I published (under my imprint Spectacular Optical) and did the layout for this book curated by Samm Deighan, as well as writing the afterword reflecting on my personal relationship with Jean Rollin.
LOST GIRLS: THE PHANTASMAGORICAL CINEMA OF JEAN ROLLIN
Edited by Samm Deighan
Spectacular Optical, 2017
434 pgs. | Full Colour with over 400 images
Canadian micro-publisher Spectacular Optical is pleased to announce a new 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. Set to be released in the summer of 2017, 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 critic Marcelle Perks (SHIVERS, EYEBALL). The book also features a foreword by Françoise Pascal, the star of Rollin’s beloved La rose de fer.
The paperback is sold out but you can get a PDF version of the book HERE >>
I also created a boardgame to accompany the book, called ‘Chateau des Enigmes: The Jean Rollin Mystery Boardgame’ – a ‘whodunit’ game given the Rollin treatment, complete with kooky cousins, sinister twins, crypts, coffins, candelabras, a secret passageway behind the grandfather clock and more! All the illustrations for the game were done by Jessica Seamans (who also did the cover for the book), and professionally manufactured for long-term enjoyment – available in a limited edition of only 30 copies.
