As I noted in my review for the release of NIGHT OF OPEN
SEX, director Jess Franco was an exploitation director who has been
rediscovered by a new generation who love his films. That film and this one are
both being released on disc from Severin and fans should rejoice at the chance
to add them to their collection.
Unlike NIGHT OF OPEN SEX there is less story on display here
and more sex than that film. It definitely is the more porn like film of the
pair even if there is a soft core like amount on display. The story involves
the wealthy elite, a man who brings home his lover to meet his wife about to be
released from an asylum. Not only does he have a thing going with this woman,
he’s also involved with his housekeeper, a woman he and his wife raped and took
in when she was younger. As the story moves forward we learn that he has plans
to kill his wife for her fortune and escape with his lover. Or does he?
The story may be simple but Franco tried for something
different here, employing techniques used by Alfred Hitchcock in his film ROPE.
Utilizing long takes and minimal edits Franco does his best to follow the
master but falls far short. The scenery looks lovely and the location is nice
but much of what happens takes place indoors and that almost always involves
sex, some of which takes on a sadomasochistic bent.
Once more Franco puts wife Lina Romay on display for all to
see as the adulteress lover of lead Antonio Mayans. If her body weren’t enough
there is also that of Elisa Vela as the housekeeper and Rocio Freixas as the
wife. Various couplings of the group are on hand from start to finish. It’s
difficult to describe why the film falls just short of the hard core status.
Suffice to say there is plenty of female genitalia on display but little from
the male lead and no penetration. The film could play on cable and not be cut.
So is it any good? Well the story in itself is kind of
interesting. And if soft core porn is something you enjoy then you have plenty
on hand here to watch. The odds are though that most will not be looking for
this film. But that wouldn’t include fans of Franco or those who love
exploitation films. That group will be flocking to pick up a copy of the film
and will undoubtedly find it quite fulfilling since Severin has done a
wonderful job with the release.
Not only are they offering in on blu-ray they’ve tacked on a
number of extras as well. Those include “In the Land of Franco Part 1” with
Stephen Thrower touring multiple Franco locations in Portugal, “When Donald Met
Jess and Lina Part 1” where filmmaker Donald Farmer interviews the couple in
1993 and “Jess Franco’s Golden Years” an interview with Thrower the author of
“Murderous Passions & Flowers of Perversion – The Delirious Cinema of Jesus
Franco”. Parts 2 of these extras can be found on Severin’s NIGHT OF OPEN SEX.
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