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Released by: Severin Films
Released on: June 25th, 2021.
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Antonio Mayans, Lina Romay, Asuncií³n Calero, Carmen Carrií³n, Tony Skios
Year: 1983
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The House Of Lost Women - Movie Review:
The House Of Lost Women (La casa de las mujeres perdidas), directed by Jess Franco in 1983, revolves around a family led by Mario Pontecorvo (Antonio Mayans), once a well-regarded actor who has retired from a life in public to live out his years on a remote island off the coast of Spain. This wasn't specifically by choice, however, as he was raked over the coals by the press when it came out that he seduced an underage girl who starred alongside him in one of his last productions.
Mario lives on the island with his second wife, Dulcinea (Carmen Carrií³n), and his eighteen-year-old daughter Desdemona (Lina Romay, credited as Candy Coster once again!) and his second daughter, Paulova (Asuncií³n Calero), who has some severe developmental issues and who seems to require near constant care. This family unit has some issues. While Mario mopes about in a state of perpetual morose, Dulcinea struts about like a peacock, flaunting her sexuality and her exhibitionist tendencies. Desdemona, who has never known the touch of a man, perpetually pleasures herself, caring not if her father sees her doing this. Paulova is simply an anchor around the family's neck, requiring a lot of attention, primarily from her sister.
Things take a strange turn when a man named Tony Curtis (Tony Skios) arrives on the island, claiming to be a huge fan of Mario's work. You can probably figure out where things go from here, with Desdemona only too happy to bed him and lose her virginity to him. Of course, Dulcinea is only too happy to spend some time with the new arrival as well, only to then catch Desdemona masturbating and demand that, in turn, the younger woman satisfy her stepmother's sexual urges. All of this while Mario tries to figure out just what exactly is happening around him and to the women in his family.
While it's certainly true that a lot of this film's running time is made up of various sex scenes and scenes of Desdemona masturbating, there is decent story here and some interesting characterizations emerge from it. Franco's camera gets close in and the film verges on hardcore in more than a few spots, but there's an oddly tragic sense to much of the smuttier aspects of the production, making you feel for the characters rather than lust after them.
The acting here is very strong. Lina Romay does most of the heavy lifting here, once again throwing herself into the role with reckless abandon and using her exhibitionist tendencies to craft a memorable character with a genuinely intense performance. Mayans is great here too, bringing a believably somber vibe to Mario that makes us want to know more about him. Both Carmen Carrií³n and Asuncií³n Calero are also very good in their supporting roles, while Tony Skios plays the mysterious newcomer to the island effectively as well.
The House Of Lost Women - Blu-ray Review:
Severin Films brings The House Of Lost Women to Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 2.35.1 widescreen taken from a new scan of the original uncut negative that takes up just under 24.8GBS of space on the 50GB disc. The picture quality here is excellent, with the colors often times looking very impressive. Detail is really strong, except in the occasional scene where Franco intentionally employs soft focus. Some of the compositions here are very striking and seeing them properly framed from a nice source in high definition really makes them shine. Skin tones look good, and the image is nice and film-like, showing no issues with any noise reduction, edge enhancement or compression problems.
The only audio option on the disc is a Spanish language 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono tracks that comes with optional subtitles in English only. Audio quality is fine, the dialogue is pretty easy to understand and to follow and the score has a bit of appreciable depth to it. There is the occasional pop here and there but overall this is quite clean and always properly balanced.
Extras start off with In The Land Of Franco Part 6, wherein Stephen Thrower and Antonio Mayans once again explore some of the locations that Franco used in his films. In this twenty-minute installment, they check out locations used in The Hot Nights Of Linda as well as Tender And Perverse Emmanuelle, finding some neat stuff in a hotel guestbook along the way. They also explore locations used in Cannibal (aka Devil Hunter) and Die Nackten Superhexen Vom Rio Amore, where they get booted by a grumpy hotel manager. Locations used in Los Blues De La Calle PopLas Chicas Cel Tanga, Bangkok By Night and a few others before then exploring that crazy house used in Eugenie, Night Of Open Sex and Countess Perverse.
Stephen Thrower also shows up a second time with The Island Of Perversion, a sixteen-minute featurette where Thrower does his typically detailed job of putting the film into context. He talks about where Franco's career was at this period, some of the other (many) projects that he made around the same time, the island locations used in the picture, Lina's presence and performance, the use of sex in the movie, the sadness inherent in Lina's character, "Juan Soler"'s work as the director of photography on the picture and what his work entailed and more.
Last but not least is an audio essay with I'm In A Jess Franco State Of Mind Writer Robert Monell that runs just under twelve-minutes. Here he offers up a mix of trivia regarding the making of the picture, the film's production schedule, some of the themes that the film explores, the use of dark humor in the way that the family in the film is presented, some of the more significant shots employed in the picture, the depiction of fantasy versus reality in the movie, details on the cast and crew and more.
Menus and chapter selection are also offered, and this release comes with a CD entitled Daniel J. White In The Land Of Franco Vol. 2 that contains a nice selection of soundtrack music.
Note that this review is based on a test disc so we can't comment on any packaging or inserts.
The House Of Lost Women - The Final Word:
The House Of Lost Women is an interesting film, much more thought provoking than you might expect it to be given how much of its running time is made up of sex scenes. Lina's very good here and the cinematography is excellent. This is one that Franco fans should really get a lot out of, and Severin's Blu-ray presents it in a great presentation and with some really strong extra features as well.
Click on the images below for full sized The House Of Lost Women Blu-ray screen caps!
