Whenever I play DVD Russian roulette by plucking a film randomly from my collection and forcing myself to watch it, I prepare myself for the worst: with so many of prolific director Jess Franco's films clogging up my shelves, it's extremely likely that I'll end up popping one of his 'masterpieces' into the player.
Last night, the metaphorical 'bullet in the chamber' was Barbed Wire Dolls, a sleazy women-in-prison flick starring Franco's fave piece of crumpet Lina Romay and a gaggle of wanton women all willing to flash some flesh on film for the pervy Spaniard.
Romay plays female prisoner Maria da Guerra, imprisoned for the murder of her incestuous father (played by Franco himself in a faux slow-motion flashback scene that defies description). Persecuted by the monocle wearing lesbian in leather hot-pants who runs the prison (Monica Swinn), and mercilessly tortured by sadistic guard Nestor (Eric Falk), Maria eventually plans an escape from the hellhole, with a little help from pretty blonde cell-mate Bertha (Martine Stedil).
This 'plot' serves as an excuse for Franco to depict countless scenes of laughable violence and sordid sex, including lesbian trysts, rape, and female masturbation, with the director's wild zoom lens performing close-up gynaecological examinations whenever possible.
Whilst all this inept in-your-face sleaze is admittedly fun for a while, eventually, like so many of Franco's efforts, monotony sets in; towards the end of the film, even Franco himself seems to tire of the tasteless torture and endless crotch shots, and in order to end the tedium, he shoehorns a surprise (and rather daft) revelation into proceedings (Maria never killed her father; it was the directoress who was responsible) and wraps things up with an extremely abrupt ending.
Like this.
Last night, the metaphorical 'bullet in the chamber' was Barbed Wire Dolls, a sleazy women-in-prison flick starring Franco's fave piece of crumpet Lina Romay and a gaggle of wanton women all willing to flash some flesh on film for the pervy Spaniard.
Romay plays female prisoner Maria da Guerra, imprisoned for the murder of her incestuous father (played by Franco himself in a faux slow-motion flashback scene that defies description). Persecuted by the monocle wearing lesbian in leather hot-pants who runs the prison (Monica Swinn), and mercilessly tortured by sadistic guard Nestor (Eric Falk), Maria eventually plans an escape from the hellhole, with a little help from pretty blonde cell-mate Bertha (Martine Stedil).
This 'plot' serves as an excuse for Franco to depict countless scenes of laughable violence and sordid sex, including lesbian trysts, rape, and female masturbation, with the director's wild zoom lens performing close-up gynaecological examinations whenever possible.
Whilst all this inept in-your-face sleaze is admittedly fun for a while, eventually, like so many of Franco's efforts, monotony sets in; towards the end of the film, even Franco himself seems to tire of the tasteless torture and endless crotch shots, and in order to end the tedium, he shoehorns a surprise (and rather daft) revelation into proceedings (Maria never killed her father; it was the directoress who was responsible) and wraps things up with an extremely abrupt ending.
Like this.