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Rose of Iron AKA La Rose de Fer AKA The Iron Rose AKA Nuit du Cimetière AKA The Crystal Rose (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (6th May 2025). |
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The Film
 Having built his reputation with a quartet of eccentric erotic vampire tales, Jean Rollin surprised audiences with The Iron Rose (Le Rose de fer), an atmospheric detour into the realms of the fantastique. When a couple – played by Françoise Pascal (Burke and Hare) and Hugues Quester (Je t’aime moi non plus) – stumble across an old cemetery, they begin to explore its gravestones and crypts. But, as night falls, they find that they are unable to leave... Restored in 4K from the original negative, The Iron Rose also features Rollin regulars Nathalie Perrey (Lips of Blood) and Mireille Dargent (Requiem for a Vampire), and is considered by many to be one of its director’s crowning achievements. This new edition also includes a new 4K restoration of Rollin’s early short film The Yellow Loves, an evocation of the poetry of Tristan Corbière, whose work was also the inspiration for The Iron Rose.
Video
A woman (Françoise Pascal) and a man (Hughes Questor) go on a first date where they frolick around a steam train and wander into a massive graveyard. Once there their behaviour takes strange turns: They make love, then fight and then they seem to be trapped by the darkness of night; unable to find a way out. Meanwhile they are watched by a strange man and a clown. Oddball Jean Rollin flick seems to be drawing parallels to Orpheus and Eurydice as well as contrasting light and dark, moist and dry, old and new with most metal appearing in the film rusting and decaying. With only one full-frontal sequence there is also far less exploitative nudity than is the norm for Rollin. A lyrical experience which is just the right length for the slight story. This has far less dialogue than usual and at times seems to be channelling silent cinema. From the booklet: The Iron Rose was scanned, restored and colour corrected in 4K HDR at Renasci Films, using the original 35mm negative. The Yellow Loves was scanned, restored and colour corrected in 4K HDR at Filmfinity, using the original 35mm negative. Many thousands of instances of dirt were removed, scratches, stains and other imperfections eliminated, and a number of damaged frames repaired. No grain management, edge enhancement or sharpening tools were employed to artificially alter the image of either film in any way.You have the choice of playing the film with the original French title, The rose de fer, or the original English release title: The Crystal Rose. In any case, the only difference is the title with the running time being the same and there's no difference in image quality. These 4K restorations of Jean Rollin's work are very welcomes restoring much detail and lustre to the images that we previously thought looked good, but now look even better. The Iron Rose is up to the usual high standard and the presentation here is layered in plenty of lovely filmic grain which has been beautifully rendered by the encode and as the booklet states no digital enhancement tools have been used. I noticed no signs of age-related wear and tear on the print which couldn't be said for the decade old Kino transfers in the US. Colour is important to Rollin and his use here is very choice; naturalistic for most sections with a focus on blues, grays, blacks, yellows, browns but Françoise Pascal wears vivid red which stands out a mile against the tableau behind and around her. Striking spots of red do appear elsewhere but her shirt in the wedding sequence is the largest patch of it and as she moves through the frame our eyes are always drawn to her; other red items of clothing and the clown's wig also appear as if splashes of painterly blood in the frame throughout. Her patchwork skirt in the same scene is also a riot of warm colours, textures and patterns that would've been muddier in older standard definition with the resolution struggling to delineate; note so here and the 4K UHD BD with HDR would've improved on the 1080p image again. Flesh tones are ruddy and healthy and the green foliage is also lush and inviting. Black levels and contrast are perfectly judged across the board with even Rollin's poetic, misty shots coming across sharper than in previous transfers. In short, this is a stunning transfer; the film has always been beautifully framed and shot but here, practically every frame could paused and hing in a frame on the wall. Top marks and as close to a demo release as a low budget 1972 film can be ('A+'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.66:1 / 80:14
Audio
French DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (48kHz) English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (48kHz) Subtitles: English HoH (French track), English HoH (English dub track) The mono tracks aren't as strong as the image but that was always thus with films of this ilk. The only sensible option is the original production sound French track which is crisp and clear albeit with fairly limited range and it holds it's own even when cranked up in volume. There's some mild hiss but it more than gets the job done. Subtitles for the French track are excellent as are the hard of hearing variations ('A-').
