The Perverse Countess (1975)

best movie i've ever seen.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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 Ivanna Zaroff (ably played with lip-smacking evil and predatory aplomb by ravishing redhead Alice Arno) and her husband Count Rabor Zaroff (Franco regular Howard Vernon in wonderfully suave and wicked form) are a couple of decadent wealthy aristocrats who hunt folks for sport on their remote island paradise. The meat of their victims is cooked and fed to unsuspecting guests who in turn are forced to participate in this most warped and dangerous game.Writer/director Jess Franco relates the engrossingly twisted story at his usual trademark hypnotically deliberate pace, makes excellent use of the breathtaking scenic locations, does an ace job of crafting a strong dark atmosphere of stark amorality, offers a nice sense of casual sadism and debauchery, and concludes the grim plot on a perfectly nasty and downbeat note. Naturally, Franco also delivers oodles of tasty bare distaff skin and several steamy semi-pornographic sex scenes. The sound acting by a sturdy cast holds the picture together: Robert Woods as reluctant flunky Bob, Tania Busselier as Bob's sympathetic wife Moira, the ever-luscious Lina Romay as naive and sweet innocent Silvia, and Kali Hansa as the frightened Kali. Gerard Brisseau's sharp cinematography provides a lovely picturesque look. The funky-throbbing score by Oliver Bernard and Jean-Bernard Raiteux hits the groovy-grinding spot. One of Franco's better movies.

One of the most popular and copied movies of all time, The Most Dangerous Game, gets a erotic remake by sleaze director Jess Franco. The idea sounds very daring and dangerous, but thankfully, The Perverse Countess is a complete winner! From the very hot girls on display (Lina Romay is pretty much naked through the whole movie... Shocking I know!) to the exciting horror elements, this one is a stylish masterpiece of the genre. The camera moves are pretty wild, and the locations are beautiful. The music score is very nice to listen at first also (although it gets a bit repetitive by the end...) The cast is pretty damn awesome also, full of Franco regulars. As the rich owners of the island where the game is played, Alice Arno shines in the role of the evil countess, while Howard Vernon plays her husband, in his usual charming self. The impossibly gorgeous Lina Romay plays the latter victim of the eccentric couple, while Tania Busselier from Ilsa: The Wicked Warden shows up to get naked somewhere.Very recommended movie, as it's one of Franco's absolute best. It's sad this overlooked classic doesn't have a DVD release in ANY language...

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.