Customer Reviews

French Quarter

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw this movie when it first came out, and revisiting it years later, I find it still holds up well. Sure, it's not a masterpiece, but it features well-crafted costumes, settings and music from turn-of-the-century New Orleans and energetic performances from everyone involved. It's really a fantasy involving a young contemporary female drifter (Alisha Fontaine) who finds herself transported back in time to a life in which she works at a brothel. A hot-shot piano player (Davison), promoting a new type of music called "jazz" becomes her protector and romantic interest. Corruption, rivalries and voodoo enter into the story as well. All-in-all, it's a gritty, realistic look at life in New Orleans and in the modern era. Fontaine does one of the most hilariously inept strip-tease auditions that I've ever seen depicted. And there's even a surprise ending. Apparently there is a version in which much of the "fantasy" portion of the film is presented through a vaseline-coated lens. I'm reviewing the VHS version, in which the technique is used for only a few minutes. I recommend checking out this version.

Ripe you thing avoids "a fate worse than death" in the present and the past. Low budget attempt to recreate New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century is slow and predictable. Don't waste your time.

I was interested in this film since I went to high school with one of the actresses. It has poor production values and doesn't take itself very seriously. At the end the narrator asks you to drive home safely, a reference to drive in teathers, where this probably played. there are some topless scenes and the entire thing looks like it was filmed with vaseline smeared on the lense. It really isn't a very good film