adrian-15

Did any of the 100+ 'one star' 'worst film ever' reviewers see the trailer for 'Under the Skin'? If they had, they would have known exactly what they were in for. I'm just guessing that the prospect of seeing Scarlett Johansson naked had many of them them throw caution into the wind. And then they felt cheated. Serves them right.

The trailer perfectly captures the mood of this film, without giving anything away. Distancing, cold, slow, with a continuous sense of doom, terrifying, but also heartbreaking. Some scenes (on the beach, the last passenger, the two guys) will stay with me forever.

An amazing performance by Scarlett Johansson, who was given very little dialogue and had to act non-verbally for most of the running time. Superb soundtrack, editing, and cinematography. It takes some effort to keep up and fill in the blanks (an easy film this is not), but the rewards are ample. But please, see the trailer first.

What happens when six carefree young girls arrive at Ibiza, having lost all their money on the boat? They have to get a part-time job! And guess what these carefree girls do to get that job as quickly as possible? Of course! They have sex with hairy early-eighties men! In full pornographic detail! Throw in a few travelogue images of Ibiza, and you have a movie!

To some degree, the movie has that typical air of exploitation films of the seventies and early eighties, that is also found in the Black Emmanuelle films by Joe d'Amato and Jess Franco: seemingly oblivious of how politically incorrect it all is. An attempted rape turns into a'love' scene, for example. Nevertheless, one cannot resist a feeling of nostalgia, if only for sex films that do not feature surgically enhanced Barbie dolls.

The version of 6 Schwedinnen I saw is the uncut 83 minute letter-boxed (approx. 1.66:1) XXX version issued by Ascot Elite entertainment on DVD, with German and French sound. Image quality is a bit erratic with scratches and a few missing frames, but that only enhances the feeling of nostalgia. Somehow, a digitally cleaned-up anamorphic version would have been weird.

As most actors are French, the German version is a dubbed one, obviously produced especially for the millions of Germans who saw these types of films at their local cinemas. Indeed, those were the days.

Andreas Bethmann has carved (no pun intended) a niche for himself in the underground film community as a producer/director/writer and-what-not who will do about anything to hold the interest of gore hounds and sleaze lovers. This is his most ambitious effort to date. This film is no exception: hardcore sex-rape, lesbian interludes, and extremely nasty torture, courtesy of fx-'Meister' Olaf Ittenbach. Remember the dentistry scene in Marathon Man? Multiply by 100....and you're not even close. So, if you're into that, you should love this one. If you're a politically correct viewer, stay away as far as possible. By the way, For lovers of Jess Franco's oeuvre, there's much to enjoy. Lina Romay - his muse - has a leading part as the director of the prison where female inmates are, well, not treated very well. And she does nudity too, at 52. The version I saw was the unrated gory edition from the German 4DVD set that came out recently. Alternative title is Escape from Prison Island.