While the film certainly has all of the exploitable elements
that you would expect from a 1970's lensed Jess Franco effort it is very much a period piece
as well. Filmed on a couple of gorgeous locations with some pretty decent
costuming and an attempt to bring a sense of. Reality to things. The movie
manages to once again do to me what more and more of Franco from this period of
his career is capable of - It manages to mesmerize me. For an hour and 24
minutes I was caught up, dazzled, occasionally frustrated and sometimes overly
curious about how he is doing what he's doing and why he is attempting to tell
this story in this way.
From the opening we are told that there is a plot involved
between Lina Romay's character and her doctor. It's not until the third act, of
course, that we will learn what this plot is but along the way we see enough
depravity around the home she lives in with her husband the Marquis to know
that it would have to be pretty daunting to outdo the sexual nastiness and
murderous intent of this woman's husband. Without ruining anything I'll just
say that the finale is satisfying and journey there is one I'm glad I took. As
with all such Franco works your mileage will vary.
Severin's Blu-Ray has a couple of significant extras too. A
brief interview piece with Franco in which he talks about the ladies loves of
his life. This was touching, warm conversation and brought a tear to my eyes. I
miss old Uncle Jess. The other extra is an excellent 22 minute talk from author
Stephen Thrower discussing Franco's work and this film in particular. As
always, Thrower is entertaining and incredibly informative making this extra
worth the price of the disc for fans.
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