- Director : Jesús Franco
- Actors : Christopher Lee, Marie Liljedahl, Maria Rohm, Jack Taylor, Paul Muller
- Studio : Blue Underground
- MPAA rating : X (Mature Audiences Only)
- Country of Origin : UK
- Number of discs : 2
- Media Format : Widescreen
- Run time : 1 hour and 27 minutes
- Release date : February 21, 2023
In 1969, Spanish
filmmaker Jesús Franco released his first adaptation of a Marquis de Sade book,
Justine. This started a tradition of exploitation films made by Franco,
often influenced by the perversion found in the Marquis de Sade’s literary
work. Only a year after the release of Justine, Franco would once again adapt a
book by the Marquis de Sade, this time Philosophy in the Boudoir. The
British film was released as Eugenie… The Story of Her Journey into
Perversion and was only the first attempts by the Spanish filmmaker to
adapt this particular novel. Along with a continued fascination with the
author, Eugenie represents the type of film Franco is best known for,
containing a fascination with sexuality combined with the violence and shock
value of horror.
While Justine
was about the prevailing morality of the title protagonist, Eugenie is a
horror film about the moral corruption of a young girl by two incestuous
siblings looking to exploit her for their own pleasure. After her father is
blackmailed, young innocent Eugenie (Marie Liljedahl) is sent for a weekend
away with Madame Saint Ange (Maria Rohm) and her perverted brother Mirvel (Jack
Taylor) on their island paradise. This private escape is the setting for the
couple’s depravity, and they turn all of their attention to Eugenie, who they
regularly drug and experiment with sexually. This exploration of carnal
pleasures turns into something else entirely, clearly inspired by the work of
the Marquis de Sade in a meta twist on the narrative.
There isn’t much
in terms of plot within Eugenie, but instead a collection of dream-like and
nightmarish sequences of sexuality and violence. Although Blue Underground
released Eugenie on a 3-disc Blu-ray set in 2015, this 4K Ultra HD gives an
even more pristine presentation of Franco’s vision, uncut and restored from the
original camera negative. This allows for audiences to see the film as Franco
intended, including a number of purposefully out-of-focus shots, presumably to
avoid more explicit nudity than is already included. Although it was likely
shocking for its time, Eugenie is a lot tamer than some of Franco’s later
work, at least in terms of what is shown. In terms of the corruption of the
characters within the film, this is clearly a Franco film.
The 4K Ultra HD
release of Eugenie also comes with a Blu-ray disc, which contains a majority of
the special features as well. The 4K disc has a new commentary track with film
historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth, along with the film’s
theatrical trailer. These extras are also on the Blu-ray disc, along with a
handful of other special features. There is a new featurette containing an
interview with star Jack Taylor, along with another containing interviews with
Franco, along with writer/producer Harry Alan Towers, Liljedahl, and
Christopher Lee, who has a small role in the film. There is another featurette
with interviews by Stephen Thrower, author of “Murderous Passions: The
Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco.” There is also a poster and still gallery,
newly expanded from previous releases by Blue Underground.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 5 /10
Special Features: 7.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment