TWO FEMALE SPIES WITH FLOWERED PANTIES -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 9/2/2017

 

I continue to find the cinematic output of prolific Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco to be a mild diversion at best, as in VAMPYROS LESBOS and SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY.  (Or at worst, as in PAULA-PAULA.)

But whatever it is about Franco's work that has attracted so many avid followers over the years, they're likely to find it in his 1980 softcore-sex-and-spy potboiler TWO FEMALE SPIES WITH FLOWERED PANTIES, aka "Ópalo de fuego".

As usual, Franco shoots with a half-artistic, half-artless style that's slapdash one moment and somewhat striking the next--owing some of the latter, it seems, to good fortune.  The shaky zooms and pans characteristic of his work go hand-in-hand with some shots that have sort of a rough-hewn arthouse look.

Franco's lifelong love Lina Romay (THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA) stars as Cecile, an exotic dancer whose year-long prison sentence for "indecency" will be erased if she agrees to go to the Canary Islands and spy on some suspected sex-slavers for the French secret service. 

Cecile agrees and, along with her beautiful but airheaded dancing partner Brigitte, is soon occupying a posh hotel suite next to the mansion of main suspects Mr. and Mrs. Forbes.

They also end up dancing (if you can call it that) in the Forbes' swank nightclub where Cecile's contact, Milton, also works.  Milton's one of those "is he or isn't he?" characters who's gay one minute and straight the next, and some comedy is derived from Brigitte becoming infatuated with and practically raping him.

Franco, in fact, seems to enjoy juxtaposing such lighthearted scenes with those of rape (the Forbeses breaking in a new captive meant to be sold as sex slave to some perverted millionaire) and sadism (a captured Cecile being sexually tortured by evil Forbes henchwomen who enjoy inflicting pain).

While there's certainly nothing here on the level of one of the "Ilsa" flicks, some scenes are quite startling in their strong content compared to the almost innocuous spy antics of the rest of the film.

For the most part, however, TWO FEMALE SPIES WITH FLOWERED PANTIES is pretty unremarkable as either comedy or suspense thriller.  While passable entertainment for the patient viewer, many scenes tend to drag, even those meant to be erotic (as when Mr. and Mrs. Forbes hash out their weird marital sex problems).

The film's main appeal, as it were, is a likable performance by the voluptuous Romay, portraying a character whose lack of spy smarts is made up for by tons of spunk and a kind of fearless innocence. 

Some political intrigue and a couple of shocking murders (with more of that jarring torture which seems almost out of place) build to a fairly lively action climax involving members of a hippie/biker commune who have taken a liking to Cecile and decided to come to her rescue.

The 2-disc set from Severin Films (with reversible box cover) contains the movie proper on Blu-ray disc, in both English and French with English subtitles.  In addition to a trailer and some silent outtakes, the bonus menu contains interviews with Franco and film composer Daniel White, along with an informative and insightful look at the film by Stephen Thrower.

Disc two (DVD) is the alternate cut of the film entitled "Ópalo de fuego" which differs considerably, containing much that is missing from the longer cut while also lacking many of its key scenes, especially those of a sexual nature.  The reason for this odd alternate cut is a mystery even to Franco expert Thrower, making it an interesting novelty.

Generally speaking, this tepid spy adventure barely gets by on Lina Romay's charm and a wealth of nudity and twisted eroticism.  But as a Jess Franco film, TWO FEMALE SPIES WITH FLOWERED PANTIES will no doubt be of great interest to those who find the study of both him and the evolution of his filmography to be an object of endless fascination.

Buy it at Severin Films

TWO FEMALE SPIES WITH FLOWERED PANTIES -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 11/18/2019

 

I went into THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK, aka "Gwendoline" (Severin Films, 1984) expecting to see the usual "so bad it's good" cheesefest. What I didn't expect was for it to be "so bad it's epic."

