Women Without Innocence (1978)

A lot of fun.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The almost 40-year-old "Frauen ohne Unschuld" or "Women Without Innocence" (and there is a handful more titles for this one) is a Swiss German-language film from 1978 and the writer and director is the (in)famous Jesús Franco. It's another of his collaborations with Erwin C. Dietrich. The film is fairly short like some other works by Franco and it stars his girlfriend Lina Romay playing the main character. She portrays a young woman who witnessed a murder and is unable to speak since then. as a consequence, she is brought to psychiatric facility, where she is in a room with several other young woman and it does not become clear why they are there. But as this is a James Franco film, you know the answer, namely to get naked most of the time and screams and be mean towards out protagonist, which is of course tolerated by the doctors. And Romay herself offers a great deal of nudity too, even if she is not as attractive in here as usual with her very short hair. And of course female doctors strip naked too and engage in sexual activities with the patients. And another murder happens and everybody is in search of a bunch of lost diamonds. The whole film is very much over the top. I thought the initial premise with the woman watching the crime and being borough to the hospital was decent, but Franco turned it into quite a B-movie mess as he always does. With a little bit more writing talent, this could have been n interesting story and plot. But the way it turned out it's really about nothing other than the exploitation and nudity. I do not recommend the watch, even if I will admit this film has more good moments than Franco's films usually do, at least the ones I saw.

Wicked Women is pretty much a textbook example of what ultra-prolific director Jess Franco was churning out in the mid 70's. For what it's worth, the story entails the discovery of a naked, bloodied young woman who is found in a catatonic state in a luxurious house alongside a murdered husband and wife. She is immediately taken to a psychiatric hospital. While there a mysterious black clad killer roams the grounds, murdering several inmates.It's the sort of narrative that seasoned Franco fans will recognise as pretty typical given that it is clearly set-up for a women in prison flick – a sub-genre that Jess was certainly well versed in. Consequently, this one is chock full of sleazy action from start to finish, with plenty of lesbian fumbles and medical examinations. But, despite being a pretty clear example of sexploitation, like quite a lot of other similar Franco efforts it isn't particularly erotic. Don't get me wrong, Jess could make quality soft-core sex films – take a look at any of the movies he made with Soledad Miranda for proof of that – but quite often his approach was to just point the camera at extended scenes of naked groping with very little overall effort beyond that. This film sort of falls into this particular category, although pleasingly it does extend itself a little beyond this with sub-plots involving a serial killer and a hunt for missing diamonds, while there is also an extended flash-back detailing the deadly love triangle that sets up the story. Needless to say, it's production values are truly rock bottom and it's micro-budget is evident at all times, nevertheless, it still has some good looking photography at times when Jess remembers to use the focus properly. Cast-wise, Franco's muse Lina Romay is once again the star attraction, sporting a cropped barnet, and she is pretty good value it has to be said.

Despite having seen his name mentioned on a number of IMDb boards,I have somehow never got round to taking even the slightest glimpse at film maker Jess Franco's work.With having recently seen a fellow IMDb'er do a list of their favourite Franco titles,I felt that with it being the 11/12 of 2013,that it was the perfect moment to take a look at Franco's work for the first time.The plot:Curled up in a corner next to two dead bodies,and found to be mute,Margarita Martin is taken to a psychiatric hospital,in the hope that the staff will help Martin to "regain" her voice.Whilst treating Martin,the doctors and nurses discover that the 2 dead bodies that Martin was found next to,were in fact those of two thieves,who are/ were wanted for a diamond robbery.Desperate to get hold of the diamonds for themselves,each of the doctors and nurses begin to take extreme,deadly measures to make Martin find her voice.View on the film:Setting most of the movie in a psychiatric hospital,co-writer/,(along with Erwin C.Dietrich) director Jess Franco uses citrus colours and lighting to create a nightmare setting,where every corner of the hospital is filled with thieves and liars,who make it impossible for Margarita Martin (played by a very good Lina Romay) to be able to tell who is real,and who is not.Initially appearing to be an interesting psychological chiller,the screenplay by Jess Franco and Erwin C.Dietrich sadly runs out of steam,when instead of focusing on the more interesting aspects of the film, (such as a wonderful Giallo-style black glove killer)instead put most of the focus on the naked "psychiatric treatment" that Martin receives,which despite being committed by a number of very pretty actresses,leads to this films loss of innocence sadly not being as memorable as it easily could have been.

Naked and bloodied Lina Romay is found in a luxurious mansion and is promptly taken to a mental hospital.The doctors and nurses are hiding something,female patients indulge in lesbian sex and a mysterious figure dressed in black robe stabs women to death.The hunt for missing diamonds begins...I am not a big fan of Jesus Franco.His movies are usually sleazy as hell and pretty dull at the same time."Wicked Women" is no exception.There is plenty of graphic nudity and lesbian encounters.The central performance of Lina Romay as Margareta is quite good.If you liked "Women Behind Bars" or "Faceless" give this one a look.6 out of 10.An average slice of absolute sleaze.