CBB Presents The Bear Cave of Terror - Ep. 22 - Fascination (1980)

We're taking a trip to Belle Epoque-era France for an erotic, bloodsucking horror film with first-time guest host, Sam Lenz, one half of the team from the Screams from the Basement Podcast! We take a look at French auteur, Jean Rollin and his 1980 classic film, Fascination, about a criminal on the run taking refuge in a not-so-abandoned chateau where two strange and sinister chambermaids are waiting for the arrival of their mistress and her followers for a mysterious midnight ritual, all while a gang waits outside the walls to take back what the criminal stole from them. It's bizarre, it's sensual, it's poetic, it's...French! Made by a filmmaker who was sadly under-appreciated during his lifetime and is now starting to see the recognition that eluded him, this atmospheric and tense thriller plays with the viewers expectations, presenting haunting, grisly, or erotic imagery, while teasing the final reveal of the mysterious midnight gathering and the promised bloody end. French comics, shady distribution companies, loud foley work, and more are topics covered in this week's episode!

Additional Resources for this episode:

"Flesh and Blood: The Cinema of Jean Rollin" by Budd Wilkins 1/28/12, Slantmagazine.com

Immoral Tales by Cathal Tohill & Pete Tombs, 1995, published by St. Martin's Griffin, pp 135-176

Eurotika (1999) - episode 1: Vampires and Virgins, directed by Andrew Stark and Pete Tombs, produced by Boum Productions (UK) for Channel 4

Sam can be found at the Screams From the Basement podcast - https://www.screamsfromthebasement.com/