I Have A “Fascination” With Brigitte Lahaie!

Sometimes a single image is all it takes to make a film a classic – like this one:

Brigitte Swings A Big Scythe!

When I saw this image, I had to see the movie – it’s 1979’s “Fascination”, directed by Jean Rollin…and it’s available on DVD!

My “2020 Sex Kitten Countdown” looks at the career of that “Scythe-wielding” beauty Brigitte Lahaie, one of the most beautiful Actresses of all time!

Born Brigitte Vanmeerhaeghe, Brigitte Lahaie is a French radio talk show host, mainstream film actress and former “Adult film star” as well!

She started working in the adult film industry in 1976, one year after the legalization of hardcore pornography in France – and while she was still working in the adult-movie industry, Jean Rollin, who had directed her in the porn film Vibrations Sensuelles (Sensual Vibrations) in 1976, noticed Lahaie’s “distinctly different personality,” as he later recalled, and thought she had “incredible charisma.”

The Director offered her a role in his 1978 mainstream film, Les Raisins de la Mort (Grapes of Death) which wikipedia says was the first gore film produced in France!

Obviously, Lahaie had no problem with nudity, but the camera loved her, and next up, Rollin had her star in the cult classic “Fascination!”

“Fascination” is set in 1905, when a thief seeks refuge in a castle owned by two women, who turn out to be part of a vampiric cult of blood-drinking aristocrats!

Here’s a trailer for a special live musical accompaniment of the film, and gives you a good sense of the moody, erotic horror in display:

Jean Rollin is a fascinating filmmaker: his movies are somewhat slow moving, moody, and filled with lots of nudity and blood…

The movie has gained a huge following over the years, and it’s definitely worth a look, if only to see Brigitte!

Around this same time, Brigitte also appeared in the film “The Night Of The Hunted” by Director Rollin as well.

A woman is taken to a mysterious clinic where patients are losing their memories due to a strange illness. The film gave Lahaie multiple opportunities to be nude.

Among her other credits are films with titles like these:

“Six Swedish Girls in a Boarding School”

“Secrets Of A French Maid”

“Caged Women”

It seems like everyone did a “women in prison” film, and that includes Brigitte!

She was also “The Female Executioner” in 1986, playing a tough female cop trying to solve the kidnapping of young Caroline by a gang of pornographers.

Lahaie has had quite an eclectic career, including releasing original music:

In 1987 she recorded and released the single “Caresse tendresse” (“Caress tenderness”).

Lahaie also published several books, and has been the focus of books as well.

In a 1996 interview, she addressed her career in adult films:

“I don’t mind talking about those films. I owe a lot to them. They made me famous, and it would be ridiculous to deny that. I was the first French sex star, after all, so I certainly have to carry this reputation with me. I loved the job, and it was really important for me to have done it. I was very shy, very unsure of myself, and doing those films gave me a lot of self-confidence. However, I have done many other things since, so it’s a bit odd that people are still mainly interested in this aspect of my life.”

She was a captivating Model and Actress, and now lives outside Paris. There are a number of great remastered films with her that you can buy as well.

“Fascination” is just one of the great Jean Rollin films that you should check out…here’s another one:

He’s got a number of great horror films – click here to see the trailers for many of them:

https://jrsploitation.com/2019/04/19/a-wild-living-dead-girl-from-the-fascinating-bloody-vision-of-jean-rollin/

Lahaie isn’t the only actress to move from soft to hardcore films:

Sharon Kelly was in a number of great cult films before performing in hardcore films as Colleen Brennan – see her story here:

https://jrsploitation.com/2019/08/29/checking-out-alice-goodbody-cult-queen-sharon-kelly-was-sassy-sue-and-adult-star-colleen-brennan-too/

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Categories: 70's Films, Artsploitation, Books / Media, Classic Horror, Cult Classics, Exploitation Films, Horror films, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Sexploitation Films, Talent / Celebrites

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