Bacchanales sexuelles (1974) * 1/2 (out of 4) Softcore sexploitation film from France has a young girl named Valerie (Joelle Coeur) watching her cousin's home for six months while he is away on a trip. The first night there she gets bored so she invites her girlfriend Sophie (Mari-France Morel) over for some lesbian sex but in the middle of the night Sophie is kidnapped and taken away by a sex crazed cult. There's really not much of a story here, although, to be honest, not many of the director's films feature any type of story. It's rather strange seeing Rollin do a film like this that features the normal lesbian sex without any vampires but later in his career he would start doing hardcore porn but I haven't watched any of those films yet. The biggest problem is that this movie is simply here to show off nudity, which is does quite a bit with the beautiful French actresses but sadly the film runs 101-minutes, which is about thirty-minutes too long. It's funny but the American release cut thirty-minutes worth of footage but the Synapse DVD is the uncut French version. The first lesbian scene is pretty hot but everything goes downhill after this. The story really doesn't make too much sense and even the sex scenes grow tiresome after a while.

honestly, the best part about this film is the costumes... and the possibility that Donatella Versace herself may have gotten her look from the character "Malvina." I was not really interested in the sex scenes - which are tame for sure, but the story - which is muddled and inconsequential - could have been interesting if it had been fleshed out more. I got this sent to me for a viewing and we honestly assumed it was going to be better than it was - but if you like camp - and lots of it, you probably will not be disappointed. The maid catfight is somewhat entertaining, and I loved those kidnappers' outfits. Tres chic indeed.

There are two ways to approach this movie. If you're looking for a softcore porn knock-off you will no doubt find it very strange, but you probably won't be disappointed. If you're a Jean Rollin fan though you won't find it strange enough, and you probably will be. The problem with this movie is that it is VERY heavily padded with the typical boring, mechanical softcore grinding scenes. It's not that this detracts from the plot--this is a Rollin film after all with the usual deliciously bizarre if completely inconsequential story--but it does take away from the strangely beautiful images and haunting atmosphere that characterize the director's best work. Rollin seemed to realize this and used a pseudonym on the film, even before it was retitled "Fly Me the French Way" (what the hell does that mean, anyway?) and had some pre-credit sequence from what is obviously a completely different movie slapped onto it. I do have to take exception with some of the previous reviews which claim the women in this movie aren't attractive. So these French actresses need to shave their armpits, they're still preferable to the ridiculously over-sized silicone breasts attached to anorexic American "actresses" who are obviously just punching the clock when they're doing sex scenes. Call me un-American . . .

Oh, those crazy Frenchies! They love to inject art in everything.. even soft-core porn. O.K, i kid, but seriously look at the opening title sequence. You'll know what I mean. Valerie goes to her cousin's mansion. Her cousin is vacationing in America. So she invites her friend , Sophie, over. They get it on. As they're sleeping 2 thiefs brake in and kidnap Sophie. Who are these mysterious people? What does all this have to do with Valerie's cousin? Will French woman ever shave?? Will you care? I don't like to post major spoilers, so I can only answer my last two questions...NOPE. For Jean Rollin fans only. All others steer clear. My Grade: C-