When casting about on free movie streaming services, you occasionally stumble across something odd. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that I’ve been favoriting vampire movies the last few months. I’d not really heard about The Shiver of the Vampires, perhaps because it was a French movie, or perhaps because there are just so many vampire films out there. Well, it had the desired monster in the title, and it was free (costing only a few commercials). As might be expected for a European movie, there’s a bit of nudity involved. A fair amount of that is appropriate for vampire films, it seems. This one involves a newly married couple going to visit her cousins who live in a castle in the country. These cousins are groovy vampire hunters, but unbeknownst to her, have become vampires themselves.
The young couple arrives to be told that the cousins have died, but they are welcome to stay. Soon, the vampire that turned them shows up and begins visiting the bride. The groom is slow to catch on that there are vampires involved, although he fairly quickly finds out that something’s the matter with his wife. Then the cousins show up alive. Well, technically, undead. They don’t reveal themselves as vampires, but their cousin, the bride, is being turned as well. The poor groom sees odd rituals being enacted, and a couple of familiars decide to help him destroy the vampires in the hopes of rescuing his wife. Stakes, crucifixes, and sunlight are all effective against these vampires, but they don’t seem especially evil. In fact, there’s a kind of self-loathing among them. The ending isn’t exactly cheering.
A little shy on depth of story, the film does feature an impressive castle and some strong seventies vibes. Interestingly, the Wikipedia article on the movie refers to the familiars as “renfields.” This term, derived from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, was one I’d never come across before. Renfield’s Syndrome now seems to be preferred to Clinical Vampirism, although neither has much scientific standing. “Familiar” is, of course, a term adapted from the witch craze of Early Modern Europe. Vampires need a living helper since they are vulnerable in the daytime. The director of Shiver, Jean Rollin, was known mostly for his vampire movies. They’re not easily found, at least at this point, on streaming services. Shiver has an arthouse film feel to it and it makes me curious about how vampires cross cultures, even if the results are a little odd.
