Exclusive! See An Excerpt From LOST GIRLS: THE PHANTASMAGORICAL CINEMA OF JEAN ROLLIN
Spectacular Optical has put out some tremendous books, like Kier-La Janisse's Satanic Panic and Janisse and Paul Corupe's Kid Power, and we're very pleased to exclusively debut a page from their upcoming publication, Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin!
But first, some info from the press release:
Canadian micro-publisher Spectacular Optical has just launched pre-sales for its newest book focused on the career of French fantasy and horror filmmaker Jean Rollin, LOST GIRLS: THE PHANTASMAGORICAL CINEMA OF JEAN ROLLIN, penned by all women critics, scholars and film historians.
With a campaign running on Indiegogo through May 17th, Spectacular Optical is offering genre fans an early opportunity to pick up this limited-edition book, as well as a slew of additional perks such as Blu Rays, soundtracks, books, festival passes, a Rollin Mystery Boardgame deigned by cover artist Jessica Seamans (limited to 100 copies), and – most exciting of all - the ‘Tour de sang’: an immersive tour through eight Rollin film locations in the French countryside!
This collection of essays covers the wide range of Rollin’s career from 1968’s LE VIOL DU VAMPIRE through his 2010 swansong, LE MASQUE DE LA MÉDUSE, touching upon his horror, fantasy, crime and sex films—including many lesser seen titles. The book closely examines Rollin’s core themes: his focus on overwhelmingly female protagonists, his use of horror genre and exploitation tropes, his reinterpretations of the fairy tale and fantastique, the influence of crime serials, Gothic literature and the occult, as well as much more.
Curated and edited by Samm Deighan (DIABOLIQUE), contributors to LOST GIRLS include some of the most important critical voices to emerge over the last decade of genre journalism: Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (SENSES OF CINEMA), Kat Ellinger (DIABOLIQUE), Virginie Selavy (ELECTRIC SHEEP), Alison Nastasi (SATANIC PANIC: POP-CULTURAL PARANOIA IN THE 1980s), Marcelline Block (ART DECADES), Rebecca Booth (DIABOLIQUE), Michelle Alexander (CINEMADROME), Lisa Cunningham (THE LAUGHING DEAD: THE HORROR-COMEDY FILM FROM BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN TO ZOMBIELAND), Heather Drain (DANGEROUS MINDS), Erin Miskell (THAT’S NOT CURRENT), Kier-La Janisse (HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN), Gianna D’Emilio (DIABOLIQUE) and veteran genre journalist Marcelle Perks (SHIVER, EYEBALL).
The cover art and chapter headings (as well as the Rollin Mystery Boardgame) are being created by illustrator Jessica Seamans, known for her work with Landland and posters for MONDO. Attached is the final artwork for the book's cover, featuring Rollin regulars the Castel Twins among a combination of imagery from his films Fascination and La Rose de Fer:
LOST GIRLS will be a beautiful perfect-bound book, roughly 400 pages and heavily illustrated throughout with stills, posters, ads and other visual ephemera related to Rollin's films. A successful campaign will ensure that the book can be printed in full colour, as Rollin’s iconic imagery so rightly deserves.
Pretty cool, right? Read on for our exclusive excerpt, and to see Seamans' beautiful cover art!
If you're interested in pre-ordering Lost Girls, you can do so at Spectacular Optical's Indiegogo campaign page. This is a hell of a thing: a gorgeous book, written entirely by women scholars and critics and released by one of the greatest new publishers in the world of film culture. It's a worthy cause, one deserving of our support. So grab yours while you can!
