A young, honeymooning couple stop for the night at an ancient castle. Unbeknownst to them, the castle is home to a horde of vampires who have their own plans for the couple.
Strange Things Happen at Night, Thrill of the Vampires, Los temores de los vampiros, サンドラ・ジュリアンの催淫吸血鬼, Violenza ad una vergine nella terra dei morti viventi, Дрожь вампиров, El Amanecer de los Vampiros, Sexual-Terror der entfesselten Vampire, 吸血鬼的颤抖, Dreszcz wampirów, 스트레인지 씽즈 해픈 앳 나이트, 吸血鬼的顫抖
USA 
Germany16 Germany USA 
Le Frisson des Vampires aka The Shiver of the Vampires aka Sex and Vampires aka Strange Things Happen at Night aka Terror of the Vampires aka Thrill of the Vampire aka Vampire Thrills is perhaps, as far as Rollin’s chameleon-like vamp filmography goes, his most straightforward vampire tale?
Two female Renfields, mossy French castles, class issues, nudity galore, long haired hippy vampires, shitty men, some weird lore, spiral staircases, a fishbowl with a skull in it, spiked nipples, dreamy segments with Bava-esque red/blue lighting, and a raging prog rock score send this into the extravagant, morbid psychedelia realms of French gothic eurohorror.
Pretty dialogue/plot heavy compared to more refined craft Rollin, but still... hearing that raging score pound away while…
A movie that's got everything: A big castle, spooky fog, coloured lights, many naked women, and an acid rock score. The only thing missing was a bunch of hunks with their hogs out, and you'd have yourself pure cinema.
The Shiver of the Vampires sees French erotic vampire enthusiast Jean Rollin further refine his surreal horror fantasy, but this time with a banging rock score and lighting borrowed from Mario Bava. It works brilliantly well. The plot focuses on a couple of newlyweds, who stop for a night at an old castle; which happens to be inhabited by vampires. This one is actually quite plot heavy compared to other Rollin films, but it moves at a glacial pace - really allowing all the atmosphere to soak in. The film really sets it's own tone - meaning that when a vampire steps out of a grandfather clock, it's completely acceptable on the film's own terms. The castle and adjoining graveyard…
God, bourgeois vampires are the worst.
Hews closer to the traditional vampire mythos than any of the other Rollin films I've seen, this time creating a fairly elaborate and unncessary backstory relating to the goddess Isis (oof!). There's the usual class struggles, but here, Rollin seems more focused on taking the oft sapphic undertones of lady vampire stories and making them text, crafting a story about women who love each other and the men who want to control them for their own ends and needs. The vampires aren't necessarily the villains -- just the men.
I love Isolde's spiked nipples (literally!!) and jump-scare entrances, the way that Rollin casts the night scenes in Bava-hued reds and blues, and, yes, the awesome psych prog score. Straight dudes continue to be the worst.
come for the sexy gothic vampires, stay for the dude getting buried in possessed books in the haunted library — nobody (truly nobody) was making, or has since made, films like this — every frame is a sublime image
all the necessities of the filmic art are contained in the image of a spooky castle and two women walking through it, holding candelabras, fragile illumination cast against the decay of ages.
Surprisingly straight-forward Jean Rollin (who might as well be the Ramones of Eurohorror with his multiple variations of the same three-chord -- castle, nude vampires, beach -- stories). Loses a bit of the dreaminess by actually containing oodles of plot, but it's so French that it has discussion of liberty and class. Are vampires free from death or trapped by this curse? What if you could choose and still chose to become a vampire? What if the matriarchal wandering vampire called the two ivory tower men "bourgeois vampires" because they have a private tomb and servants? All of these items will be addressed, a vampire will emerge from a grandfather clock, and many a buttock and breast will be visible through a diaphanous gown.
Adding a half star for the raging hard psych soundtrack by Acanthus
we had more explicit lesbianism with these vampire films from the 70s than what we have now 😞
"They are alive, and will be so eternally"
Don't you love it when a movie involves a group of bourgeois naked vampires that are either brutally murdering people or talking about philosophy with the setting of a dilapidated castle, the visual tick of Bava's Blood and Black Lace and with a soundtrack that can only be described as "budget King Crimson," all of which coalesce into being the visual equivalent of the poster of the movie itself - which is to say, cool as shit? A hypnotizing surreal odyssey from one of the most prolific subgenres of the '70s, with a plot that is absolutely nonsensical and with an atmosphere that is unwaveringly second to none. There's a very palpable sense throughout the film that it was directed by someone that's incredibly horny and I can't help but to respect it. Honestly not sure what I expect from my first Rollin but I dig the vibe!
Lots to enjoy here: foggy cemeteries, crumbling castles, eye-popping shafts of psychedelic lighting, a pounding rock score, boobs, butts, bad French men who are also vampires. A bit boring, but that's part of the deal. Jess Franco sets his between-the-living-and-the-dead mood pieces in warm seaside villas because if you're going to die you might as well be comfortable. Jean Rollin sets his in foggy, damp, decaying locations because there is no visible line between death and life.
not to be dramatic, but I want to fucking live inside the aesthetic of this. like, for eternity. the foggy graveyards, the bold colors lighting up the darkness, the gothic castle where babes glide around in flowy gowns with candelabras. I knew from the moment the opening credits hit I was going to vibe with this. the visuals and score come in so hot. I also (very naively) didn’t realize there would be femme-on-femme magic, so that was a bonus. Isolde is such an iconic mommi who deserved better. her entrances had me cackling with adoration. I wish that this centered more around her. I also wish it was a little less focused on the story, since I felt the…
📚 Hooptober 11 📚
12/31
6 countries- France (3/6)
This is THE spooky castle flick. When I close my eyes and envision a dilapidated castle with a cemetery, this is what i’d daydream of. Genuinely some of the most stunning visuals my eyeballs have ever seen! Obviously my dream castle is fully equipped with beautiful lesbian vampires, an evil poltergeist-filled library, ornate candelabras, black lace veils, psychedelic guitar noodling, and skull fishbowls!
My two favorite parts:
🕸️ the cemetery scene where one concrete plank at a time popped off of the coffin unearthing a vampire!
🕸️ the scene when Isolde came out of the grandfather clock. what a treat!!!! (we needed an Isolde spin-off)
PS- on the hunt for a see through lavender robe now 💜
I texted my friend halfway through this saying, “this is the movie we need to live in!!!”
girls could dream :’)
