Lips of Blood (1975)

Dir: Jean Rollin

A man finds himself haunted by vague childhood memories of meeting and falling in love with a girl in a spooky ruined castle. When he sees a photograph of the same ruins as an adult, he becomes obsessed with tracking down his lost love in this typically strange and beautiful Jean Rollin vampire film. If you've seen any of Rollin's work, you'll probably already either worship him or curse his name and Lips Of Blood - packed as it is with his staple ingredients - will do nothing to change your opinion. The plot is slight but effective, a vehicle for his perfectly framed shots of beautiful women in flamboyant costumes floating through the Parisian night, sticking their plastic fangs into the necks of anything that moves. There's a serene, dreamlike atmosphere and a bittersweet sense of regret and nostalgia to this one too and, beneath its cryptic exterior, something very personal indeed. If he'd only made one film, this would be a true classic - if anything, it's just the fact that he's made so many of a similar style/standard that dilutes its brilliance. ***1/2

The Good Sisters (2010)

Dir: JimmyO Burril

"The Good Sisters" tells a strange tale of two witch sisters (scream queens April Monique Burril and Debbie Rochon) living in a boarding house full of people who may or may not be out to kill them and it's a rare example of what can be achieved when small-scale indie horror takes itself seriously. While I'm sure as Hell not averse to balls-out gonzoid splatter played for yuks, it does sometimes feel as though filmmakers are writing themselves a get-out clause, lest anyone criticise their efforts ("well, we weren't taking it seriously, so nyah!"). This is why, despite its limitations and the odd flaw, "The Good Sisters" really impressed me. It has the balls to be a smart, character-driven and mostly quite sombre film even though it clearly didn't cost much to make. Writer/director Burril excels at penning good, naturalistic dialogue and the film's increasingly paranoid atmosphere lends weight to the punch that's delivered when the gore kicks in. Don't go into it expecting glossy cinematic perfection but do keep an eye on Forbidden Pictures because, if this is anything to go by, greatness is very much on the horizon for them. ***