A candle burns below a painting. Hands caress and open an old leather bond book. Hands flick through the old pages. The title screen appears, two beautiful women dance on a bridge while a phonograph player circles round. Classical style string music laced with ethereal theremin sets the tone.
In a slaughterhouse, bourgeoisie women drink ox blood to treat anemia. One individual smears it on and around her mouth in a subtle yet maniacally erotic fashion. This upsets others at the slaughterhouse. It is stated that the current year is 1905. Right away, there is a sense of this blood obsession being only a hint of the exhilarating moments to follow.
Rollin maximizes the visual potential of the chateau instantly. It becomes another character as soon as the man walks around the premises, eventually finding both women after some initial confusion on his part. The women are played by Brigitte Lahaie and Franca Mai. The individual and collective onscreen presence and chemistry shared is another element of Fascination that makes the film such an iconic work of art. Both Lahaie and Mai emanate classic beauty and erotic love.
The criminal in the chateau does not intimidate the women in the least. This perplexes the man and he can never quite get a sense of why they are not frightened by him, until it is too late. Lahaie and Mai's characters go through a series of mock typical women in peril phrases, making it evident to the man that they are not usual in the least.
Lovely piano and synthesizer music by long time collaborator and composer Phillipe D'Aram appears and reappears at key points. There are also effected choirs that are holy and somehow sinister at once. It is a standout soundtrack that elevates Fascination.
The women of the chateau frolic about and make love to one another when they are not teasing and tempting the man found trapped inside. He believes that he is of free will all along and tries to turn it into a game of sorts, all the while the game is actually centered around himself. Eventually, the man tries to leave the chateau only to immediately find out that the gang he escaped is waiting outside of the chateau, wanting to kill him. Lahaie's character goes to a nearby barn area, manipulates one the gang members and begins to go on a killing spree. This leads to some of the most evocative and surreal images in Fascination. She grabs a scythe and attacks the remaining men. Upon returning to the bridge outside the chateau, she encounters the once kidnapped woman who senses that something awry has taken place. The woman is wielding a knife though this is of no match for Lahaie's scythe. Rollin directs this scene with a succession of close ups, bladed weapons obscuring the faces of the fighting women. Shortly after the riveting scenes that transpire, a number of women guests appear in the middle of the night as part of a mysterious blood cult. The criminal becomes the center of attention for some time, that is until the annual event takes some unexpected and tragic turns. Blood is at the center of Fascination, as it represents both life and death.
There are two notable supplemental features. The first consists of two extended and deleted sex scenes which are intentionally more explicit. Both scenes were shot with the primary interest of having stronger material to use if needed to sell the film with stronger content. "Virgins and Vampires" is the main additional feature on this release. It is a nearly half hour Jean Rollin primer that aired on British television, as part of the Pete Tombs created Eurotika! series. It is a nice piece where Rollin is seen discussing childhood memories, his collage approach to cinema and his interest in poetic beauty. Rollin states that, "The fantastic is a dream. Horror is a nightmare." Fascination gets an exceptional release that is cause for celebration.
