Two Orphan Vampires – Les deux orphelines vampires (1997)

Directed by: Jean Rollin | 103 minutes | horror | Actors: Alexandra Pic, Isabelle Teboul, Bernard Charnacé, Nathalie Perrey, Anne Duguël, Nathalie Karsenty, Anissa Berkani-Rohmer

‘All magical girls are girls like Henriette and Louise’, says one of the main characters in the surreal ‘Two Orphan Vampires’: a story about close friendship, escapism and bloodlust. A macabre mix that only Jean Rollin could have escaped from the mind and that only he can make a believable film.

‘Two Orphan Vampires’ is the only film by Rollin to be based on a book by the director, which perhaps explains the universal theme in the film. In addition to being a film about two vampire girls who can only see at night and use this time to go on an adventure, the film is also the story of two best friends who face the world together. Since the death of their parents (although no one knows exactly where the girls come from) they have been dependent on each other and by maintaining a fantasy world together they defend themselves against what they see as evil outside world. Everything and everyone they encounter gets a place in their dream world. They mistake a confused woman they meet at night for a werewolf and while on the run from vampire hunters, they find shelter from a fellow vampire with bat wings. These fantasies are a means for the girls to counterbalance the daily grind, which they experience as a restriction of their freedom. They can escape this by fantasizing that they are Aztec vampire gods. Rollin does this nicely in the middle of what is truth and what only takes place in the fantasy of the girls, which enhances the enchanting atmosphere of the film.

That atmosphere is also the main attraction of the film. Rollin, who has often had to shoot his films in a hurry due to a lack of financing, seems to have taken the time this time. The pace of the film is calm and there is no need to explain things anywhere. Rollin merely presents his audience with the dreamy images of deserted cemeteries, the dark streets of Paris and the long conversations between the girls where they stare lost in the distance. He leaves it to the viewer to interpret this. The main storyline, in which the girls are adopted from the orphanage by a doctor, only serves as a setting. The events in the film follow each other in fragments and seem to have little relation to each other. It is the beauty of imagination and adventure that is paramount for Rollin, a storyline only limits him and is therefore avoided as much as possible.

Although Rollin is not averse to the necessary nudity and blood to please the audience, he largely omits this in ‘Two Orphan Vampires’. Only once does he let the actresses take off their clothes and there is little to see of the many bites in the film. The film largely relies on atmospheric locations and thorough camera work, which provide a dreamy ambiance, which is so typical of Rollin’s films. Supplemented with a fragmentary story and beautiful music, this results in a film that can be counted among the best in the oeuvre.