Das Frauenhaus

After a four-month hiatus, I returned to Jess Franco territory once more with a DVD rental of BLUE RITA (1977). In fact, the owner of my local DVD outlet recently purchased Anchor Bay UK's 8-Disc Franco collection while in London and, needless to say, I was immediately attracted by these titles – despite the censor-imposed cuts on a number of them – since I had only previously watched two films from that set, namely uncut (albeit dubbed and full-frame) versions of LOVE LETTERS OF A Portuguese NUN (1977) and SEXY SISTERS (1977).

I must say that I was pretty surprised by the fact that BLUE RITA – and, I assume, the other titles as well – sports English subtitles on the original German-language version, which is obviously the preferred way to watch it! This fact, however, has angered me quite a bit as I had ordered the discounted R1 edition of JACK THE RIPPER (1976; from Image, and whose German version is not subtitled) only recently…and, unfortunately, this shipped just a couple of days before I rented the BLUE RITA disc!!

As for the film itself, I was rather let down by it: in all probability, a Franco title from his Swiss period was not the ideal way to reacquaint myself with the director's work, especially since the last film I watched had been the rather experimental NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT (1970)! Most reviews I've encountered mention the film's bizarre décor and garish color scheme – not to mention the wacky plot – among its assets but, really, I found the film's overall style thoroughly flat and the situations so repetitive and uninvolving (as if the director's heart wasn't quite in it) that it hardly matters that it is actually good to look at! The cast, apart from Pamela Stanford (who, disappointingly, is given little to do here), is rather second-rate on this occasion – especially Martine Flety, who didn't make much of an impression as the title figure – and, in fact, only Dagmar Burger (!) as the counter-agent Sun emerged with some measure of dignity! Of course, similarly to SEXY SISTERS, the film obviously doesn't take itself at all seriously and the numerous would-be torture sequences and an awkwardly-staged brawl provide nonstop hilarity throughout!! As for the nudity, well, there's plenty of it (from both sexes!) but it's never really erotic…but then this IS an exploitation piece after all!

Martine Flety plays the title character, the owner / proprietor of an adults only club in swinging Paris. There are plenty of attractions on the main floor, but in the basement is where things really happen. Rita and her bevy of babes imprison various men, torturing them and stimulating them to the point of madness. It's all in the name of extracting money and information out of these hapless chumps. Little does Rita know that Interpol is taking a keen interest in what goes on in her club.

Jesus "Jess" Franco strikes again with another exercise in stylish sleaze. Viewers will be pleased to note that there is lots of female nudity (in fact, one of the very first shots shows some full frontal) and a little bit of sex. (There is some male nudity as well.) But what makes this stand out a little from the many trash epics that Franco made in the 1970s is the fact that he's melding exploitation with the espionage genre, with a touch of 70s era psychedelia. The visual approach is quite striking, as Franco and his crew go with some gorgeous gold and pink colour schemes. The music by Walter Baumgartner is quite groovy, to boot.

The performances are generally amusing from all concerned. Luscious brunette Sarah Strasberg was a particular favourite for this viewer, as she plays the role of a heavy named Franchesa. Dagmar Burger is appealing as an entertainer named "Sun". Eric Falk is a hoot as a "boxer" targeted by Rita and her minions. And Flety is quite watchable in the lead.

You add a funny fight scene, and a VERY funny death scene, to the proceedings, and it amounts to a pretty good time for exploitation fanatics.

Seven out of 10.

Spain's premier perpetrator of permissively pulchritudinous peep-show perfidy unleashes yet another colourfully unexpurgated leer into the sublimely sinister, sinfully subversive sensual bacchanalia of the persuasively perky, delightfully depraved Blue Rita (Martine Fléty), and her scintillatingly perverse, serially sapphic, crank-yankingly lurid yen for malefic male bondage shenanigans, along with a terminally twisted, pant-wetting peccadillo for crudely administered, coitus-enhancing, limbic region-riling chemicals to insidiously inflame the increasingly demonic desires of the sensationally sadistic Rita's cruelly caged, lustfully-enraged male concubines!!! That most inventive Iberian instigator of psychedelically-inspired perversity is at his libido-igniting B-Movie breast with his Bourgeois sensibility baiting, bellicosely bonkers Blue movie boff-fest 'Das Frauenhaus' - why remain so boringly blue, when you can be 'Blue Rita'!

I recently watched Blue Rita (1977) on a random streaming site. The storyline follows a strip club owner who secretly works as an undercover spy. She uses her girls and their seductive skills to extract information and steal from the wealthy. Her latest mission pushes her into darker territory than ever before-but can she and her team handle the pressure?

This film is written and directed by Jesús Franco (Angel of Death) and stars Martine Fléty (Claire), Pamela Stanford (Cannibal Terror), Eric Falk (Mad Foxes), and Esther Moser (Sexy Sisters).

This is one of those movies that seems to have at least one or two nude women in every scene-yet it was somehow better than I anticipated. The women are stunning, and the camera work is both wild and fascinating. I especially enjoyed the background music selections, which added a quirky charm to the overall aesthetic.

The makeup, body contortions, and cinematography used to highlight them were unexpectedly impressive. The costumes were also well done. On top of that, there were a handful of action scenes I thoroughly enjoyed. One sequence involving a scalpel stood out-it was surprisingly effective and came out of nowhere. I also thought the mission itself and its execution were solid, setting things up well for a potential sequel... which I definitely would have watched.

In conclusion, Blue Rita is an entertaining blend of espionage and exploitation that I enjoyed for what it was. I'd give it a 6/10 and recommend it-with the appropriate expectations in mind.

"Blue Rita" is more or less what you'd expect from a Jess Franco film: very explicit - very kinky - very strange - very incoherent - very bad. The plot, as far as I could say, is about some Parisian strippers who double as secret agents: they kidnap enemy (whose enemy? Never mind) spies and use sexual torture methods to make them "talk". To give Franco credit, the production design is colorful and the cinematography is often striking. But the editing is incompetent and the pace is deadly. What puzzles me is how Franco convinced so many young women in his films to bare everything and be treated as pieces of meat by the camera, but I guess the men don't come off much better either. Still, if you just want to stare at naked women on the screen "Blue Rita" will do the job....but so will many other AND better films. (*1/2)