The French Sex Murders (1972)

Crappy film

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

1972's "The French Sex Murders" was my first experience with a picture produced by old-school impresario Dick Randall, whose filmography is as unique as the man himself, and who was living in Italy at the time to escape tax-evasion charges in the U.S. The film demonstrates that you don't need a huge budget and top-notch production values to create a giallo, as long as you have an incredible cast to help put things over. In the film, small-time Parisian thief Antoine is arrested for the murder of a cathouse prostitute, but after he is decapitated in a freak accident, and the murders continue, police Inspector Pontaine realizes that he must move tres vite before the bodies really start to pile up! The picture, though it looks fine, does betray its limited budget, has been terribly dubbed and reserves most of its requisite nudity and bloodshed for the latter half. That remarkable cast referred to up top includes a quartet of the top Eurobabes of the day: Barbara Bouchet (who I've never seen look more beautiful and who is, sadly, the picture's first victim), Rosalba Neri (playing the ex-wife of the accused killer), Evelyn Kraft (who I'd never encountered before but look forward to seeing again) and Anita Ekberg (a decade or more past her prime but still quite sexy as the bordello's madam). And let's not forget Howard "Dr. Orloff" Vernon, as a scientist who performs some gross-out experiments on the eyeballs of Antoine's severed head (don't ask!), AND Robert Sacchi as the Inspector. This Bogeyphile must admit that it really is remarkable how much Sacchi looks like Humphrey Bogart and is able to ape his mannerisms; his (Bogey's) seeming presence in a sleazy giallo is perhaps the film's greatest asset and claim to uniqueness. In all, a far-from-top-drawer giallo, but still an entertaining 90 minutes, nicely supplemented on this Mondo Macabro DVD by a 1/2-hour documentary on Randall himself and many other interesting extras.

A vicious killer brutally bumps off prostitutes at a swanky Paris bordello run by the stern Madame Colette (the lovely Anita Ekberg). The hard-boiled Inspector Pontaine (an amusing performance by Humphrey Bogart impersonator Robert Sacchi) investigates the murders. Propable suspects include the hot-headed Antoine Gottvalles (moody Peter Martell), smarmy nightclub owner Pepi (slimy Rolf Eden), and sinister Professor Waldemar (Jess Franco film regular Howard Vernon). Director Ferdinando Merighi maintains a snappy pace throughout as well as delivers a smattering of sleazy soft-core sex, a sprinkling of tasty gratuitous female nudity, and a few dollops of tacky gore (a couple of cheesy decapitations rate as the definite splatter highlights). Moreover, Merighi stages the grisly murder set pieces with deliciously garish psychedelic stylistic aplomb. The always welcome and enticing presences of beautiful cult Eurobabe starlets Barbara ("Don't Torture A Duckling") Bouchet, Rosalba ("The Arena") Neri, and Evelyn ("The Mighty Peking Man") Kraft qualifies as another substantial asset. The polished cinematography by Mario Mancini and Gunter Otto makes nifty occasional use of a hand-held camera. Bruno Nicolai's pretty and melodic, yet groovy and jazzy score really hits the funky spot. Italian peblum muscleman star Gordon Mitchell pops up in a bit part as a nightclub patron. Good, trashy fun.

Although this is definitely one of your lamer Italian gialli, like all gialli it has some points of interest. It has two different chase scenes involving the Eiffel Tower, just so you know (if the title doesn't clue you in) that it's set in Paris. It has an ironic scene where a condemned murderer is decapitated while fleeing police on a motorcycle. It has a strange scene where the police then turn over the disembodied head to a mad scientist, played by Jess Franco regular Howard Vernon, for him to conduct vague "experiments" on. And perhaps strangest of all it has a lead detective who is played by a Humphrey Bogart impersonator, which no one in the movie remarks on, but will have everyone at home scratching their head.The plot involves the murder of a prostitute in a Paris brothel (run by early 60's sex symbol Anita Ekberg). It's blamed on a jealous client, but the lead detective ("Bogey")suspects otherwise. And when the murders continue after the suspect's ironic-if-he-were-actually-guilty demise, his suspicions are confirmed. The movie has all the standard giallo elements but it's directed without much flair. There's a lot of sex and female nudity (perhaps too much), but it doesn't involve the "name" actresses for the most part who are pretty much wasted in general. Barbara Bouchet is good as a bitchy prostitute but she is murdered before she can even strip out of her sexy red lingerie. Rosalba Neri has a brief nude scene but also a completely throwaway part as the condemned man's ex-wife. And Anita Ekberg, looking middle-aged and none to svelte, also has pretty phoned-in role that pales not just to her early sexy roles, but to the over-the-top trashy stuff she'd do later in movies like "Killer Nun".Howard Vernon is about as good as he usually is in Franco movies, and as for the Bogart impersonator--well, nobody ever saw him again after this movie. I would definitely not recommend buying an overpriced DVD of this disappointing movie, but it might not be a total waste of 90 minutes of your life, especially if you're kind of a giallo completist like I am.

Not expecting too much from this probably helped me actually enjoy it quite a lot. The poor dubbing does little to help along what was probably already crap dialogue but this has a great cast and a lot of spirit. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, not least Howard Vernon and the ridiculous but endearing Bogart look alike. The girls of course are lovely, particularly, Rosalba Neri, the Bruno Nicoli music fun and if the killings are a little lacking in style at least we get them all repeated in about six different colours! A Dick Randall production, this keeps moving and is full of incident and character. Fun.