Extras
Audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas (2025) If you've heard a Lucas commentary before you know what to expect; a fever dream of near constant information delivered in his softly measured tones worth the price of the disc alone. Always a mellow, fascinating listen; he kicks off relating the usual story of Rollin's love of a specific Dieppe beach which opens the film and one he used time and again throughout his oeuvre. Presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) with no subtitle options. "Jean Rollin Introduces The Iron Rose" 2025 featurette featuring a 1998 interview with Rollin (1:14) "Cemetery Gates: Jean Rollin on The Iron Rose" 2025 featurette featuring a 2010 interview with Rollin (3:39) Two short pieces, in the first Rollin is (speaking in English) accompanied by a weirdo in a mask who just sits next to him on his settee holding the mask over his face. We've seen footage from this 1998 shoot several times before on these Powerhouse sets. A fleeting piece in which he compares it to Requiem for a Vampire. In the second (in French), longer segment Rollin discusses Madeleine cemetery and other locations for The Iron Rose. Both are presented in upscaled 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) with optional English subtitles. "Nights of the Cemetery: The Iron Rose" 2024 documentary (15:51) A short retrospective featuring interviews with Rollin alumni Natalie Perry, Jean-Noël Delamarre and Alain Petit. Presented in upscaled 1080p24 1.66:1 with lossy French Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) with optional French subtitles. "Archival Interview with Françoise Pascal" 2012 interview (22:03) "Françoise Pascal: Woman is Free" 2025 featurette featuring a 2018 interview (23:49) "Kiss from a Rose" 2025 featurette featuring 2018 footage from a signing in the Metaluna shop in Paris (2:31) Three pieces totalling 48:23 focussing on Pascal. The first two are vintage interviews covering her career and work with Rollin; the first focuses mostly on The Iron Rose, the second more on her wider career (she hates Pete Walker for some reason; lots on Richard Johnson). The final one is a B-roll footage-style footage of a signing event at the famous French genre shop in Paris. All three are presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps); English for the first, French for the second and just music with low ambient sounds for the third. "Children of the Grave: Stephen Thrower on The Iron Rose" 2025 interview (30:42) The usual excellent Thrower biographical piece also covers the film (I wish he'd write a book on Rollin!). We hear about his family and influences in the avant-garde and how all this features in his films and specifically where that beach near Dieppe at Pourville, comes into play. His other early films are covered as well but the main focus is on The Iron Rose, which Thrower describes as the ultimate poetic gothic film. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) with no subtitle options. Trailers: - French Theatrical Trailer #1 (3:42) - French Theatrical Trailer #2 (3:42) - International Theatrical Trailer #1 (3:41) - International Theatrical Trailer #2 (3:42) Vintage promos presented in 1080p24 1.66:1 with uncompressed English and French LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) with optional English subtitles on the two French trailers. Image Galleries: - The Iron Rose Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (40 images) - The Iron Rose Image Gallery: Behind the Scenes (47 images) - The Iron Rose Image Gallery: Dialogue Continuity Script (8 images) - The Iron Rose Image Gallery: Prose Treatment: Les Nuits du cimetiere (6 images) 102 pages / images in glorious HD. "The Yellow Loves: Inspired by Tristan Corbière" 1958 short film by Jean Rollin (with optional 2025 audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas) (10:38) 80-page liner notes book with a new essay by Nick Pinkerton, an archival introduction by Jean Rollin, a reprint of Rollin’s original 1972 scenario titled The Night of the Cemetery, an archival interview with Françoise Pascal, Jean Rollin on The Yellow Loves, an introduction to the poetry of Tristan Corbière and full film credits
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
Arguably Rollin's finest non-vampire film gets the deluxe treatment with a new 4K restoration from the OCN, top notch encoding with this film's strongest ever home video release (including the 4K UHD version to improve on this 1080p24 BD). Image is superb, sound as good as the mono will allow and the extras comprehensive with most (all?) prior extras being ported across. Unmissable and essential ('A+').
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