Nuits Rouges

This is the movie version of L'Homme sans Visage, a pilot for a TV series shot simultaneously but separately: a hugely beguiling tribute to the world of the pulp thriller, in which bizarre and ornate secret societies emerge from their mysterious labyrinths to do battle on the streets and rooftops of contemporary Europe. Feuillade, the early master of the French serial, is a major visual influence, but Shadowman broadens to take in the twilit worlds of Sax Rohmer (signalled by the character Petrie, the English antiquarian) and Jean Ray, with nods even in the direction of Von Daniken and The Dawn of Magic. The plot feasts itself on remote contol taxis piloted by waxworks, occult ceremonies, staring zombies, ancient charts, and mass assassinations: no one uses a revolver when a poison blowpipe or an animated sculpture will do, and Franju leavens the brew with his own style and wit, achieving some effects of startling visual beauty.