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Plot Summary

Fascination (1979) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
1979 · 80 mins · French
JustWatch #8,661 25
Directed by
Jean Rollin
Starring
Brigitte Lahaie, Sophie Noël, Jean-Marie Lemaire, Muriel Montossé, Cyril Val, Fanny Magier

Now tell me the truth—who’s coming here tonight? Death. A fugitive criminal forces his way into an isolated chateau, holding the two terrified chambermaids hostage. When night deepens, a cadre of enigmatic aristocratic women appears, and the intruder soon discovers they conceal a dark, sinister secret.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 What happens: full plot
  3. 3 Plot questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Fascination
  6. 6 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Fascination (1979)

Where can you watch Fascination? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Kino Film Collection, Philo and Shudder: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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Full plot summary · contains spoilers

What Happens in Fascination: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of Fascination (1979) explained, from the opening scene to the final frame: every key event, every twist and what it all adds up to. Read it as a quick recap before the sequel, to check a scene you missed, or to finally understand what really happened.

In April 1905, a group of fashionable Parisian women arrive at an abattoir to drink the blood of an ox as a way to cure anemia, and find the result successful.

Meanwhile, after a successful robbery, Marc, the young leader of a gang of thieves, betrays his four accomplices as he plans to escape to London with the gold coins they have stolen. Chased by his former accomplices, he flees to the countryside and takes refuge in an isolated château inhabited only by two bisexual chambermaids, Elisabeth and Eva, who are awaiting the arrival of the Marchioness and her servants. The women, who appear to be in a romantic relationship, are amused by Marc's presence and assure him they will not turn him in to the police.

Eva offers herself to Marc, and the two have sex, sparking Elisabeth's jealousy.

Marc's former accomplices discover his hideout, and a shootout ensues at the château. When Eva goes outside to hand over the gold, the thieves take her to the stables; while two of them count the gold coins, the new leader of the gang forces Eva to give her dress to her wife. The leader then coerces Eva into sex, whereupon she stabs him to death. Armed with a scythe, Eva kills the remaining thieves before calmly returning to the château. Elisabeth tells Marc he can escape before nightfall, but he decides to stay.

That evening, the Marchioness arrives with her servants, and they hold a party in which Marc is the only man, so he gets all the attention. At midnight, the women change into transparent robes, supposedly for a secret ceremony. Since he is still on the run, Marc flees into the stables, looking for a horse he can use to escape. Eva is sent after Marc to bring him back to the château, but Elisabeth intervenes by shooting Eva. Elisabeth and Marc flee while a wounded Eva crawls back to the château, where the servants drain her blood.

In a nearby pigeon loft, Elisabeth explains to Marc that she, Eva and their guests were prescribed ox blood by a doctor as a cure for anemia. However, the women acquired a taste for blood and decided to feast on human blood. They subsequently formed a secret society, luring young men into the château and drinking their blood. Elisabeth admits that she never loved Marc and shoots him dead before tasting his blood. She returns to the château and lies to the Marchioness, claiming that she killed Marc after he killed Eva. The Marchioness tells Elisabeth that she looks beautiful with Marc's blood on her lips.

Last updated: October 07, 2025 at 09:27

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Plot questions answered

Fascination Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about Fascination (1979): what happens in the confusing scenes, why the characters do what they do, the twists, hidden details and what the ending means. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Why do the women at the château drink blood?

The women drink blood because they were originally prescribed ox blood by a doctor as a cure for anemia in April 1905. The treatment worked, but they developed a taste for blood and progressed from animal blood to human blood, forming a secret society that lures men to the château to feast on them.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene at the Paris abattoir where the women drink ox blood establishes their transformation from patients to predators.

  • blood drinking
  • secret society
  • ox blood
  • vampire cult
  • chateau women
Q2

What happens during the midnight ceremony?

At midnight, the women change into transparent robes and prepare to kill Marc, the only man at the party. The ceremony is a blood-drinking ritual where they lure young men to the château under false pretenses and murder them to drink their blood.

Foreshadowing: The reference to a secret ceremony when the women change into transparent robes hints at the ritualistic nature of their killings.

  • midnight ceremony
  • transparent robes
  • blood ritual
  • secret ceremony
Q3

Why does Elisabeth shoot Eva?

Elisabeth shoots Eva to prevent her from bringing Marc back to the château. Eva was sent by the Marchioness to retrieve Marc for the blood ritual, but Elisabeth chooses Marc over her former lover and shoots Eva to keep him from being killed, though she ultimately kills Marc herself.

Foreshadowing: Eva's earlier offer to Marc and the resulting jealousy between Elisabeth and Eva foreshadows their conflict.

  • Elisabeth
  • Eva
  • jealousy
  • shooting
  • betrayal
Q4

What is the secret society at the château?

The secret society consists of aristocratic women led by the Marchioness who have developed a taste for human blood. They lure men to the château as part of their circle, kill them, and drink their blood. Elisabeth and Eva are chambermaids who serve as recruits to this cult.

