WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS (though you may thank me for them later).
Just picked up an ex-rental and thought I'd offer a little review of this Jess Franco "classic." The box reads: "An aristocrat and his friends invite beautiful women to their home where they torture and rape them." Oooookay.
The film begins with a woman masturbating in a highrise apartment building. For the sake of simplicity, let's call her Masturbating Woman. Across the way, in another highrise, are a couple whom I gather are supposed to represent the Aristocrat and his Mistress, though it's hard to imagine an Aristocrat living in what is basically a pre-fab apartment complex. Whatever... Aristocrat and Mistress spot Masturbating Woman through their window and decide to have sex. Masturbating Woman also spots Aristocrat and Mistress and decides to continue masturbating. It is here that Franco displays his total command of the art of montage as he deftly cross-cuts between the two settings, treating us to a startling display of masturbating and fornicating that just goes back and forth and back and forth and back and forth until the doorbell rings in Masturbating Woman's apartment, interrupting her bliss.
Masturbating Woman answers to find the Mistress standing there and the two decide to have sex. After a fair bit of lesbianism, Aristocrat himself joins the ladies for a threesome. Then Masturbating Woman leaves for no apparent reason and Aristocrat and Mistress decide to have sex in Masturbating Woman's apartment.
Later that day, Masturbating Woman and Mistress have sex again, though we are never quite sure in who's apartment. No doubt, Franco intended this in order to keep his audience disoriented, or else he just didn't have time to shoot any establishing scenes. No matter, because soon Aristocrat joins the ladies for yet another threesome, brilliantly mirroring the previous threesome scene.
Then the three take a boat ride across a lake to a country villa where resides a Stern-Looking Woman and, as we will later learn, a Wimpish Man. After some brief introductions, the foursome decide to have sex and it is during this scene (or perhaps a later sex scene - my memory fails me here so cut me some slack) that said Wimpish Man appears from behind a plate-glass window and proceeds to watch for a while. However, not content as a spectator, Wimpish Man soon joins in the action and after shooting his bolt, starts to cry for reasons known only to Franco.
Later, Aristocrat goes for a walk on the beach and meets Masturbating Woman. The two have sex in a field and in a subtle stroke of genius, Franco has us believe that the two have inexplicably fallen in love. As is the case whenever two people fall in love, Masturbating Woman returns to the villa for a nap while Aristocrat continues wandering aimlessly across the beach.
Back at the villa, Masturbating Woman is roused from her nap by the Mistress, who proceeds to stick a syringe in Masturbating Woman's arm. Masturbating Woman vehemently protests, but only verbally since any physical struggle would have required more camera setups than Franco had time to shoot. When Masturbating Woman awakens from her drug-induced slumber, her vision is obscured by gauze filters over the camera lens, but she can still distinguish the Mistress, Stern-Looking Woman and Wimpish Man, all of whom are now donning various S&M costumes. The Mistress then chains Masturbating Woman's wrists. Again, Masturbating Woman protests, but only verbally since any physical struggle would have interfered with Franco's epic 2-day shooting schedule.
Once Masturbating Woman has been falsely-secured, Wimpish man produces a miniature spiked ball and chain which he uses to supposedly whip Masturbating Woman, although every blow only manages to hit the mattress. This can be interpreted either as Franco's symbolic statement that all of our bodies are merely used mattresses with which to contain our souls, or else his non-existent FX budget didn't allow for the tearing of flesh. No matter though because soon the S&M freaks produce blood-drenched whips and proceed to lash Masturbating Woman's naked body, streaking it red with ketchup stains. This turns them on so much that Stern-Looking Woman kneels over the bed and begins stabbing Masturbating Woman repeatedly, which affords Wimpish Man the opportunity to mount Stern-Looking Woman from behind while the Mistress masturbates off to the side.
Meanwhile, Aristocrat returns from his aimless wandering and sees the S&M addicts in the process of killing the woman he apparently loves. Conveniently, he just happens to have a shotgun in his hands and immediately opens fire, killing everyone.
In a gut-wrenching grand finale, we see Aristocrat carrying Masturbating Woman's dead body into the sea as Franco's camera pans up to the sun, suggesting that the sun is hot and the water is cold and we will all die eventually. Fin.
