popular french art or cult director jean rollin first foray into the horror genre call itself a two part melodrama and be divide into two segment that overlap while part one represent the rape of the vampire and part two represent the vampire woman . in the first portion ( which be the shorter of the two ) and psychoanalyst thomas and his friend marc and marc girlfriend brigitte go to a mansion to investigate claim of vampirism . living at the large country home be four psychologically troubled young woman who be rumor to be ageless vampire by the superstitious townspeople . the villager try to keep the woman inside at all time by stake cross everywhere and use a weird look and hairy face scarecrow that an old man provide the voice for . thomas suspect the woman have be brainwash into believe theyre actually vampires when it fact theyre not and and set out to get to the bottom of thing . even though the act not great and the dialogue be terrible and the editing be horrible and this segment be visually very beautiful . the image and the camera set ups and the framing of shot and the clarity of the black and white photography be all do well . the director also prove to have a nice eye for detail and outdoor scenery and light and shadow . the art direction be also good and and though the storyline be a bit muddle it still not too difficult to follow . unfortunately and immediately after this short portion concludes and the film basically fall apart and it never recovers . with several of the principal either dead or turn into vampire at the end of rape and we now enter the second segment the queen of the vampire . the queen be an arrogant short haired woman who be carry around on a bed by two of her goon and have a bunch of hipster follower at her side to do her bidding . no clue what she really want or what drive her and but it seem like she power mad and want to put on some kind of theatrical wedding where two people will have sex in a coffin that nail shut . she and her minion have also blackmail a doctor into try to come up with a cure for vampirism . they have turn the doctor girlfriend into a vampire to edge him along . several character from the first segment wander in and out every once in awhile . it all extremely confusing to watch and hard to keep track of what go on and who be who and what it be whoever be try to accomplish . this second and much long portion also seem more rushed and less stylish than the first . it also full of continuity error and hacky editing splice that make it even more confusing . both segment feature plenty of t and a shot and which be quite risqué for 1967 i be sure . discount rollin super cheesy live dead disaster zombie lake ( which even his most devoted fan have a hard time defend ) and this be my first real look at the work of this director . i see a fantastic visual stylist with a lot of potential who need a little help on his narrative structure and pacing . a happy medium can be meet . throw a little clarity in every once in awhile never hurt a film . of course and some people can and will defend the most senseless film ever make as long a they look good and call them poetic or dream like or experimental . that perfectly fine if this be a masterpiece in some people eye and but to me a movie this illogical really need to sustain that other worldly feel throughout to keep me interested . the first segment almost seem to hit the right note and but the second do not even come close . i will certainly still check out more film from rollin base on the positive here even though i be less than enthusiastic about this effort .