Review of Eugenie (1970) by Mark P — 20 Mar 2008

Apparently this is NOT the same thing as Eugenie De Sade with Soledad Miranda, also by Franco. I haven't seen that one yet, but I can imagine they're quite similar. This is a really fucking cool artsy erotic horror film (this guy's specialty) loosely inspired by Marquis de Sade's Philosophy in the Boudoir.

. Basically an ultra innocent girl gets tempted by the world of sadistic kinky sex or some shit like that, and goes to stay on an island where she'll be "tought" by some woman her dad is having an affair with.

Of course, she doesn't really know what she's getting herself into, so she gets drugged and raped, flogged by maces and chains, witnesses a woman having sex with her brother, and other crap of that sort, and somehow still manages to remain convinced that it was "all a dream" until almost the very end.

The coolest thing about this one is that the guy's usual cinematic techniques work REALLY well here, especially the awesome lighting (how cool is that bright red room!) and that really voyeuristic thing he always does where the camera zooms in really close and goes in and out of focus, makes for a nicely hazy and surreal experience.

Plus there's some pretty nice use of de Sade's philosophy, to show that he isn't just throwing in the reference just for the hell of it. Also check out Christopher Lee as the sinister as fuck leader of a de Sade worshipping cult! I really dug this one.