Eugenie - The Story of Her Journey Into Perversion

Rating:
Summary: If you are a fan...
Review: All the reviews here are from people who are not or who are not necessarily fans of Jess Franco's work. Let it be said though, if you are already a fan, you are going to love this dvd - it's his best film, and available for the first time ever!

Rating:
Summary: If you are a fan...
Review: All the reviews here are from people who are not or who are not necessarily fans of Jess Franco's work. Let it be said though, if you are already a fan, you are going to love this dvd - it's his best film, and available for the first time ever!

Rating:
Summary: Soledad Miranda-Where are you?
Review: I came to this film after watching Eugenie de Sade, also made by Jess Franco; but, sadly, not availabe in America at the moment. The contrast between the two is startling. I love Eugenie de Sade; but of course, that film had Soledad Miranda in the title part and this film does not, which may explain a lot.

This film fails for three reasons: the acting, the direction, and the script.

Firstly, the acting. To say that Marie Liljedahl is no Soledad Franco would be a little unfair; after all, who is? That she made her name as a porn star rather than as an actress is apparant throughout every scene in this film. Half the time she seems to fumble in front of the camera wondering what to do. Maybe she is looking for direction from Jess Franco which, apparantly, she doesnt get. She isn't helped by the fact that this is an English language production and her voice is so-very-obviously dubbed. She also has to play opposite Maria Rohm, who excels, as does Christopher Lee.

Secondly, the direction. Jess Franco comes over like an amateur film maker with no real idea of what to do. His over use of the red filter, his clumsy editing, and his inability to direct Marie Liljedahl damns the film completely. Although this is obviously made be the same director that made Eugenie de Sade the following year, his flair seems to have deserted him here. Maybe he needs Soledad Miranda to inspire him?

Thirdly, the script. The idea of an innocent girl being slowly corrupted until she becomes evil is a fascinating theme. Sadly, the script handles it in such a kack-handed manner that I failed completely to believe that Eugenie would behave in such a way. She would be traumatised by her experiences, not corrupted.

So there you have it. One Goddamnawful film! It has one redeeming point: Marie Liljedahl's bottom. (This is what the one star is for) If she wasn't voted Rear of the Year in 1969 when this film was made, then she should have been. However, if this is not reason enough to buy this DVD, then buy Eugenie de Sade instead-it's available from Amazon UK. Eugenie de Sade - Now there is a minor classic.

Rating:
Summary: Fast forward review
Review: I thought the movie was alright, but I am sorry that I bought it. I would rather have just rented it. It seems like half of the movie is out of focus, I am sure it is on purpose but I just don't get it. There are a few erotic scenes but they are not worth the price.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: I've just seen one of the most compelling films made in Europe. The cast of the film pulled all the stops to make it really intense and erotic. The good things about that though is that Jesus Franco doesn't have to be explicit to shock or anything but leaves everything to your imagination. The only down-turn in it all, is that the film maybe finishes to quickly! Once the beautiful Eugenie gets on Long Island you don't want to see the end of the film! She's drugged and abused but to her it's still an experience that she finds intriguing and exciting! I recommend you see this film and I bet you'll go and try to find a similar as soon as it ends. Marvellous!

Rating:
Summary: a beautiful movie
Review: Look at the details: the slat curtains being drawn and pulled, drawn and pulled; in a later scene, the shadow on the curtains; the red light during the sex scenes; the invigorating jazz music when the girl comes upon a cemetary in the island's sand - such wonderfully quirky, oddly matched mood music! so different from the usual low, forbidding tones that we all expect when a movie actress comes upon a cemetary!; the matched yellow, red, and black colors on the bed, the woman's dress . . . every scene has matched colors, the clothes matching with the walls and the furniture and the props; the completely unpredictable plot which appears, at every step, to be so so so predicable, and then - suddenly - no, a weird twist that makes it special; and so many more wonderful things ! . . .

Rating:
Summary: Okay for a rainy day, as they say.
Review: The problem I have with Franco films is this: they're full of beautiful naked women that really don't do much but lounge around. An erotic film should have something remotely akin to a sexual encounter. Even in 1969 they could that, especially in Europe. Well, there is some minor lesbianism in a scene or 2, but....
I'm not going to get into plot details because few people in this film's crowd are interested in sitting through this to critique the plot. If it's truly based on a De Sade work then great, but from my experience a De Sade tale honestly transferred to film would in reality be nothing less than XXX rated (and in some cases a snuff film). So clearly there are elements missing from this flick in the translation from book to movie, as it's not pornographic. Just a PSA to De Sade literary fans.
Franco--with his total of 3 movies bearing the "Eugenie" title--gives De Sade a bad name, believe it or not. The books are much better, and not as tame as Franco makes them out to be.
However, compared to his contemporary Jean Rollin (who was comfortable making the occasional porn film, as it happens), Franco certainly had decent budgets to work with and clearly used them well. He gets sexy actresses, and nice movie sets which fit the story. His direction isn't pedestrian, but he must have skipped school on the day that really important filming techniques were discussed, such as keeping the audience engrossed with the characters. So he decided to make up for that by parading nude women around, and I will definitely not complain! It's always a plus when a film has nudity with a purpose, and I think Jess Franco typically manages to provide that purpose.
"Justine" is probably the highlight of his career, but this particular Eugenie film, overall, is actually pretty entertaining. Not something you'd want to watch again and again, but one that you'll find yourself wanting to pull out of the shelf on occasion.