Plot Synopsis:
One of Jean Rollin's least-seen and most underrated works, The Night of the Hunted (La Nuit des traquées) finds the director moving away from his trademark tales of vampirism to explore a nightmarish, dystopian world.
In the dead of night, Elisabeth is rescued from unknown pursuers by Robert and taken to safety. But, after she is kidnapped and taken to an austere clinic whose distressed and abused patients are suffering from progressive memory loss, Robert sets out to find her and discover what is taking place in the clinic.
Shot at night on a shoestring budget, with a cast mostly drawn from France's adult film industry, The Night of the Hunted stars Rollin regulars Brigitte Lahaie (Fascination) and Natalie Perrey (Lips of Blood), and offers a stark and melancholic take on contemporary society.
- NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
- Original French mono soundtrack
- Audio commentary with writer-director Jean Rollin (2007)
- Audio commentary with film expert and author Tim Lucas (2023)
- Jean Rollin Introduces 'The Rape of the Vampire' (1998): filmed appraisal
- Jean Rollin on 'The Rape of the Vampire' (2007): the director in conversation with festival programmer and journalist Joshua T Gravel at the Fantasia Film Festival, Montreal
- Fragments of Pavement Under Sand (2023): updated documentary on the making of The Rape of the Vampire, directed by Rollin's personal assistant, Daniel Gouyette, and including interviews with key collaborators Jean-Denis Bonan, Jean-Pierre Bouyxou and Jean-Loup Philippe
- New interview with Jean-Denis Bonan, editor of The Rape of the Vampire and assistant director on The Far Countries (2023)
- Newly edited archival interview with actor Jacqueline Sieger (2023)
- Newly edited archival interview with actor Alain Yves Beaujour (2023)
- Newly edited archival interview with actor Jean-Loup Philippe (2023)
- Newly edited archival interview with composer François Tusques (2023)
- Critical appreciation by author and film historian Virginie Sélavy (2023)
- Alternative scene
- Super 8 version: cut-down home cinema presentation
- 4K restoration of The Far Countries (Les Pays loins, 1965): Rollin's second fictional short film tells of a couple lost in a maze of streets who can't remember how they got there
- The Far Countries audio commentary with Rollin (2007)
- L'Itinéraire Souvenir (2018): artistic reconstruction of Rollin's lost work from 1962 by filmmakers Victor Poucalow and Raja Tawil
- Original theatrical trailer
- Image galleries: promotional and publicity material, and behind the scenes
- New and improved English translation subtitles
- Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Beatrice Loayza, archival writing by Jean Rollin on the making of the film, an archival interview with the director by Peter Blumenstock, Jean Rollin's recollections of shooting The Far Countries, and full film credits
