Jean Rollin's typically outré, dreamy, and deliberately paced film deserves appraisal for attempting a fresh and lyrical spin on the usual bloodsucker premise, but the occasionally too draggy and meandering narrative and a bland central performance by Jean-Loup Philippe as the obsessive Frederic who's determined to figure out his dark family past prevent this movie from completely working. Fortunately, Nathalie Perrey's stand-out portrayal of Frederic's protective mother compensates for Philippe's insipidness in the lead. The beautiful Annie Belle is properly bewitching as Jennifer, the lovely and mysterious lady who haunts Frederic's memories. Comely blonde real life twin sisters Catherine and Marie-Pierre Castel are quite sexy and stunning as a couple of vampires Frederic accidentally unleashes into Paris. Moreover, Rollin makes good use of natural locations (the ruins setting in particular is very creepy),does his usual ace job of creating and sustaining a pleasingly surreal and spooky midnight-in-the-graveyard misty atmosphere, and pulls off a strangely poetic and surprising final scene that's both haunting and touching in equal measure. Jean-Francois Robin's rather plain and grainy cinematography offers a handful of strikingly eerie images. However, the opening third is much too padded and poky and the more trashy explicit elements like gratuitous distaff nudity are jarringly at odds with the overall artiness and offbeat fairytale-like quality of the picture (for example, a sequence with a lady photographer and her nude model is simply tossed in for the sake of cheap titillation and adds nothing to the story). Imperfect, but still a praiseworthy entry in the vampire horror sub-genre.

While at a party, Frédéric (Jean-Loup Philippe) notices a photograph of a ruined castle that triggers childhood memories of a mysterious, attractive young women. Intrigued, the young man sets out to find the castle and the woman who resides there, his quest aided by four female vampires.

When a director's work is referred to as 'dream-like', I usually take that to mean 'pretentious' and 'confusing'. Jean Rollin's Lips of Blood is, at times, both of these things, and yet I still found myself liking the film to some extent. It certainly doesn't hurt that Rollin sees fit to fill Lips of Blood with naked and semi-naked Euro-totty, but I also enjoyed the overall surreal ambience, where nothing is predictable.

As far as the nudity is concerned, viewers are treated to a photographer's model (Béatrice Harnois) in nothing but knee high boots, the photographer herself (Martine Grimaud) in the altogether, the four vampire ladies wearing nothing but billowing chiffon (they'd catch their death, if they weren't already dead),and the young woman Frédéric is searching for - actually a vampire called Jennifer (Annie Belle) - stripping off at the end of the film. Jean-Loup Philippe gets his tackle out to keep things fair.

The weirder stuff includes a would-be assassin with a Jason King moustache who tries to kill Frédéric for reasons I still haven't worked out (and who is foiled when a vampire switches on a fountain display),Frédéric's rescue from a mental institution by vampire nurses, Frédéric meeting Jennifer wearing David Bowie-style new wave make-up, a blind peddlar woman selling photos of the ruined castle (don't ask me why... I haven't the foggiest),and a head-scratching ending that sees Frédéric, now a vampire, climbing into a coffin with Jennifer, the pair carried out to sea by the tide.

Browsing through some of the comments written by other regular reviewers (with whom I usually agree on this type of vicious cult-flicks),it's with even deeper regrets I have to say this film couldn't intrigue me for one second. Jean Rollin enjoys an impressive cult status and his 'hot-vampire-chicks films' in particular are notorious. His approach of the horror genre is said to be unique, extremely atmospheric and erotic in an elegant way. Bearing this in mind, I was very enthusiast when I purchased a copy of Lips of Blood.

It's obvious that Jean Rollin lives is his own private dreamworld and this entirely translates itself in his films. Normally, this is a good trademark for a director as it gives him/her the opportunity to create typical surroundings, styles and characterizations. 'Lips of Blood' is really empty!

It doesn't contain much style and ever less substance. For a film that constantly features naked girls, it isn't very sexy. The acting is atrocious and I didn't notice any attempt by Rolling to build up tension, a grim atmosphere or a compelling story. Here he has great settings & scenery to work with (old ruins, catacombs, coffins...) and he doesn't make proper use of it. It's all so very detached and it feels like Rollin doesn't want you to get involved. The protagonist is a seemly lifeless 30 something guy that gets obsessed by a poster of old ruins. It causes him flashbacks from his childhood but everybody acts mysterious about this….like they want to hide the past from him. The flashbacks are associated with the image of a young girl all dressed in white. When investigating all this, he unintentionally awakens an army of foxy vampires and his muse turns out to be the queen.

I'd say it's better to avoid this film (and all the other Rollin efforts) if you're not an avid cult-collector. It's exaggeratedly surreal but not exactly fascinating. There were a few aspects in particular that hugely disappointed me: ***SPOILERS***

1.All the characters are bleak! The lead character is the best example to state this but also the vampires are very unspectacular. Here are 4 of the most stunning beauties, able to raise hell, unleashed upon the world but all they do is wander around a little in the backyard. Go out and kill, ladies!!!

2.It seems to me like Rollin has a pretty ideal world-perspective. There's a sequence near the beginning where the lead guy walks in on a photographer and her nude model. The nude model immediately shows off against this man she doesn't know and a few seconds later, the photographer is nude as well! Turning around the room a little, saying, 'Now where did I leave my skirt'. That's not very stylish or sensual…that's just tasteless and – oh yes – wishful thinking!

3.Where's the music? If there's one thing you can be sure about in these European Art House titles, it's that it ALWAYS contains wonderful musical guidance. I reckon that sometimes the absence of sound increases the atmosphere and tension level of a film. Yet, this film didn't have tension or atmosphere to begin with so it could have used a score.

There were a few more elements that kept me from liking this film, but you get the idea. I sure didn't want to bash 'Lips of Blood' but I can't bring myself to tell you something positive about it neither. Hopefully, Jean Rollin films are to be categorized as being 'acquired taste'. In that case, I guess I should check out some other lesbian vampire films he made (more than enough to choose from: Fascination, Living Dead Girl, Requiem for a Vampire, Rape of the Vampire…) before I state my definitive opinion.