Just picked up an ex-rental and thought I'd offer a little review of this Jess Franco "classic." The box reads: "An aristocrat and his friends invite beautiful women to their home where they torture and rape them." Oooookay.
The film begins with a woman masturbating in a highrise apartment building. For the sake of simplicity, let's call her Masturbating Woman. Across the way, in another highrise, are a couple whom I gather are supposed to represent the Aristocrat and his Mistress, though it's hard to imagine an Aristocrat living in what is basically a pre-fab apartment complex. Whatever... Aristocrat and Mistress spot Masturbating Woman through their window and decide to have sex. Masturbating Woman also spots Aristocrat and Mistress and decides to continue masturbating. It is here that Franco displays his total command of the art of montage as he deftly cross-cuts between the two settings, treating us to a startling display of masturbating and fornicating that just goes back and forth and back and forth and back and forth until the doorbell rings in Masturbating Woman's apartment, interrupting her bliss.
Masturbating Woman answers to find the Mistress standing there and the two decide to have sex. After a fair bit of lesbianism, Aristocrat himself joins the ladies for a threesome. Then Masturbating Woman leaves for no apparent reason and Aristocrat and Mistress decide to have sex in Masturbating Woman's apartment.
Later that day, Masturbating Woman and Mistress have sex again, though we are never quite sure in who's apartment. No doubt, Franco intended this in order to keep his audience disoriented, or else he just didn't have time to shoot any establishing scenes. No matter, because soon Aristocrat joins the ladies for yet another threesome, brilliantly mirroring the previous threesome scene.
Then the three take a boat ride across a lake to a country villa where resides a Stern-Looking Woman and, as we will later learn, a Wimpish Man. After some brief introductions, the foursome decide to have sex and it is during this scene (or perhaps a later sex scene - my memory fails me here so cut me some slack) that said Wimpish Man appears from behind a plate-glass window and proceeds to watch for a while. However, not content as a spectator, Wimpish Man soon joins in the action and after shooting his bolt, starts to cry for reasons known only to Franco.
Later, Aristocrat goes for a walk on the beach and meets Masturbating Woman. The two have sex in a field and in a subtle stroke of genius, Franco has us believe that the two have inexplicably fallen in love. As is the case whenever two people fall in love, Masturbating Woman returns to the villa for a nap while Aristocrat continues wandering aimlessly across the beach.
Back at the villa, Masturbating Woman is roused from her nap by the Mistress, who proceeds to stick a syringe in Masturbating Woman's arm. Masturbating Woman vehemently protests, but only verbally since any physical struggle would have required more camera setups than Franco had time to shoot. When Masturbating Woman awakens from her drug-induced slumber, her vision is obscured by gauze filters over the camera lens, but she can still distinguish the Mistress, Stern-Looking Woman and Wimpish Man, all of whom are now donning various S&M costumes. The Mistress then chains Masturbating Woman's wrists. Again, Masturbating Woman protests, but only verbally since any physical struggle would have interfered with Franco's epic 2-day shooting schedule.
Once Masturbating Woman has been falsely-secured, Wimpish man produces a miniature spiked ball and chain which he uses to supposedly whip Masturbating Woman, although every blow only manages to hit the mattress. This can be interpreted either as Franco's symbolic statement that all of our bodies are merely used mattresses with which to contain our souls, or else his non-existent FX budget didn't allow for the tearing of flesh. No matter though because soon the S&M freaks produce blood-drenched whips and proceed to lash Masturbating Woman's naked body, streaking it red with ketchup stains. This turns them on so much that Stern-Looking Woman kneels over the bed and begins stabbing Masturbating Woman repeatedly, which affords Wimpish Man the opportunity to mount Stern-Looking Woman from behind while the Mistress masturbates off to the side.
Meanwhile, Aristocrat returns from his aimless wandering and sees the S&M addicts in the process of killing the woman he apparently loves. Conveniently, he just happens to have a shotgun in his hands and immediately opens fire, killing everyone.
In a gut-wrenching grand finale, we see Aristocrat carrying Masturbating Woman's dead body into the sea as Franco's camera pans up to the sun, suggesting that the sun is hot and the water is cold and we will all die eventually. Fin.
