Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Clarissa Mora The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Michael_Elliott Fascination (1979) *** (out of 4) Marc (Jean-Marie Lemaire) is a thief on the run from the people he stole from. He ends up taking shelter in a castle where he soon meets Eva (Brigitte Lahaie) and Elisabeth (Franca Mai). The two women come off as incredibly strange but they keep referring to a party later that evening that Marc can't see.Jean Rollin's FASCINATION is without question one of the director's better films, although the final act does take a bit too long to get where it's going. If you're not a fan of Rollin's work then I'd probably recommend that you start with THE LIVING DEAD GIRL or one of his vampire films but once you're used to his work this film will have so many of the director's touches.As you'd expect, there's all sorts of sexuality between both the two women as well as their seduction scenes with Marc. It's really amazing how the likes of Rollin and Jess Franco could milk any scene for all the sexuality that it's worth and it happens here as well. One of the highlights is a sequence where Lahaie goes after one of the men trying to kill Marc. This entire sequence is perfectly directed and contains both the sexuality and violence that you've come to expect from Rollin.Speaking of Lahaie, she easily steals the film with her raging beauty that just leaps off the screen. I've seen several of her movies but the way she looks here is just terrific and I'd argue she's never looked better in any other movie. Both Mai and Lemaire are also good in their roles. FASCINATION has a terrific visual quality and there's no doubt that the locations are put to good use. Fans of Rollin will certainly enjoy this one.

Scott LeBrun This intriguing piece of work from the French cult director Jean Rollin is deliciously erotic, although the uninitiated should be warned that the horror elements on hand only come into play for the final portion of the picture. Until then, what we get is a masterfully directed work of art from a filmmaker who's not really out to "scare" us, per se. For the balance of "Fascination", it's more of a drama, albeit a thickly atmospheric and effectively enigmatic drama which will have the viewer curious as to where it's going (provided, of course, the story hasn't been spoiled for them already). The acting is top notch from the leads, with two sexy, sexy ladies at the centre of things who ensnare a man in their figurative web.While it's best not to know too much going in, it's worth noting that this tale, taking place in France in 1905, is not really about vampires. It's about a bandit, Marc (Jean-Marie Lemaire) who escapes from his greedy associates and finds refuge in an old isolated castle. He meets two lovely young lasses inside, Elisabeth (Franca Mai) and Eva (Brigitte Lahaie), who claim to be servants awaiting the return of their employers, but we can sense that there's more to them than meets the eye. They seduce Marc into hanging around, for their own mysterious reasons. Intrigued and amused by them, he does remain on the premises until some visitors appear late at night.Enhanced by the beautiful music by Philippe d'Aram and featuring extremely striking lighting schemes by cinematographer Georgie Fromentin (those shots of the walkway at night are downright spooky), "Fascination" turns out to be an intoxicating story of the decadence and fetishes of the upper class, and the result when a man such as Marc discovers their secrets. There's a sufficient amount of nudity and sex (both heterosexual and lesbian) to tantalize viewers; Lahaie is a vision, and figures in the most memorable images of the film when she wields a wicked scythe.Dedicated cinephiles and fans of the Eurohorror of the 1970s would do well to check this one out.Eight out of 10.

billcr12 This looks like a Hammer horror film from the 1960s. The big difference is the nudity throughout including a lesbian scene. Eva(Brigitte Lahaie) and Elisabeth(Franca Mai) are living in a castle on the water, complete with a mote and stone bridge providing beautiful background scenery.A man escaping fellow thieves is on the run and winds up at the castle to hide. What follows is campy acting and cheap sounding music in the background. The two lesbian lovers are awaiting their special guests for a midnight rendezvous of some sort. This is a low budget, badly written, and silly effort by all involved. The only high praise I can give it is to Ms. Lahaie's body, which is quite spectacular and responsible for 3 of the 4 points here.

Paul Andrews Fascination is set in the year 1905 & starts (properly) when thief Mark (Jean-Marie Lemaire) double crosses a gang of crooks & runs off with a bag full of gold & the crooks in hot pursuit. Mark happens upon a large Château surrounded by water with only one bridge offering access, Mark feels this would make a perfect hiding place until the cover of night. Inside he finds two young attractive women, Eva (Brigitte Lahaie) & Elisabeth (Franca Mai) who just happen to be lesbians. Mark holds them hostage at gunpoint & has sex with one of them. Eva & Elisabeth try to convince Mark to stay for a mysterious reunion that they are having that very night, Mark sticks around, out of curiosity apparently, until the first guest arrives Helene (Fanny Magier). As four more female guests arrive it fast approaches midnight which seems to hold some significance that when Mark discovers what it is he wish he hadn't...This French production was written & directed by Jean Rollin & it didn't do much for me. While I respect other people's opinions that Rollin's films are artistic, dream like & visually stunning I don't think that about Fascination at all. Don't get me wrong there are some very nice shots & imagery in Fascination, Eva wandering around with a long robe & scythe being a particularly memorable scene, the pigeon loft scene is visually unusual & the Gothic Château setting is impressive & adds a great deal to the film, but overall I just felt it was cheaply filmed with Rollin lingering on shots & keeping his camera rolling for far too long, as a consequence at times this slows Fascination down to a virtual stand still. The one area that I do agree with the general opinion is that Rollin isn't particularly interested in story telling or a coherent plot which is a shame because if he put some of the effort that he puts in his visuals into a decent entertaining film than he'd have a winner on his hands. There is virtually no dialogue in Fascination & the plot is basic & somewhat predictable. One more thing I must state at this point is that there are no traditional Vampires in Fascination at all, no fangs, no stakes through the heart & no sleeping in coffins. There is some brief blood drinking but it's not for any sort of supernatural reasoning. I also found Fascination's exploitation elements lacking, maybe I was expecting too much but there is virtually no blood or gore & the sex & nudity seemed very tame, there is one lesbian scene & two sex scenes & that's your lot. Having said that these French women are very pretty & easy on the eyes. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something here but I just didn't find anything here to gain any sort of enjoyment from apart from some nice looking locations & a bit of nudity. Finally Fascination commits the fatal mistake of being boring & slow & at just under 80 minutes that's not a good thing to think, I can forgive almost anything as long as a film entertains me & Fascination simply didn't. I just can't imagine any regular modern cinema goer getting much from this arty mess.