Grapes of Death

Beyond the myopic scope of a mere camera , acting as but an extension for the visual focal point for visionary Director Jean Rollins , the immediate luminary style of this celebrated horror auteur literally envelopes its audience. With a quality that is unabated with the passing of time and indeed exquisitely enhanced with the technical improvements of film restoration , it is with a fanfare of heightened anticipation that Synapse Films have delivered the uncensored version of , ' Les Raisins De La Mort ' to the universally acknowledged home media of DVD.
With opening credits playing over an establishing prologue the ecological environment of a vineyardsets the scene for nature to fight back as it itself is invaded for the profligate avarice of man. An experimental pesticide is applied to the wine producing grapes which is inhaled by the workers and soon leaves one crop sprayer displaying signs of distress , signifying the emergence of the people plague to follow.
The foreboding theme of isolation is immediately established as a train journeys through the French countryside introducing the lead character of the film , Elizabeth , as she travels to meet up with her fiancé at the regional winery. She has the company of a fellow female traveller but their tranquil environment is violently invaded as the sick crop sprayer boards , displaying all the ravages of the toxins that have also affected his rational behaviour pattern to the point of murderous intent. Elizabeth eludes the clutches of her would be killer , bringing the train to an emergency stop, and then flees into the surrounding open terrain, devoid of all the comforting assistance provided by a thriving Metropolis.

The hauntingly desolate extreme of vast expanses of rural plain are eerily echoed in the sharp silence of unaccompanied acoustic enhancement , other than the sparsely intermittent use of isolated instrumentation , climatically infusing moments of creepiness with suitably applied invasive subtleness.
Seeking solace from a farm house Elizabeth stumbles in upon an equally unsettling environment of a father and his daughter as the signs of the madness afflicting her attacker are evident in the unnatural skin blemishes of the male patriarch.
An air of incestuous intent comes to fruition when the daughter implores Elizabeth to take her away , when it is revealed that her mother has been murdered by the unstable parent , as clear signs of the insidious plague manifest in a brutal display of malevolence.
The brutality of this scene plays out with the father tearing the clothes from his daughter with violent malice leading to Elizabeth shooting him but not before he literally 'forks' his daughter to death.
Armed with the hand gun , spare bullets and a growing embodiment for survival , Elizabeth flees in the family car as she drives to a village which displays growing signs of the apparent infestation of Zombie like activity before coming to the assistance of a blind woman wandering alone amongst the heath.
The appearance of the blind woman is hauntingly reminiscent of the girl from Lucio Fulci's , ' The Beyond ' right down to the stone cold , cobalt blue eyes that pierce icily out sending a chill through the most seasoned viewers body.
Director Rollin's love for cinema was built from his passion for the look of the Universal Studio horror classics and respect for the classic themes of man surviving against nature , yet it is with dealing with his early shyness that enabled him to be a self diagnostic psychologist by seemingly portraying the female within his movies as the strong lead exorcising his childhood demons of werewolves and sexual expression through celluloid.
His respect for porn star actress Brigitte Lahaie enabled the actress to achieve her personal respectability status alongside her renowned career building adult movies , and with particular scene stealing appearance here , as the seemingly untouchable lone survivor securely housed in the village of the George Romero personified ,' Crazies ' with more than a passing homage to the scribed ' I Am Legend ' later filmed as ,' The Last Man On Earth '.
Lahaie appears to assist Elizabeth as she is separated from Lucy , the blind woman who belligerently goes in search of her friend and guide , and it is this mid section of the movie that establishes a generic fingerprint from Director Rollin's , as his on screen relationship with the female form is welcomed with the full disrobing of Miss. Lahaie as the camera lovingly caresses her shapely form that will raise more than a conservative eyebrow. This following more than a passing homage to one of Jean Rollin's favourite Directors in a scene where Lahaie is seen leading two large hounds whilst garbed in a white resplendent dress , backlit by the light of the moon in a direct homage to the mirrored scene from Mario Bava's ' Black Sunday '.
The village of the damned is investigated by two intrepid male survivors unaffected by the ravages of the escalating disease whilst armed with rifle and dynamite take on the Zombified hordes in true ' Dawn Of The Dead ' fashion as they rescue the heroine from the clutches of certain death.
There are several well delivered moments of gore here as the onslaught of the villagers is dealt with in retaliatory fashion , but not before the savage display of misogyny , as Lucy ends up near naked crucified on a wooden door , followed by her head being hacked off to an accompanying spurting array of el vino corpuscles.
Away from the close nit communal element of the ,' Straw Dogs ' setting , Elizabeth and her two saviours at her suggestion make their way to the winery , unbeknownst to them that they are heading right to the heart of the outbreak and into the revelational discovery that will have a cataclysmic affect as Elizabeth seeks to be reunited with her husband to be.
The mounting tension built throughout the entire running duration of the film plays out to its Nihilistic conclusion with satisfying condemnation of all things typically Hollywood and reassuringly downbeat.
During the Seventies the adult themed post apocalyptic what if scenario played out with realistic non glorifying abandonment , that when revisited by today's audience may well be better appreciated , with the realisation that beneath the violent imagery and gloomy precedence a positive message was subliminally attaching itself to its audience in anticipation of a generational transposition , or wake up call , for the more self aware Earth conscious society of the twenty first century.
Films such as the aforementioned ' Crazies ' and consumer conscious , ' Dawn Of The Dead ' along with ' No Blade Of Grass ' and many others have as much appeal today for entertaining as they did when released but along with , ' The Grapes Of Death ' a far greater reaching appreciation as well.
With minimal subtitled English language translation and maximum use of visual story telling even the most jaded horror afficionado would be hard Pressed to Wine about , 'The Grapes Of Death '. Vintage horror for the modern palate.

High Five Rating 3.5

Film review by Paul Cooke

Film Reviewed: The Grapes Of Death
Format : DVD
Release : Synapse Films
Coding : NTSC Region 1
Sound : Dolby Digital Mono
Extras : Widescreen 1:66:1 / Original French Language With Optional
English Subtitles / Video Interview With Jean Rollin & Star
Brigitte Lahaie / Original Theatrical Trailer / Liner Notes /
Photo Slide Show / Director Biography & Filmography