VENUS IN FURS
DVD region 0. Blue Underground.

Venus In Furs is one of Eurotrash maverick Jesus Franco's best-known film - a decent sized global hit when released in 1969 and one of the few films from the director to have found mainstream critical approval. So it's ironic that - although generally an admirer of the great man's delirious output - this particular title has never quite hit the spot for me.

That said, this new DVD is a revelation after years of ropey prints, shoddy bootlegs and cheap imports. It looks great (and hasd an instantly recognisable feel for viewers familiar with Franco's other films of the period for producer Harry Alan Towers. With a spectaularly languid jazzy score by Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg, some amazing sadian erotica and a dreamlike story, there is much to admire in this film.

Naturally, the title has no connection with the film - it was imposed on the movie by the producers, hoping to cash in on an Italian version of the Sacher-Masoch novel. Franco's film tells the story of a jazz trumpeter (James Darren) who pulld a dead girl out of the sea and finds himself sucked into a world of decadence (when a party's guests include Kalus Kinski and Dennis Price, you know it's gonna be wild) through his obsession with fur-clad Wanda.

Choice moments include Darren's anguished voice over ("she was beautiful even though she was dead"; "man, it was a wild scene - buit if they wanted to go that route, it was their bag"), SM-lite style flagellation, great scenes of the Rio carnival and the bizarre dream sequences that so often crop up in Franco's work.

I still think the film is way too slow, but otherwise, this version has raised my appreciation of it considerable.

Blue Underground's DVD is typically sumptuous: the glorious trailer is here, alongside interviews with Franco and star Maria Rohm and extensive stills and poster galleries.

DAVID FLINT

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