Breach of Consent: Jean Rollin and Le Viol du Vampire

Abstract

This chapter analyses Jean Rollin’s production Le Viol du Vampire (The Rape of the Vampire) (1968), considering the ways in which, through its focus on the violation of the vampire and vampiric space, the film radically complicates the intricate notions of victimhood, hospitality and consent. The problematic production and release history of the film are considered, as are the difficulties contemporary viewers had with it by contextualising its complex generic positioning; genres are mixed and intermingle in the film, undermining any stable viewing position.