Marquis de Sade's Philosophy : Eugenie de sade 1970

                
Look–we’ve all got them. Call them “chick flicks” or the male equivalent thereof, there are films of a nature that make them utterly unappetizing to our domestic partners but which sing their siren song to us, beckoning us to view their forbidden excellence when disapproving eyes are out of range. My own brand of “chick flick” is the kind of hazy, languorous, nudity-packed kink-tragedy produced Continentally during the 1970s. I know that for many, the long shots of Significant Glances and the injection of La Philosophie dans le boudoir adds up to boredom of the most excruciating sort, but for me, it’s pure bliss. A master of the form, director Jess Franco delivers the titillating goods once again in 1970′s “Eugenie de Sade.”

One of five adaptations of the Marquis de Sade's Philosophy in the Boudoir directed by cult filmmaker Jesus Franco, this version was perhaps the most subdued, although it was still explicit enough to encounter censorship problems. Maria Rohm stars as Mme. de St. Ange, who reads the Marquis' book and fantasizes about its excessive content. St. Ange has sex with a man named Mistival (Paul Muller) in exchange for permission to take his lovely daughter Eugenie (Marie Liljedahl) to her vacation island. When they arrive, St. Ange and her lover Mirvel (Jack Taylor) seduce Eugenie into joining their bizarre sexual role-playing. A party follows, during which Eugenie is drugged and forced to submit to sadomasochistic games directed by Dolmance (Christopher Lee) and his oddly-dressed followers. When she awakens from her stupor, however, Eugenie finds that the games have turned to murder. Nino Korda and Herbert Fuchs co-star in this provocative exploitation film. Christopher Lee's role as the narrator Dolmance was originally accepted by George Sanders, whose personal crises forced him to withdraw prior to production. Franco returned to the same source material for Eugenie de Sade (1970), Plaisir a Trois (1973), Cocktail Special (1978), and Eugenie, Historia de Una Perversion (1980).