Cruel Passion

The version I own is the unrated De Sade's Justine, proudly displaying Kook Stark's name on the cover. While she's tender and lovely in this movie, there is room for an exciting and tantalizing plot which never develops.

The acting is mediocre, sets/scenery are good but the dialog is contrived making the whole thing a bit of a disappointment. There's not even enough nudity/debauchery to excite much more than a 12 year old male.

Prince Andrew's old girlfriend in a story by the Marquis de Sade. Sounds titillating, doesn't it? It's not.

The great B movie actress Glory Annen broke into show bizniz with this film. She plays a small part as a prostitute. Not a glamorous role but just seeing her on screen in anything is worth the price of the rental! This movie is real, real bad though. The sex isn't really portrayed as enjoyable, just trashy and depressing. Nothing wrong with trashy sex mind you, but just leave out the depressing part is all, ya dig? Anyway, its worth just to see the sexy Glory Annen in her first role.

"Justine: Cruel Passion" is much better than expected. This 1977 film version turns out to be very faithful to it's source material, in this case the writings of the Marquis De Sade. His tale of a young innocent, cast into the cruel, corrupt World when her parents die, is certainly a grim one. Koo Stark does surprisingly well at portraying virginal innocence, disgusted by the violence and vice surrounding her. The more she resists, the harder she is pursued by the corrupt people in her midst. Stark really is good here; she doesn't overplay it, she never comes across as unbelievably naive and innocent. Overdoing it might have made it seem silly to care for Justine. I was rather expecting a trashy excuse to show wall to wall soft core sex, but "Cruel Passion" turns out to be rather tame in that regard, which probably explains the low ratings here. Any viewer looking to get a lot of nudity and sex out of this production might be a bit disappointed. What we have instead is a very handsomely filmed, Gothic/Victorian "bodice ripper," only with a surprisingly bleak and grim conclusion, that I was not expecting. Beautiful sets and costumes, mist shrouded countrysides, and a fine utilization of it's classical soundtrack, all come together to make an above average film that is essentially about the loss of innocence. Entire passages are taken verbatim from the Marquis De Sade, resulting in dialog that is at times poetic. The story of Justine was filmed several times, but this 1977 version remains the most faithful to the original writings. Recommended for anyone interested in the writings of Sade, as well as fans of Gothic and erotic films.

Cute girl, somewhat shocking for its' time. Captures a little of the dark humor and irreverence of de Sade's story. Lot's of nudity. Somewhat similar to Caligula but not nearly as good as that movie. Naughty lesbian nuns frolic in this r-rated romp. You get the picture, like a soft core porno with a b-movie plot and acting.