The film starts with a beautiful minute-long tracking shot of a Chinese shipping dock that's so detailed and crowded with costumed extras, so well-choreographed, and so artistically layered that it's worthy of comparison to Ridley Scott's city exteriors in BLADE RUNNER.  

This lavishly detailed eye-candy continues throughout the early part of the film, leading to equally impressive exteriors when director Just Jaeckin (EMMANUELLE, THE STORY OF O) takes us outside for some location shots in jungles and deserts which boast magnificent exotic vistas.

(Unfortunately, while these scenes might temporarily make you think you're watching a David Lean movie, they're poorly served by the rinky-dink musical score.) 

And then the film finishes with even more opulent interiors, this time rivaling those impregnable bad-guy fortresses from the Bond films with impressive sci-fi/fantasy design and more armies of extras (this time they're gorgeous female soldiers in service to an evil queen), all there to wow us before being destroyed in a fiery display of SPFX pyrotechnics.

The weird part is that all of this technical prowess and visual opulence forms the backdrop of a hokey, derivative action/fantasy tale that would usually be told on a low budget with less than stellar production values.

And being in the midst of all this cinematic finery just seems to make the incredible hokiness of Tawny Kitaen's gorgeous but naive Catholic school runaway searching the Orient for her missing father and Brent Huff's macho, swaggering soldier of fortune who ends up helping her seem somehow even more endearing.

I'm not sure if it's their exaggerated performances or just the strident dubbing, but the characters of Gwendoline and Willard are wonderfully over-the-top as they fully embody all the usual cliches of the plucky damsel in distress and the self-centered cad turned reluctant hero.

As per John Willie's classic bondage comics, Gwendoline ends up bound and gagged several times during the course of the story and rescued by Willard, who goes into action against martial arts masters, hulking thugs, and weird tribal zealots before the two of them, along with Gwendoline's faithful sidekick Beth (the very cute Zabou), make their way to the exotic underground land of Yik Yak where her father disappeared searching for a rare butterfly.

It's like a mash-up of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The African Queen", with all the naughty sexploitation elements of an old "Cinemax After Dark" flick from the 80s. 

This is especially true when our heroes' captivity by the evil Queen (Bernadette Lafont) and her minions turns into a real kink-fest of exotic bondage and weird sexual rites climaxing (!) with Gwendoline herself battling against several warrior women and Willard's virtue hanging in the balance for a change.

I got the same vibe from all of this as I did watching Jim Wynorski's sexy fantasy adventure THE LOST EMPIRE (1983) way back in the VHS days, only with much better production values. I was also reminded a bit of BARBARELLA.

It's as though the makers of some big-budget epic were allowing director Jaeckin to come in on alternate days and use their sets, extras, and facilities to shoot his own low-budget movie.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is scanned uncut in 4k from the original negative recently discovered in a Paris vault. Severin has outdone themselves with a bonus menu too loaded with goodies to list here (see below for full details) including an alternate U.S. cut and two commentary tracks.

Not as heavily kink-oriented as John Willie's original comics and with a much more lighthearted tone, THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK nevertheless revels in sexuality both frothy and lewd while taking us on a grand adventure that's like an express train through bad movie land with first-class accomodations.


Buy it from Severin Films


Special Features:

    Alternate US Release Version: THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK
    Audio Commentary with Director Just Jaeckin
    Audio Commentary with Stars Tawny Kitaen and Brent Huff
    The Butterfly Effect: 2019 Interview with Director Just Jaeckin
    Bondage Paradise: Interviews with Costume & Concept Designers & Comic Book Artists François Schuiten and Claude Renard
    The Perils Of Production: Interview with Executive Producer Jean-Claude Fleury
    Gwendoline’s Travels: Interview with Production Designer Françoise Deleu
    Blu-Ray Promos with Tawny Kitaen & Brent Huff
    The Last Temptation Of Just: 2006 Interview with Director Just Jaeckin
    Dr. Kinsey Interview with John Willie, Creator of SWEET GWENDOLINE
    Revealing Tawny Kitaen Photospread for French LUI Magazine
    Trailers
    Reversible Cover

Alternate Cover:

THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE DEVIL'S HONEY -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Legendary Italian director Lucio Fulci would often turn his attention from the world of graphic gore (ZOMBIE, GATES OF HELL, THE BEYOND) and focus it on less horrific subjects, one being the "erotic thriller." 

