The October Zombie-Thon! - Day 25: The Grapes of Death
Posted by Trevor Snyder on 10.25.2006
The best argument you will ever see for drinking beer over wine.
THE GRAPES OF DEATH (Les Raisins de la mort) (1978)
Directed by: Jean Rollin Written by: Jean-Pierre Bouyxou, Christian Meunier, & Jean Rollin Country: France
So far this month, we've looked at both the good (Living Dead Girl) and the awesomely-bad (Zombie Lake) output of French horror-auteur Jean Rollin. Now, we pay him one last visit before the month is out. And you really couldn't ask for a better film to do so with than The Grapes of Death, which is not only Rollin's first zombie film, but is also often hailed as the first ever French gore film. I don't know about you, but that certainly piques my interest.
We first meet our heroine, Elizabeth, traveling by train, on her way to her fiancé's winery in a small French village. Her and her friend have the entire train car to themselves, and are enjoying their alone-time with relaxation and pleasant conversation. This all changes, however, when a sickly looking man boards their car, and proceeds to murder Elizabeth's companion. Unsure of what else to do, Elizabeth jumps from the train and runs off into the French countryside, hoping to find help. Rather than any kind of aid, however, Elizabeth encounters more of these strange-looking people, many of whom seem perfectly normal at one moment, and turn into crazed homicidal maniacs in the next.
It turns out that nearly all of the regions inhabitants have been infected by a tainted wine, a result of pesticide sprayed at the local vineyard. In a desperate race for her life, Elizabeth does her best to avoid the now demented locals and make her way back to her fiancé on foot; eventually joining up with a young blind woman who is hopelessly unaware of all the madness occurring around them.
One thing viewers might notice right away is that Rollin's typical slow pacing is not as evident here. Oh, don't get me wrong, Grapes of Death is no Run, Lola, Run or anything. It will still seem a little dawdling to anyone weaned on the American short-attention-span-theater style of quick cuts and constant action. Compared to some of Rollin's other work, however, it's practically cheetah-like in its pacing. Obviously this has a lot to do with the structure of the story, which sees Elizabeth almost constantly on the run, stopping only for the occasional violent confrontation with infected villagers.
Interestingly enough, despite its more action-oriented slant, the story structure actually proves to be a perfect match for Rollin's usual sensibilities. Rollins atmospheric mood and beautiful cinematography are both on full display here – it's easy to sometimes get so lost in the stunning shots of French countryside that you almost forget there are murderous psychos potentially lurking behind every tree or rock. Rollin's unique mixture of beautiful images and macabre ones (or, sometimes, both at once) have often been referred to as dream-like. Here, Rollin uses his talents to create not just a dream, but the ultimate nightmare, as no matter where she goes and how fast she runs, Elizabeth is never quite able to escape the horror she finds herself in.
Naturally, this also allows Rollin to indulge in a few of his other favorite trademarks, namely, gratuitous nudity and unbridled gore. While resisting the soft-core sex scenes commonly found in his other films, Rollin still finds time for the occasional uncalled for stripping down of his female cast (or very called for, depending on your viewpoint), including some full-frontal nudity from the beautiful Brigitte Lahaie, whose creepy performance would have stolen the movie even without the disrobing (but it certainly doesn't hurt!).
As for the gore, well, if this was truly the first French gore film, they certainly started off right. There's plenty of bloody mayhem here that should please any self-respecting gore-hound, including a particularly nasty sequence in which a young woman is crucified to a door before having her head lobbed off with an ax. Luckily, this turn of events doesn't really diminish her screen time, as her head is carried around by one of the infected for several minutes afterwards.
And then there's the "zombies" themselves (as in films like Nightmare City and 28 Days Later, the term "zombie is a loose one here, as these people have never actually died). Oozing pus from their constantly emerging and popping sores, they are actually a lot more unpleasant than any bits of gore that Rollin can muster. Although the make-up is not always convincingly realistic, it is almost always thoroughly disgusting. In fact, the grossest moment in my opinion comes not from one of the film's many murders, but when one of the fiends rubs his oozing forehead all over the side window of a car Elizabeth has found refuge in. Ewwww.
Needless to say, there are also the typical lapses in logic that are always prevalent in Rollin's films, as well. For instance, at one point Elizabeth is "rescued" from an approaching gang of infectees, only to have her savior betray her minutes later and hand her over to the crazed mob. So, why bother rescuing her in the first place? Oh well, with Rollin you have to learn to take the good with the bad (or very bad), and this is no exception. Luckily, the things that work in Grapes of Death far outweigh the things that don't. Some fans of Rollin's other works might be a little disappointed to see his usual eroticism somewhat downplayed this time around (although, to be sure, not completely absent), but by focusing instead on making a lean, mean action-horror film, Rollin shows that he can deliver the goods in a more audience-friendly manner, all without sacrificing his usual love of blood and stunning, unforgettable images (including a particularly striking night-time shot of the young blind girl unknowingly surrounded by a horde of advancing killers).
Oh, one last thing: be sure to enjoy the bizarrely cheerful score, which oddly lends a nice, airy tone to a film full of repulsive violence and unbridled cruelty.
The 411:Like much of Rollin's work, The Grapes of Death is a haunting, engrossing thriller that doesn't skimp on the gore. Although the somewhat simplistic plot isn't the most thought-provoking you will encounter (apart from its handy lesson that drinking beer instead of wine may save your life), it nevertheless affords Rollin the opportunity to apply his usual dreamy and hypnotic surreal sensibilities to a faster-paced, and more exciting, film than he is usually known. It certainly works, as The Grapes of Death might just be Rollin's finest moment.
