The Perverse Countess (1975)

Some truly stunning locations - even by prolific director Jess Franco's standards - once more belie the low budget used in this partial re-telling of Richard Connell's 'The Most Dangerous Game' (also known as 'The Hounds of Zaroff' - and in this film, we have Count and Countess Zaroff, played by a svelte Howard Vernon and a sun-kissed Alice Arno respectively).Franco also makes great use of the fish-eye lens, or a technique very similar, to gently distort images and give them a greater sense of depth than mere normality would allow. This makes the locations, already impressive, appear vast and dream-like, especially the intriguingly designed château owned by the Count and Countess.These two shady characters have strange perversions of their own. But they would, wouldn't they? Enticing young females over to their paradise island, only to hunt them down and eat them. Cue much mysterious sniggering about the food served to each new girl - little do they know, they are eating the remains of previous victims.Without explanation of any kind, Silvia Aguado is suddenly their latest guest. We are left to assume she was coerced by Tom and Moira (Robert Woods and Tania Busselier) as were the others. As Sylvia is played by uninhibited Lina Romay, it is no surprise that she is shortly stripped, seduced and haring through the palm-trees and long grass wearing naught but a pair of shoes, although these disappear in some scenes. (At least Franco allowed her that - it was rare you would see any actresses in a Jean Rollin film anything other than barefoot.) Nakedness is rife in this - we even get to see more of Arno and Vernon than we ever have before. For all the gruesome revelations, the camera is more than happy to meander occasionally and focus on the wondrous (apparently French) locations and generous displays of flesh.Finally, I was very taken with the music (by Jean-Bernard Raiteux and Olivier Bernard). A variety of styles, from morose piano motifs to 70's progressive rock. Shame there doesn't appear to be a soundtrack available - a box-set of Franco incidental scores would be most welcome.

Countess Perverse (1974) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The Countess (Alice Arno) and Count Zaroff (Howard Vernon) seem like your normal type of people but what horror lies within their castle walls say the otherwise. It turns out that the two are actually cannibals who are provided women by another local (Robert Woods) who the Countess hunts down with her arrow. Soon another woman (Lina Romay) is delivered for their wicked game but things don't go as planned.Jess Franco's LA COMTESSE PERVERSE is a sexed up version of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME and like many of the director's work from this period it's available in several versions. The film was originally a hard sell anywhere so the producer had Franco shoot more sex scenes including some hardcore ones. The film would find a release via the hardcore version and this was what was on the market for years. Finally, a 76-minute director's cut of the original version was released as well as a new hardcore version under the title SEXY NATURE.This was my first time watching the director's cut and it's certainly better than the hardcore versions but I'd still say it falls short of being one Franco's better films. There are some interesting things scattered throughout the picture including an early sequence where one of the women are on a boat and headed towards the island. There's a really weird music score here and the visuals on the boat just make this a rather surreal sequence. The film is actually rather light on the cannibalism subject, although this here was apparently why it couldn't find a release.The film offers up a nice cast of familiar faces. Vernon is always fun to watch in these Franco movies as is Woods. Both men offer up good performances here. Arno is extremely good in the role of the perverted countess who likes to kill women and then eat them. Romay makes one of her earliest appearances here and she's obviously easy on the eyes. The cast are certainly a major plus and especially since Franco fans will be used to most of them.I think where the film fails is that there's really no energy or drama throughout. There's never a risk that you feel for the woman and the final hunt is rather boring and the film just doesn't contain enough to keep you fully invested in what's going on.

Have you read the Most Dangerous Game, also known as The Hounds of Zaroff? It's a short story by Richard Connell that came out in the 1920s. Even if you haven't read it, no doubt you know the story, there have been countless adaptations and movies based on the same idea. People trapped on an island, and being hunted off one by one by some very sick individuals. Sounds like Battle Royale, sounds like The Condemned, even sounds like the recently popular tween flick, The Hunger Games. What can I say, it's a damn good story. But I bet no one has ever seen anything quite like Jess Franco's version of this popular tale. Can you imagine if the fans of The Hunger Games saw this?! It would blow their minds!!! This is the one and only, Countess Perverse. Countess Perverse follows the story far more closely then the previous mentioned adaptations, our villains are even referred to as Countess and Count Zaroff. The only difference being, Franco adds a certain... flavour.. to the mix, to make this flick quite the tasty treat. And of course, when Franco is involved, we know things are bound to get a little saucy. Actually that's an understatement, think of this as a very...sensual... version of the Most Dangerous Game. Some might even call it sleazy. And it is, I do recall a rape scene that very quickly turns into a consensual encounter. And of course the forever lingering shots directed at female genitalia, oh Franco, you romantic you! For the most part, the entire cast spend most of the movie nude. And with stars such as the always gorgeous Lina Romay, it's quite a sight. Rejoice for the human form and all it's beauty! To add more beauty to this somewhat erotic movie, we have a gorgeous setting. The island is breathtaking, it's surrounded by beautiful ocean views, menacing rock formations, and interesting architecture for the Mansion that our victims find themselves in. The scenes where our cast walk down the steps in the house, tinted red, is such an interesting and menacing shot, it really stood out for me. Finally, the music is quite beautiful in parts and also quite tribal in others. Really sets the movie for me. Just gorgeous. I'm coming to appreciate the musical sense in Franco's work. He knows how to tone the scenes. Final thoughts? Most people probably would dismiss this movie as trash or porn without giving it more of a chance. It's unfortunate because this movie offers so much more than that, and while some scenes might be considered borderline pornographic, the film goes above and beyond those scenes. In a similar vein to Lorna the Exorcist, it's a damn good movie and one I recommend fans or Euro horror. Just be warned that this is an 18 years and over flick. Sorry kiddies, you keep enjoying The Hunger Games.

One loses hope and faith in mankind when presented with a film as completely and utterly dreadful as Les Croqueuses. One of the very worst Jess Franco efforts, this film is basically an unattributed remake of The Most Dangerous Game with nudity and hardcore inserts. Filled with the worst of Franco--overuse of the zoom lens, long boring sex scenes, and static set-ups--it is hard to understand how IMDb users could rate this so highly (two '9's, two '7's, two '6's, a '2', and my very generous '1'). For Franco or Howard Vernon completists only.