L'enfer de l'érotisme

Do you know that numb feeling of watching a movie and, after about 35-40 minutes into it, you suddenly realize that nothing - absolutely nothing - even remotely interesting or exciting has happened so far? "Whirlpool" gave me that annoying feeling. There's a creep rowing in a canoe for an awfully long time, and an uptight wealthy 40-something woman is parading around in her mansion. That about covers the first quarter. The two apparently live together as aunt and nephew (yeah, sure) and they are both deviant pervs. The aunt is a lesbian with a fetish for luring naïve fashion models to the house, and the nasty nephew photographs them. They all play strip poker together, and the pretty model is too unfathomably stupid to leave even though she gets humiliated, or simply because these two persons are utter loonies!

"Whirlpool" was the first long-feature film of the Spanish born José Ramón Larraz and enjoys somewhat of a cult status because it was presumed lost for several years. Well, I'm a big fan of Larraz and deeply admire several other films he made, but "Whirlpool" could have remained lost as far as I'm concerned. It's unpleasant, but not in a way that uncanny & gritty 70s exploitation flicks should be unpleasant. It's insufferably dull and slow-paced, and not at all compelling because you don't care for any of the characters. Vivian Neves, for example, is truly gorgeous - but with her clothes on and without - but her character is so incredibly naïve and brainless that you can't cheer for her. Regarding J. R. Larraz' resume, I can highly recommend "Vampyres", "Symptoms", "Rest in Pieces" and "Edge of the Axe". Even "The House that Vanished", "La Muerta Incierta", and "The Coming of Sin" are worthwhile, but this one (and "Deadly Manor") are quite worthless.

I had read about this notorious, X-rated grindhouse classic for years, and finally watched it over the holidays. It's shockingly brutal, nihilistic and sexual, even by today's standards. The debut feature of Jose Larraz, a Spanish director known for high-end sleaze, a la Jess Franco, it's quite well-shot, but has a script that's nearly non-existent and shamelessly rips-off better, iconic films such as PSYCHO, PEEPING TOM and REBECCA. Lead actress Vivien Neves was a stunning supermodel in her day, but couldn't act wet in a rainstorm. The actress who really made an impression is a Danish woman (it was a co-production between Denmark and Spain, but shot in the UK) named Pia Andersson, as the evil "Aunt Sarah." She has several exquisite moments, mostly without dialogue, where her remarkable face displays a host of emotions, mostly pain and loneliness. And the odd thing is, she seems to have vanished after this film. I can find nothing about her on the 'net. Very strange. The ending, which I'm sure influenced Wes Craven's LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT several years later (even more so than Bergman's VIRGIN SPRING, which it shamelessly ripped off) is truly sickening and disturbing, and has stayed with me for the past week, not in a good way. Ultimately, this is one of those films made right after the rating system was established where the sole purpose was "Anything goes!" and boy, does it. Interesting as a time capsule artifact, but ultimately, it's pretty pointless, not to mention very, very nasty.

I have always enjoyed the idiosyncratic films of Jose Ramon Larraz but have never before seen this, his first of a run of films made in England, although this one seems to have had Danish connections. In common with the director's others this is well shot with attractive settings, well lit and with very effective editing and musical score. The thing is, with everything indicating a well put together and artistic enterprise, there is much sex and a certain awkwardness, a certain embarrassment. Usually, as here that slightly off putting element gradually works for the film, balancing the artiness with an almost blunt form of realism. In Whirlpool a strange young man (Karl Lanchbury) and his aunt (Pia Andersson) have a passion for leading young ladies astray and in particularly into a bout of three in a bed. There are complications that include a flute player of pension age, a drug dealer with a yen for rape and the aforementioned aunt who has a an for young girls. Throughout all this a young beauty played by the young beauty Viven Neves shines brightly and seems up for anything. She gets a little more than she bargained for but then doesn't this always seem to happen in a Larraz film? Kim Newman refers to his films as 'glum', a very English expression for the work of a fine Spanish director who just didn't seem to want to make films the way others did.

Jose Ramon Larraz sleazy horror debut tells the story of a perverse relationship between an aspiring model named Julia,a strange young photographer Theo and his middle-aged aunt.Theo initiates a relationship with Julia and even gets her to have sex with his aunt so he can photograph them in the act.Julia is also raped in the woods by his sleazy friend whilst Theo is photographing them."Whirlpool" was made in Denmark,then dubbed in English and released in US cinemas under the title "She Died with Her Boots On".I have seen a poor quality timecoded copy of "Whirlpool",which was found in 2005 on bootleg.The pace is slow and the narrative is thin,but there is enough sleaze and graphic violence to satisfy fans of Euroexploitation.8 whirlpools out of 10.

A diplomatic person might call this an erotic thriller. Diplomacy is for diplomats, and no amount of tact can gloss over it. This low budget film is not total rubbish, but only if you like lesbian sex, simulated rape and the odd murder, and these are odd murders.

A woman lives in the country with her ersatz nephew who is also her bedmate, well, they do it on the floor. Sonny boy is a photographer, naturally he likes photographing attractive young ladies, and, you guessed it, frightened young ladies. Before the film starts, a girl has already been murdered - we see a flashback of that later. The lady of the house is apparently ignorant of his murderous proclivities, but someone is suspicious, namely the sugar daddy of the first girl, who gets a bit too nosey for his own good.

The man with the camera also has an ad hoc accomplice who provides the sexual assaults while he takes the pictures. What more do you need to know? The film is atmospheric, but it is very slow in places. Thankfully, justice is done at the end, although we don't actually see it, and of course it comes too late for his next victim.