GRAPES OF DEATH

GRAPES OF DEATH

Original Title:
Les Raisins de la mort

Alternate Titles:
The Raisins Of Death / Pesticide / The Grapes Of Death

German Titles:
Foltermühle der gefangenen Frauen / Pestizide - Stadt der Zombies / Pestizide - Grapes Of Death / Zombis - geschändete Frauen / The Village Of The Living Dead

France, 1978

Director: Jean Rollin

8/10

Wow, this one was a big surprise: despise the silly title (and a bunch of even sillier German titles that all refer to zombies and tortured women), this is an absolutely wonderful epidemic/infection flick in the vein of Romero's "Crazies", but, of course, way better.

The film takes place somewhere in the French countryside on rural settings (vineyards, farmhouses...) that look just beautiful, but also pretty eerie. The sinister and claustrophobic atmosphere throughout the movie is breathtakingly brilliant and definitely something you don't see every day.

The script is perfectly paced with a slow but effective build-up, the acting is decent, the soundtrack is extremely interesting (some kind of minimalistic synth score) and the camera work is just stunning. The film's only flaw is the make-up of the infected which often looks quite tacky, yet it's still pretty effective.

Overall a really terrific 70s Euro-horror-movie, highly recommended!

Wiki ~ Imdb