The Grapes Of Death

aka Les Raisins De La Mort

Jean Rollin is known as being prolific, but are his films actually any good? Well there's a question that will divide many genre fans ...

This particular effort hails from 1978 and opens with farmer's hand Kowalski rotivating his crop, coughing from the fumes he's spraying as he goes about his job. As he returns to the farmhouse, Kowalski collapses and complains about having a headache and neck pains. The farmer emerges from his slumber and unsympathetically orders the farm hand back to work. Bastard.

But as a prologue this is quite effective. Without much of note happening, our suspicion is aroused regarding the fumes emitted from the pesticide being used on the farmer's grape field. And, hey, the film's called THE GRAPES OF DEATH!

Once the stylish red credits are over (although they mispell Brigitte Lahaie's surname as Lahaye), the action shifts to two girls travelling together on an empty train. Elizabeth (the very pretty Marie-Georges Pascal) is on her way to the French town of Roubelais - renowned for it's vineyard!!!! - to meet her beau Michael. The other girl, Brigitte, is headed for Spain.

Brigitte is slain in the bathroom (offscreen) at one of the train's stops, and Elizabeth is forced to flee the train when she bumps into the now decomposing Kowalski. She scarpers through well-shot smoggy French countryside for a few minutes before stumbling upon a farmhouse hosted by a curiously silent and unwelcoming husband-and-wife combo. She recounts her recent train-bound trauma to the couple, who listen intently yet impassive and silent. OK, our suspicions are aroused, but Elizabeth needs to ask a few more banal questions before deciding to get the f*** out of dodge!

Too late! The farmer's wife curbs Elizabeth's escape, calmly urging her to stay with them as a guest for a while She ushers Elizabeth to her bedroom. Despite the farmer's decomposing hand, the wife appears to be OK.

Elizabeth retires to bed. As she pulls back the quilt she discovers the corpse of an elderly lady, her throat having been sliced open. The farmer's wife immediately grabs Elizabeth and tells her the farmer has gone crazy. She doesn't know the reason why, but insists the two women must make a bid for escape.

As in all good exploitation flicks, any escape attempted within the first third of the film is thwarted and retaliated against with some scene of unconscionable violence. Lingering shots of a pitchfork in the wife's stomach deliver the goods on this occasion.

Elizabeth flees the farmhouse and, while stealing the farmer's car, is begged by the farmer to end his undead torment by running him over. She obliges.

We then get more footage of the beautiful French countryside as Elizabeth flees some more, disturbing another pus-ridden zombie lurking amid some interesting ruins. Eventually Elizabeth meets blind girl Lucy who directs her to the nearest village. Unfortunately for the pair of them, by the time they arrive there the village is filled with bloody corpses, smoke-filled air and ominous piano on the soundtrack.

It's interesting to note that at this point in the film, the zombies change character. Up till this point they've appeared intelligent and quite sympathetic - more diseased than homicidal. Suddenly they appear wooden and stilted, much more traditional in the classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD sense.

Without giving too much away, Elizabeth finds the village to be over-ran with zombies. She finds sanctuary with Brigitte Lahaie who claims to be the only normal villager left. But is she all that she seems? Who will save the day?? Will Elizabeth ever be reunited with Michael???!

It's unfair to give anything more away. I'll just say a couple more male characters are introduced and the action steps up a gear or two in the final third, with plot taking a backburner to gore!

Apart from the numerous scenes of French countryside, there are frequent moments of minor gore on offer in this film, one of Rollin's better efforts. Look out for a show-stopping crucifixion scene. It climaxes with a decapitation that while no more realistic than the shambolic beheading in Jess Franco's BLOODY MOON is very enjoyable and warrants a 2nd viewing!

There's also a brief love scene between the above severed head and a corpse that is amusingly novel!

The last half-hour of this film is non-stop action, offering explosions, more French countryside (!), an anti-Fascist speech, gunshot violence and an ambiguous ending!

Oh yes, and there's even a vague explanation of just what the Hell is going on!

GRAPES OF DEATH is an enjoyable film that most gorehounds would find an agreeable way to spend 90 minutes. It is reminiscent of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE, but has it's own style that separates itself from these two classics. For a Rollin film, the nudity quotient is surprisingly low. But it won't matter - the story is unusually strong, and for once there's plausible dialogue evident.

The presentation is an amazingly sharp, clear anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen print. Mono sound is clear, consistent and hiss-free. The film is presented in it's original French dialogue with removable English subtitles. It's those yellow subtitles with a shadow: very easy to read! A wonderful job by Synapse in these departments.

Extras-wise, we get two trailers (one French, one German - both filled with gore spoilers. Beware!).

Director's biography is pretty good, but the filmography seems suspiciously brief .... The slide show offers 30+ stills (mainly screen-grabs), while the liner notes by Nigel J burrell are quite informative.

Best extra is a 32 minute interview featurette with Rollin and Lahaie. They're interviewed separately, but they both speak in English and there's plenty of clips from Rollins other films (Fascination, Reqiuem For A Vampire, etc). Rollin is genuinely enthusiastic about his work - it's nice to hear him talk so excitedly about his acheivements. This feature even includes footage from a film festival Q&A session the pair indulged in!

All in all, a mighty fine release of one of Rollin's better works. Not brimming with gore or nudity, but highly enjoyable nonetheless. For fans, it's an absolute must.

Review by Stuart Willis