Truly Dreadful Film

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Boris Zaroff is a modern businessman who is haunted by his past -- his father was the notorious Count Zaroff of The Most Dangerous Game fame.Consequently, Boris is subject to hallucinations and all-too-real social lapses which normally involve sadistic harm to beautiful naked young women. His butler is sworn to indoctrinating him into the evils of the family line, and their castle's torture dungeon proves quite useful in this regard. However, Boris is periodically lured away from his destiny by the romantic apparition of the deceased countess who previously owned the castle. Opens with a naked woman being chased in the woods by a guy on a horse.Goes downhill from there. This movie is basically soft core porn. And like soft core porn, it doesn't have the oomph.

I thought I was just going to watch a low-budget French horror film, though the opening scene sure changed my opinion! You see a naked woman being tracked across a vast estate by some nut-job riding on horseback! She is ultimately killed and then the story begins. This is surely NOT a 1970s version of Universal horror film! In the next scene, you see one of the sexiest scenes I have ever seen and it involved light bondage and lots of champagne. No one was being hurt and the film looked like a porno film--not exactly the sort of movie I'd watch, but harmless. However, moments later in another scene, this same man now is brutalizing this woman--both sexually and physically. Then, ultimately, he kills her. At this point, I thought I'd have enough, as any film that combines hot sex with violence against women disturbs me. After all, the idea of guys getting off watching women hurt and killed sexually is like watching the actions of a sex offender in order to get some sort of voyeuristic thrill. I tried watching just a bit more, but ultimately gave up--and worry about those who like films like this. While I never like the idea of banning films or controlling their content (I am a huge believer in the First Amendment), I certainly didn't want to see more. Thank goodness I rented this one and didn't buy it!

Michel Lemoine's 1974 offering, "Seven Women for Satan," is easily one of the weirdest movies that I have ever rented; right up there with Jess Franco's "Venus In Furs" and Jaromil Jires' "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders." In the Lemoine film, the writer/director himself plays Count Boris Zaroff, son of the original manhunting count from the Richard Connell short story "The Most Dangerous Game" (1924), famously filmed in 1932 (never mind that Zaroff was a Russian and his son in this film is as Gallic as can be). When we first meet him, Zaroff, Jr. has just purchased an enormous château, in which his butler, Karl (played by cult Eurostar Howard Vernon), in fulfillment of a promise he made to Karl, Sr., the original count's butler, is training Boris in the ways of sadism and torture. To complicate matters, Boris seems to be haunted by the spirit of a beautiful woman who died in the year 1912. I say "seems" only because the dividing line between fantasy and reality here is a thin one at best. To add to the disorientation, Lemoine utilizes odd camera angles, fish-eye lenses, dreamy soft-focus photography and some truly bizarre discourse between the film's principals. The picture treats us to a fun torture chamber sequence and features the phoniest-looking dog attack scene ever (especially when compared to the 1932 film) and an excellent score by Guy Bonnet. It is only 84 minutes long, yet still feels padded with nudie-girl segments and assorted topless dancing and writhing (nice padding, granted!). Banned in its native France and yet the Silver Medal winner at the Sitges (near Barcelona) Film Festival, the picture, surreal and trippy as it is, should have been a midnight movie staple back when, as was "El Topo." Like the Jodorowsky film, it is a real stoner treat, and a must for the lysergically enhanced mind. A true rarity, but certainly not for all tastes....

A warning to potential viewers: if you are looking for an adaptation of the classic story "The Most Dangerous Game," look elsewhere. "Seven Women for Satan"only superficially addresses the original work by using the name of Zaroff and having said character murder people.Some of what follows might be considered by some to be spoilers. Or not.Boris Zaroff is played by writer/director Michel Lemoine. Whereas his ancestor hunted men because they were the only prey that were truly challenging, Boris' victims are usually in a position where they cannot defend themselves. The film rambles from scene to scene with a near-total lack of clarity. The director seems to have totally disregarded pacing and left the viewer with a suffocatingly dull film. A few individual scenes are mildly interesting (such as a torture rack sequence), but as a unit, the film fails to entertain. Viewers who are moreinterested in an assortment of attractive and semi-attractive actresses in various stages of undress might find the film watchable. Most will probably find their time is better spent watching Mentos commercials.In a side note, the DVD extras included a fair amount of information on the film's history. Apparently, it was banned for several years in its native France which pretty much ruined any chance it had for widespread distribution.