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France
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1973
Directed
by Jess Franco
Starring
Alice
Arno
Howard Vernon
Lina Romay
Color
| 78
Minutes | Not Rated
Format: DVD (R0 - NTSC)
Mondo Macabro
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Review
by
Troy Howarth
Film:6
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DVD:8
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The wealthy and perverse Count and Countess Zaroff (Howard Vernon
and Alice Arno) hunt humans and feast on their flesh on their
secluded island estate... |
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1973
was one of the busiest years in Jess Franco's admittedly usually-prolific
filmography. He finished more than ten features and abandoned
several others — think about it: that's more than Sergio Leone
completed in over 20 years as a filmmaker! Inevitably, the end
results showed signs of haste — but the best of them (including
Lorna
the Exorcist) emerged as some of the most inspired work
of his career. Countess Perverse
doesn't quite make the grade as one of Franco's finest films,
but it is a compelling, kinky, whacked out and darkly funny blending
of Richard Cornell's The Most Dangerous Game and the Marquis
De Sade. |
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Franco's
films are often revered for their celebration of strong female
characters — that is, when they're celebrated at all. This film
allows statuesque Alice Arno to step into the defining role of
her career. Arno is pure kinky perversity as the Countess Zaroff,
a cannibal with a taste for male and female flesh... and bodily
fluids. The actress is seldom mentioned in the same breath as
Franco's most famous 'fetish' actresses — ranging from Maria Rohm
and Soledad Miranda to Lina Romay and Britt Nichols — but she
most certainly deserves special consideration. She manages to
make the Countess into a compelling character, fairly dripping
with dark humor and sexual innuendo. When we get to the climax
of the picture and see her running after her prey, stark naked
and wielding a mean bow and arrow, it's a strong reminder of just
how much fun Franco's films can really be. Arno is ably complemented
by Franco stalwart Howard Vernon, who lends class and sinister
perversity to his role as Count Zaroff. Vernon's career included
roles for such 'sanctioned' filmmakers as Jean Pierre Melvile
(La Silence De Mer), Jean Luc Godard
(Alphaville) and Fritz Lang (The
1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse), but the Swiss-American actor
found his lasting claim to fame playing assorted wackos and villains
in Franco's films. Unlike some other distinguished performers
who came to Franco when their career was hitting the skids (an
ailing Dennis Price comes to mind), Vernon became a member of
the Franco rep company quite willingly. It's amazing to think
that this accomplished character actor would be willing to participate
in some graphic sexual scenes in a film like this while still
showing up in more mainstream fare for filmmakers who were undoubtedly
unaware of this side of his career! Franco's muse, the aforementioned
Lina Romay, is also on hand to play one of the Zaroff's innocent
victims. It's not one of Romay's more memorable turns, but she
brings a doe-eyed innocence to the part that stands in start contrast
to her signature role, which she would essay that same year for
Franco, as the title character in Female
Vampire. Spaghetti Western veteran Robert Woods isn't
anything to write home about, but then again he's not given the
most interesting of roles, either. Further female skin is provided
by Tania Busselier and Kali Hansa. |
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The
use of some familiar locales (most notably a fascinating mansion)
and some recycled music cues helps to link the film to other Franco
productions of the period, but alas the director's hectic work
methods result in some instances of carelessness (a shipwrecked
survivor swims ashore, soaking wet, only to appear quite dry a
short time later; Romay and Arno both are clearly wearing shoes
while running through the landscape in some shots, yet they are
conveniently barefoot during the climax on the beach), and the
entire climax is something of a wash. Franco's strengths are evident
in the zoned-out sequences which drag on an on and attain a sort
of hypnotic quality (Stephen Thrower quite rightly points this
out in the supplements), but when it comes to staging action scenes,
he's all thumbs. As such, the eagerly awaited final hunt sequence
ambles about without generating much suspense, thus undercutting
the film's impact. |
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On
the whole, however, Countess Perverse
is a solid example of Franco's rough-edged approach to filmmaking.
Those who can get past the director's willingness to break the
rules of 'good filmmaking grammar' will no doubt find much to
enjoy here; others may well just find it to be tedious. |
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| Mondo
Macabro continues their much-appreciated line of Jess Franco DVDs
with this title. The film was never distributed in the U.S. in
any form, so this represents a premiere of sorts. The film is
presented in the 1.33 aspect ratio, which appears to have been
the intended form, and has been enhanced for widescreen TVs; black
bars appear on the sides of the frame when it's projected accurately,
otherwise the image becomes distorted when it's stretched the
fill the frame. The source materials are in terrific shape — there's
some signs of wear and tear, but for those of us who've become
familiar with the film via battered-to-hell-and-back nth generation
dupes, it really is like seeing the film for the first time. Colors
are vivid, detail is strong, and there's a nice coating of grain
on the image. The film is presented in its original director's
cut, to boot. Like so many of the films Franco shot during this
period, Countess Perverse was re-edited
at numerous points, with hardcore sex scenes and some comedy relief
added in; it was these bastardized versions that crept onto the
gray market scene for so many years, so it will come as a pleasant
surprise for many Francophiles to see this film in its original,
more nihilistic form. The mono French soundtrack is in good shape,
too, with removable, easy to read English subtitles. Extras include
an interview with Franco authority extraordinaire Stephen Thrower
(whose upcoming book on Jess promises to be the last word on the
subject), an interview with Robert Woods (who comes across far
more personably here than he ever did on screen), step-through
text notes explaining the genesis and production of the film,
and a trailer reel for MM's other releases. 6/22/12 |
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