BLUEBEARD (1972) Directed by Edward Dmytrk *
A real piece of Euro-trash, surprisingly directed by Edward Dmytrk, who had a long and very honourable career in Hollywood. Supposedly set between the world wars with Burton as the eponymous wife murderer/air ace/nobleman/photographer/musician/Nazi. Period detail is non-existent as men wear 70's suits, lead actress Joey Heatherton wears a mini-skirt and Burton wears a series of costumes that should have been reported to the fashion police. For some reason the Nazis wear green and sport a cross in place of swastikas. The film can't decide if it is a horror film or a black comedy and veers totally into farce. Visually it looks like a Mario Bava film that has gone horribly wrong - come to think of it, maybe they should have got Bava to direct it as the subject would have suited him perfectly. The luckless wives are played by Raquel Welsh, Virna Lisi, Marilu Tolo and the aforesaid Miss Heatherton. It is bizarre enough to become a guilty pleasure although please be warned that the hunting scenes are particularly unpleasant if you are sensitive to such things.
1 comment:
Hokey smokeys, that sounds like a hell of a ride! Although thanks for the warning about the hunting scene. If I ever see it, I'll have the skip button on my remote ready to go.
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