collignon, and the other with Joëlle Coeur and John Rico. The latter rivals Showgirls for unintentionally comic flailing. Also, John Rico looks like he's about to have a heart attack.
• Outtake Footage (1080p, 2:07): Some additional footage from the ship burning scene.
• Natalie Perrey Interview (1080p, 1:29): Perry, a frequent Rollin collaborator, discusses how Demoniacs represents the best and worst of the director.
• Jean-Pierre Bouyxou Interview (1080p, 14:42): Film critic Jean-Pierre Bouyxou talks about how he championed The Nude Vampire, and reminisces on the bit part he played in The Demoniacs.
• Jean Rollin Trailers (1080p): Trailers for all eight Rollin films that have been released thus far.
• Booklet: A fifteen-page booklet with photos and an essay by Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas.

The Demoniacs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Like many of Jean Rollin's films, I find The Demoniacs disappointing simply because it's good in some respects—like the dreamy atmosphere—but could be so much better with a polished story and stronger actors. Still, the low-budget, z-grade Euro-sleaze quality is all part of the retrospective charm, and I can understand why Rollin has his cult supporters. If you're new to Rollin, The Demoniacs probably isn't the best title to start with—check out one of his vampire films first—but longtime fans will certainly be pleased by Kino's Blu-ray release, which features a new high definition transfer, lossless audio, and some decent special features.