With his 1986 film THE DEVIL'S HONEY, he ventures into territory harkening back to the days of watching steamy foreign sex movies on Cinemax After Dark and The Playboy Channel.

This humid, sometimes offhandedly perverse softcore sex drama tiptoes through hazy Freudian fever dreams while remaining, for me anyway, resolutely un-erotic.  Somehow, even Fulci's sex scenes are distastefully off-putting--but entertainingly so.

This is especially true when we find surgeon Dr. Wendell Simpson (Brett Halsey) in surreptitious dalliance with a two-bit hooker in a hotel room.  The scene is about as sexy as cleaning out a cat box, but it's a good indication of what a sad dead-end Simpson has reached in that regard.  Married to Carol, played by the beautiful Corinne Cléry, he can only get aroused by cheap, impersonal sex in degrading circumstances.

Meanwhile, a gorgeous but terminally-confused babe named Jessica (Blanca Marsillach) lusts madly after her emotionally-cool boyfriend Johnny (Stefano Madia) yet feigns disinterest until he blows his saxophone up her skirt during a recording session or terrifies her with dangerous hijinks on a motorcycle. 

Then she's all over him, both inviting and then rebuffing his advances to suit some weird mental sex thing that only Johnny understands.  In short, she's pretty messed up.



Fulci smashes Simpson and Jessica together when Johnny is seriously injured and dies on the operating table after the not-so-good doctor, dazed and heartbroken from a bitter divorce decree by his jealous, unsatisfied wife, botches the operation.  An inconsolable Jessica blames him for Johnny's death, vows revenge, kidnaps him, and terrorizes him for days in a seaside villa as he lies helplessly chained to the wall.

While this sounds like a set-up for a bit of the old torture porn, there's very little here that deviates from similar "erotic thriller" stuff we've seen before and, while mildly diverting, doesn't really get interesting until the sexually perverse nature of their situation begins to effect both Jessica and Dr. Simpson in ways that neither could have foreseen.  (End of story recap lest it get too spoilery.)

Halsey, whom I recall fondly as one of the two college kids killed by the Gill Man in REVENGE 0F THE CREATURE and the human-insect monster in RETURN OF THE FLY, underplays it all nicely and allows his inherent acting skills to carry each scene.  Blanca Marsillach, wildly attractive as she stalks the place stark naked like an angry cat, has less skill but lots of camera presence.
 

Fulci directs them with his usual competent and sometimes imaginative style which, to me, is really only interesting because I know that it's him doing it. A sorta-kinda sex scene between the two antagonists is noteworthy because of the ironic way it harkens back to earlier scenes of the two going at it with others.  For the most part, "sex" in Fulci's world isn't all that sexy unless naked Corinne Cléry is involved, and even then we don't get to finish.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films has a full bonus menu which includes engaging interviews with Brett Halsey, Corinne Cléry, producer Vincenzo Salviani, composer Claudio Natilli, and Fulci author Stephen Thrower. There's also a trailer, alternate opening, and audio essay by Fulci author Troy Howarth. The mono 2.0 soundtrack is in both English and Italian with English subtitles.

THE DEVIL'S HONEY is one of those sleazy softcore sex thrillers that play up the seamy side of things in a big way, resulting in a kind of curdled eroticism that's more unpleasant than appealing.  Which, for the purposes of this story, is fine, if you like your romance a little on the demented side.

Buy it at Severin Films

THE DEVIL'S HONEY -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle