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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Euro-Sleaze, September 2, 2005
This review is from: French Sex Murders (DVD)
Famed film producer, and all around sleaze-meister, Dick Randall tossed this slice of steamy Eurocult into the, then, very popular Giallo ring, and soon came away a winner. None-too-prolific F. L. Morris (this being his third and final film) was brought in for the directing duties and a cast to end all casts was assembled to round out a rather stylish though derivative murder and sex mystery.
As with most films of this type the plot is so chock full of improbabilities that it nearly borders on tedium. The narrative simply twists and turns itself inside out to the point of complete absurdity. However, some of the key elements and highlights include: a jewel heist, an all-knowing-all-seeing medium, a brothel, hooded killers, a mad scientist, incredibly sexy women, incest, human eyeball fondling and a professional Humphrey Bogart look-a-like!
With all of this swirling about, the meandering storyline easily takes a backseat to the obligatory naked female flesh and gory set pieces. Topless hotties, beheadings and stabbings aplenty. Oh, and the groovy soundtrack by one of Europe's finest, Bruno Nicolai, is worthy of a mention as well.
Producer Randall was famous for selling his movies to various markets across the globe and so the film was, not so surprisingly, host to a mint of alternate titles, including: "The Bogeyman and the French Sex Murders," "Murders in Paris," "The Paris Sex Murders," "Casa d'appuntameto" and "Auge des Bösen." Mondo Macabro did a wonderful job on the extras that include an essay by Pete Tombs about the film and its distribution, a 30 minute documentary on producer Dick Randall, 2 deleted scenes and a stockpile of stills, posters and various press materials.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bizarre Giallo From Exploitation King Dick Randall, April 1, 2009
This review is from: French Sex Murders (DVD)
Mondo Macabro has done an excellent job of releasing a lot of bizarre, campy European exploitation films of which "French Sex Murders" is a prime example. It was produced by Dick Randall, king of the sleazy exploitation film. Like Alfred Hitchcock, he often made brief cameos in his films. In "French Sex Murders," he was a customer at a brothel where a prostitute has been found beat to death. An innocent man is convicted; he curses all those who testified against him. While trying to escape on a motorcycle, he is beheaded. Soon afterwards, every one he cursed is murdered in gruesome fashion: beheading, eye gouging, throat slashing, etc.
This bizarre giallo never has a dull moment. It begins with a flashback - someone falls to their death from the Eiffel Tower. There are numerous chase scenes, plenty of gruesome killings (including a triple murder), and some gratuitous sex that borders on porn. Strange characters include a doctor who insists on having the decapitated head of the accused murderer in order to gouge out the eyeballs for examination. The cast of actors include stars from all over Europe. One of my personal favorites is lovely giallo scream queen Barbara Bouchet who is Francine - the first prostitute to die. She starred in numerous gialli including "The Red Queen Kills Seven Times," "The Black Belly of the Tarantula," and "Don't Torture a Duckling." A beautiful, dreamy score has been provided by Bruno Nicolai who has composed the music for many gialli such as "Death Walks on High Heels," "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail," and "The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave."
Dick Randall's films were low budget imitations of more successful ones. This may account for the print of "French Sex Murders" appearing faded and dull, as though shot with a home video camera. Randall also jumped from genre to genre, depending on which one was the most popular at the time.
I don't understand why (at the time of this review) Mondo Macabro has decided to discontinue the release of "French Sex Murders." It is an enjoyable giallo that I highly recommend to all gialli collectors. Buy it before the price goes through the roof like many of Sergio Martino's gialli.
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9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
So-so, October 13, 2005
This review is from: French Sex Murders (DVD)
An ok flick if you have some time to kill and are interested in Euro thrillers from the '70s. Definitely not on the level of an Argento (or others of that ilk) giallo. Not enough nudity, gore or depravity if you're into those things (like me). Good for a quick look, but nothing memorable.
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