Foreshadowing: The mention of Elisabeth and Eva awaiting the Marchioness hints at a larger organization beyond the château.

  • secret society
  • Marchioness
  • blood cult
  • vampire women
  • aristocratic women
Q5

Why does Marc betray his accomplices?

Marc betrays his four accomplices to escape to London alone with the stolen gold coins from their robbery. He planned to keep all the money for himself rather than share it with his fellow thieves.

Foreshadowing: Marc's betrayal sets in motion the chain of events that leads him to the château and ultimately to his death.

  • Marc
  • betrayal
  • gold coins
  • gang thieves
  • escape to London
Q6

How does Eva kill the thieves?

Eva kills the thieves by first stabbing the gang leader to death after he coerces her into sex at the stables. She then retrieves a scythe and uses it to kill the remaining thieves before returning to the château, wounded but alive.

Foreshadowing: The violence at the stables escalates from the shootout and Eva's coercion, turning her from victim to killer.

  • Eva
  • thieves
  • killings
  • scythe
  • stabbing
  • revenge
Q7

Why does Elisabeth kill Marc after admitting she never loved him?

Elisabeth kills Marc because she is fully committed to the blood-drinking society. She admits she never loved him to manipulate him and prevent him from escaping. Once she extracts the truth about his escape plans, she shoots him so she can taste his blood, just as she did with the other victims.

Foreshadowing: Elisabeth's early promise to protect Marc from the police was a deception to keep him available for the society's ritual.

  • Elisabeth
  • Marc
  • kill
  • blood drinking
  • deception
  • manipulation
Q8

What happens in the pigeon loft scene?

In the pigeon loft, Elisabeth reveals to Marc the complete truth about the women's blood-drinking society, how they started drinking ox blood for anemia, developed a taste for human blood, and formed their secret cult. She then kills him and tastes his blood before returning to the château to lie about what happened.

Foreshadowing: The pigeon loft serves as the secluded location where the secret is fully revealed before the final betrayal.

  • pigeon loft
  • confession
  • blood drinking secret
  • Elisabeth
  • Marc death
Q9

Why does Eva stab the gang leader?

Eva stabs the gang leader after he coerces her into sex at the stables. Forced to submit under threat, she seizes a knife during the act and kills him to escape his control and protect the location of the gold.

Foreshadowing: The earlier shootout and Eva's capture set up this violent confrontation.

  • Eva
  • gang leader
  • stabbing
  • sexual coercion
  • escape
Q10

Why does Marc decide to stay at the château instead of escaping?

Marc decides to stay at the château because after the shootout, Elisabeth tells him he can escape before nightfall. However, he chooses to remain, possibly trusting the women or being seduced by the attention at the party, ultimately leading to his death.

Foreshadowing: Elisabeth's warning that he should leave before nightfall foreshadows the danger that arrives with darkness.

  • Marc
  • chateau
  • stay
  • escape
  • nightfall
  • danger

Movie threads

More Movies Like Fascination, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Fascination tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Decadent Gothic horror movies like Fascination

Where aristocratic elegance masks a sinister secret and violent desires. Discover more movies like Fascination that blend gothic atmosphere with sensual horror. These films feature isolated chateaus, enigmatic aristocrats, and a slow-burn reveal of dark secrets, perfect for fans of erotic tension and violent, bleak conclusions.

  • gothic
  • atmospheric
  • sinister
  • sensual
  • violent
  • deceptive
  • Tone: dark, sinister, sensual
  • Pacing: variable, atmospheric build
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories often begin with an outsider intruding upon an isolated, opulent world. A deceptive atmosphere of sophistication and seduction slowly builds tension until a violent, primal secret is revealed, leading to a confrontation where traditional power structures are both terrifying and deadly.

Why they belong together: They share a core aesthetic of elegant decay, combining gothic settings with themes of eroticism, betrayal, and hidden monstrosity. The mood is consistently atmospheric, sinister, and sensual, anchored by a tone that is dark and an intensity that escalates to violent crescendos.

Deceptive hostage thrillers similar to Fascination

A tense standoff where the captors are not who they initially seem. If you liked the tense hostage setup and sinister twist in Fascination, explore these movies. They feature deceptive characters, a reversal of power, and stories where the hunted become the hunters, leading to violent and bleak conclusions.

  • tense
  • deceptive
  • violent
  • claustrophobic
  • sinister
  • atmospheric
  • Tone: tense, dark, bleak
  • Pacing: variable, escalating tension
Why these movies?

The story pattern: A criminal or intruder believes they have taken control of a situation and its inhabitants, only to discover they have walked into a carefully laid trap. The initial power balance is a ruse, and the true horror emerges from the calculated deception of the supposed victims.

Why they belong together: They are grouped by a specific narrative twist: the subversion of the hostage trope. They share a mood of rising tension and deceptive calm, a tone of bleak fatalism, and a pacing that shifts from a tense standoff to a fast, violent climax.

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Movies Like Fascination

Similar movies to Fascination: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

Browse all movie summaries

Every angle

Fascination (1979) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Fascination in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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