Les Raisins de la mort (1978)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Jean Rollin

Writers:

Jean-Pierre Bouyxou (story)
Christian Meunier (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 July 1978 (France)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A young woman discovers that the pesticide being sprayed on vineyards is turning people into killer zombies. |

Plot Keywords:

Pesticide | Crucifixion | Pitchfork | Sadism | Chemical

Cast

Marie-Georges Pascal	...	Élisabeth (as Marie George Pascal)
Félix Marten	...	Paul (as Felix Marten)
Serge Marquand	...	Lucien
Mirella Rancelot
Patrice Valota
Patricia Cartier
Michel Herval
Brigitte Lahaie		(as Brigitte Lahaye)
Paul Bisciglia
Olivier Rollin
Françoise Pascal
Evelyne Thomas
Jean-Pierre Bouyxou
Jean Rollin

Also Known As:

Pesticide (France) (alternative title)
The Grapes of Death (International: English title)
The Raisins of Death (International: English title)
Foltermühle der gefangenen Frauen (West Germany) [de]
Pestizide - Grapes of Death (Germany) (DVD box title) [de]
Pestizide - Stadt der Zombies (Germany) (video box title) [de]
Zombis - Geschändete Frauen (West Germany) (video box title) [de]

Runtime:

Germany:85 min | USA:90 min (uncut version)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 (2009) (DVD) | West Germany:(Banned) | West Germany:18 (nf) (cut version) | France:-16 | UK:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Films A.B.C.

Trivia:

Writer Jean-Pierre Bouyxou appears also in the film as the one-eyed living dead.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the long zoom in the scene where Élisabeth meets the blind girl at the deserted valley, a man can be seen walking in the distance.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Das geheime Kino (2007)

One of Jean Rollin's Best!

This neglected cult classic is finally available for the first time in the States, on DVD with a gorgeous looking (and sounding) transfer by Synapse Films. It looks great - probably better than it did in the theatres. Not exactly a zombie flick, but that is the closest genre you could categorize it. It follows the trials of Elizabeth, a young woman traveling by rail across the French countryside, en route to meet with her fiancé, who runs a winery. Before she reaches her destination however, she encounters a homicidal man who has just murdered her traveling companion, and whose face disintegrates before her horrified eyes as he chases her off the train. Lost in the rural expanse, the woman encounters various peasants who seem to have become trapped between life and death, driven mad by the pain of decaying alive, and more than eager to throttle her and visit various abuses upon her body (implied by the fact that any uninfected individual she comes across in her adventure inevitably takes the proverbial bullet for her - by pitchfork, hatchet, or whatever lethal tool the living `dead' have at hand at the moment). Finally, it is revealed that her fiancé has been pumping out wine tainted by pesticides, which has been consumed en masse earlier at a festival by the unfortunate villagers (talk about becoming dead drunk.). This is easily one of Rollin's most accessible films, but may not be to the tastes of anyone weaned on Empty-Vee styled horror flicks. But for the discriminating palate, this is definitely recommended -- leisurely paced, atmospheric, and with liberal dollops of gore and mayhem to boot, this is late 70's horror at its best.