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HELTER SKELTER

By Admin | September 2, 2004

This is a Jess Franco film, though he is directing it under the name
Clifford Brown, Jr. for some odd reason. Anyone who knows his films,
however, will be able to tell it’s him.

The film is based on the writings of the Marquis de Sade and comes across as a hallucination of primal lust and revenge. Mostly it’s just lots of shots of naked women licking each other in all the right places or masturbating as they watch others do the licking.

Telling signs Franco is involved in the mix: bright, slightly psychedelic colors mixed with lighting that is far too bright for the average eye; slow motion close-ups of body parts; sound that is out-of-synch with the action; Lina Romey; and lots of sex. If you’re one of those people who has an a*s fetish, you’ll consider this a valuable addition to your collection.

The film succeeds in being fairly erotic, but there is a plot that gets in the way and only makes things seem more muddled than what they should be. The film would work without the jealousy and whatnot, leaving interpretation up to the viewers, which is what people have to do with most Franco films anyway. Franco needs to learn that if he’s going to do erotica, he has to get better writers. Whenever he or one of his friends do the chore, the result becomes a mixed bag that never really achieves its goals.

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