Le Flesh and Fire (1985)

Raphael is a sadistic charmer who moves into a wealthy French estate. One by one he seduces each member of the family. Nobody can resist his charms or his violent and perverted demeanor, even if it leads to their downfall. This ultra-kinky film from di

Cheesy Movie... Horrible transfer from Televista / New Star Video

This is a French erotic mystery-thriller with the emphasis on erotic. Don't get your hopes up. The producers' idea of erotic is cheesy late-night semi-porn fare of the teasing tits-and-ass variety. Nothing much to see. Acting is mediocre and hammy - though Lydie Denier as the wheelchair-bound daughter is rather cute and has a hot body.

The story is actually not half-bad. It's based on a novel by Dominique Labarriere, "Le Diable au Soleil". A mysterious handsome young man befriends the dissolute son of a wealthy family. He gets invited to their country chateau and proceeds to seduce, defile and destroy all the members of the household. Why he does so is the mystery. It could have made for an excellent Chabrol film. Sadly the promising material is poorly handled and it ends up being simply tedious and sleazy, replete with loud saxophone music and tiresome gyrations every 10 minutes.

This is my first experience with New Star Video and my last. The transfer is taken from a video tape source. Picture quality is terrible. It is dark, extremely soft, blurry, dull. Electronic video artifacts are visible. Exactly like watching a video tape. It is in full-screen; whether it's pan-&-scan or not, I'm not sure, and frankly couldn't care less. The original French soundtrack has been replaced with an awful English dub, poorly synchronised and making everyone sound chirpily American. Not sure if listening to the original French track would have made it sound better but the English dub is truly horrible with over-the-top melodramatic voice acting. It's painful to listen to. It's painful to watch. No extras whatsoever. Not worth a purchase. Rent if you're really curious and just can't get enough of cheap late-night sleaze. November 2, 2007

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