This is only my second Jean Rollin vampire flick (the other being Lips of Blood), but I'm already starting to think that if you've seen one, you've seen them all. Like Lips of Blood, The Shiver of the Vampires is slow, surreal, and often plain bizarre, with an old graveyard, a creepy castle, harsh coloured lighting, lots of nudity and lesbianism, skulls, stylised camerawork, women in billowing chiffon, and a finalé on a beach. Not that I'm complaining... I might not be the biggest fan of artsy-fartsy '70s Euro-horror, but there's still enough here to hold my attention for the duration, not least the very welcome sight of hottie Sandra Julien in the altogether.
Sexy Sandy plays newlywed bride Isle, who travels with her husband Antoine (Jean-Marie Durand) to an old castle, the home of Isle's cousins. When they arrive, the couple are informed that the cousins have recently died, but they decide to stay anyway. Antoine is naturally keen to consummate the marriage, but Isle tells him that she wants to sleep alone (which would set alarm bells ringing for most newly married men); however, Antoine agrees, but leaving his wife on her lonesome proves to be a bad decision, for she is at the mercy of seductive vampiress Isolde (Dominique), who has already turned her cousins into blood slurpers (who amusingly look like a pair of old queens).
Rollin's film suffers somewhat from an air of cheapness and a little too much purple velour, and the blood looks suspiciously like red emulsion, but with all the female nudity and a few completely insane moments (Isolde's entrance from a grandfather clock; Antoine attacked by books; death by spiky nipples), The Shiver of the Vampires is worth a watch if you're in the mood for something erotic, esoteric, and offbeat.