RickDVD

Some people can write and direct movies with competency, but Alex Wright is not one of them. Making this a prequel to a "classic," he thinks moving the location to New Orleans and showing Mardi Gras and the addition of a bit of nudity will add luster to this series.

I don't think Malcolm McDowell puts this on his resume. His acting like a crusty old southern gentleman is completely unbelievable. I wouldn't complain so much except he's English. I'm sure they could have picked an American for his dozen or so, scenes.

I'm sure the only reason this DVD is bought is for the sex scenes between Paul Mercurio and Clara Bellar. Wright gives meaning to scenes ripped off from other movies, as Bellar and Mercurio have sex in many parts of the Dubois mansion.

I can understand why I didn't watch this movie for six or seven years. It's THAT bad. Pink Flamingos is better than this, and that's saying something!

I remember this program fondly due to the fact I was an extra in the production. The episodes of the show were filmed between June/July 1978 and lasted for the better part of a year. I know some people who were extras in all of the episodes of the show, meaning they spent their days dressed in various outfits either sweating or freezing their collective butts off! The weather was extreme, as temperatures would reach over 100 degrees during the summer days, when the production would routinely film for close to 12 hours at a time. However, in early January of 1979, I remember standing in the only sand that wasn't covered by snow in 15° weather. It was SO cold in the winter months in Page, (where the production was filmed) that extras were issued thermal underwear - sometimes two pairs!! You may wonder why or how a person who lives in Maryland was in this production... At the time, I lived in Page, Arizona where they have filmed numerous productions over the years. The Lake Powell region looks very much like the desert of the Middle East with lots of sand and rock formations. I think all of the Planet of the Apes movies have been filmed here, as well.

I had the opportunity to review this film when it was released on DVD about 9-10 years ago. Although the IMDb was in its infancy at the time, I read about the film before reviewing it. I found this to be an interesting guide to morals and values.

Walerian Borowczyk is one of Europe's most controversial filmmakers. I had heard that Immoral Tales, the English title of Contes Immoraux or Unmoralische Geschichten, was not too much different than most of his other work. Borowczyk has also directed many sexually themed movies, including two parts of the erotically charged Emmanuelle series.

Bordering on the thin line between hardcore and soft-core pornography, Immoral Tales is a film that leaves you guilty and shocked. Not many films include two forms of incest, masturbation with a vegetable, the killing of naked virgins for their blood, and sex at the Vatican. Interestingly enough, the last two parts of the movie are supposedly true! It is extremely hard to put a film like Immoral Tales into words. Shocking in some spots, yet artistically titillating in others, the movie is paced too slowly in spots. This could be Polish director's Walerian Borowczyk's preferred style, but the film drags on and on with excess. I was able to get over the two cousins having sex in the first act, but the English translation certainly could have been better worded. Eight minutes of a young girl doing odd things with a cucumber after reading the bible is just a little more than I needed to see.

Even so, this film is a delight for anyone who has considered himself or herself voyeuristic. When the viewer sees over twenty underage naked teenage girls running around (Erzsébet Bathory)... Let's just say it is hard to describe. Lucrezia Borgia is almost ceremonious at times, and shows the baptism of Lucrezia's incestuous child. Unfortunately, some of the shots are gratuitous at best, and although this film can be great in spots, it fails in others.

Definitely worth seeing, but certainly for those who are open minded and don't mind the various actions that happen on screen. Although I rated it lower when originally reviewing it, I rate it higher after multiple viewings.