Two Orphan Vampires – Indicator Series (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1997
Director: Jean Rollin
Writer: Jean Rollin
Cast: Alexandra Pic, Isabelle Teboul, Natalie Perrey, Gudule, Bernard Charnacé, Nada Le Hoangan, Nathalie Karsenty, Anissa Berkani-Rohmer, Véronique Djaouti, Brigitte Lahaie, Tina Aumont

Release Date: May 8th, 2023 (UK), May 9th, 2023 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 107 Minutes 11 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono French, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK), $49.95 (USA)

"By day, blind orphans Henriette and Louise seem to be the picture of innocence. But when darkness falls, their sight returns, and they wander the streets of Paris, encountering the city’s strange nocturnal denizens, and leaving a trail of corpses in their quest for fresh blood." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “Two Orphan Vampires was scanned, restored and color corrected in 4K HDR (Dolby Vision) at Filmfinity, London, using original Super 16mm A/B negative film materials. Phoenix image-processing tools were used to remove many thousands of instances of dirt, eliminate scratches and other imperfections, as well as repair damaged frames. No grain management, edge enhancement or sharpening tools were employed to artificially alter the image in any way.”

Two Orphan Vampires comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 61.9 GB

Feature: 57 GB

The source used for this transfer looks exceptional. Flesh tones look correct, color saturation, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and grain remains intact; the image always looks organic.

Audio: 4.5/5 (LPCM Mono French, LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in French and a LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio mixes are in great shape; just like the video presentation, the audio tracks have been cleaned up. Dialog always comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced; ambient sounds are well represented; and range-wise, these two tracks sound at times surprisingly robust. Also, the differences between these two tracks range-wise are minimal. Included are removable English subtitles for the French language track and removable English SDH subtitles for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras on this release include image galleries: production and publicity material (42 images), and New York location photography (81 images), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 2 seconds, LPCM mono French with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with director Jean Rollin titled Livres de sang (7 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), actresses Alexandra Pic and Isabelle Teboul revisit the Père Lachaise Cemetery filming location in 2002 tilted The Smoking Vampires (4 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), a newly edited archival interview with Isabelle Teboul titled Eyesight to the Blind (11 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), a newly edited archival interview with Alexandra Pic titled Bonded by Blood (13 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), a newly edited archival interview with Rollin exploring the themes of Two Orphan Vampires and his wider oeuvre titled Infinite Dreams (35 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an archival documentary on the making of Two Orphan Vampires by Rollin’s personal assistant, Daniel Gouyette, featuring interviews with actor Isabelle Teboul, assistant director Jean-Noël Delamarre, composer Philippe D’Aram, and others titled Memories of a Blue World (42 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with non-removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with film critics and authors David Flint and Adrian J Smith, and  and an eighty page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled A Fairy Tale For Adults written by Patricia MacCormack, an archival introduction by Jean Rollin, an archival production report by Peter Blumenstock titled Orphans of Gore, an archival interview with Brigitte Lahaie titled Twice Bitten, an extract from Rollin’s source novel titled Henriette and Louise, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

When Jean Rollin directed Two Orphan Vampires, it had been four years since he had directed a film. Where he had directed twelve films in fourteen years to start his career. In the fifteen years between The Living Dead Girl and Two Orphan Vampires, he only directed three films.

Besides being a director, Jean Rollin also worked as a novelist. And with Two Orphan Vampires, he would adapt the first two books in a series of novels that he wrote.

The narrative revolves around two blind orphans who live in an orphanage run by nuns. During the daytime, their vision is impaired, while at night it is greatly improved.

Though Two Orphan Vampires has many themes and elements that Jean Rollin would return to throughout his career, one area where it differs from most of his films is its straightforward and fleshed-out narrative. The use of flashbacks effectively fills in the backstory of the two protagonists.

Jean Rollin cast two unknowns, Alexandra Pic and Isabelle Teboul, in the roles of two orphans who are vampires. They both deliver convincing performances in which their characters effortlessly shift from naive to sinister, bloodthirsty vampires. Notable cast members include Tina Aumont (Torso) in the role of a ghoul and Brigitte Lahaie, who has worked with Jean Rollin on six films, in the role of the woman with a whip. Unfortunately, both of their roles were brief cameos.

From its opening moments, Two Orphan Vampires does a great job building atmosphere. And though it is not as erotic as most of Jean Rollin’s filmography, there is some nudity. Also, Two Orphan Vampires is more of a fantasy film than a horror film. That said, the narrative is deliberately paced, and some might find its pacing too slow. Ultimately, Two Orphan Vampires is a hallucinatory journey similar to Alice’s trip to Wonderland.

Over the years, the cinema of Jean Rollin has not been treated well on home video, and though in recent years things have gotten better, there is still room for improvement. This brings us to this release of Two Orphan Vampires by Powerhouse Films as part of their Indicator Series. If this release is any indication of what Powerhouse Films has in store for the cinema of Jean Rollin, then fans of his films should be ecstatic. Two Orphan Vampires makes its way to 4K UHD via a definitive release from Powerhouse Films, highly recommended.

Note: This release is a limited edition of 10,000 numbered units (6,000 4K UHDs and 4,000 Blu-rays) for the UK and US.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer