Roger Ebert often used to talk about "wrong gas-station movies", ie. low-grade horror or thriller flicks which start with the protagonists stopping at a seedy gas-station/diner where the air-conditioning is broken, the food is rotten and the attendant is a repulsive individual wearing coveralls and slime.A similar case could be made for the "wrong pub movie", a sub-genre of European horror that begins with young, female tourists stopping in the sole meeting place in a tiny, forgotten hamlet somewhere deep in the central European country side. Whereas the "wrong gas station" employees are always seedy and revolting, the "wrong pub" diners always fall completely silent, and perhaps even seem to freeze upon the young travellers' entrance into their domains, in much the same way the decor of the establishment is invariably frozen in the past.They will often be warned by the custodian of the establishment to leave the village, or more particularly, to stay away from the castle on the hill - a warning they obviously never heed.I've seen this set-up in some Hammer movies, at least one of the "Tombs of the Blind Dead" movies, and variations of it in some of the films of Euro-horror legend Paul Naschy, and, as you will have guessed, have also just seen it in "Girl Slaves of Morgana le Fay", a curious French sort of horror-fantasy from 1971. You see, with this not atypical beginning underway, I expected the kind of violent, exploitative grindhouse horror hijinks you get from virtually any other b-grade Eurohorror flick of the '70s. I was surprised to find, however, that "Girl Slaves of Morgana le Fay" deviates from the pack in a number of underwhelming ways:Firstly, I don't remember any violence in the movie at all. Hardly a common statement to make regarding this particular genre, shot in this particular place, in this particular time;Secondly, there is a surprisingly lack of nudity and sex for MOST of the movie's run-time. There is little, if any, of what I would call full-frontal nudity, and what nudity there is is usually not the camera's focal point. The movie does have a climax - no pun intended - however, that features more nudity and lesbian sex. Overall, "Girl Slaves of Morgana le Fay" stands out for its quite unexploitative and tasteful treatment of nudity and sex.Lastly, and this may be a plus or a minus depending on your point of view, the movie has a go at the whole "dreamlike" atmosphere sort of thing, that so many other low-budget horror/fantasy movies also attempted, and failed at, miserably. "Morgana le Fay", however, largely succeeds at this, which is surprising.This brings me to my main problem with the movie, though. This atmosphere isn't really used to the service of any effect, other than eventual boredom. "Morgana le Fay" isn't really a horror movie; it's spooky, sure, but it never really tries to scare you. Such a typical set-up for a horror flick, and a superior atmosphere, leaves you wanting more.Hence, "Girl Slaves of Morgana le Fay" is like an hour-and-a-half joke without the punchline.

No seriously, I want to know where I can find this castle! For work as well as for holidays, I often travel through rural France and the medieval castle where the largest part of the film takes place looks like a beautiful and idyllic place to visit … And the fact that it's apparently inhabited by dozens of breath-taking, ravishing and scantily clad lesbians is an added value, of course. "Morgane Et Ses Nymphes" is a typical and almost routine product of the early 70s euro- exploitation industry. For some reason, surreal and pseudo- artistic stories about lesbian vampires in remote and isolated parts of the world were extremely popular. Next to Jesus Franco in Spain and Jean Rollin in France, who were undoubtedly the two most productive directors of this bizarre cult sub-genre, there were a handful of other directors who delivered a few films that gained cult-followings over the years, like Harry Kümel ("Daughters of Darkness"), José Ramon Larraz ("Vampyres") and Bruno Gantillon with his "Morgane Et Ses Nymphes". Strictly seen, this one is different, since the wenches aren't vampires. The titular Morgane is a sort of coven-sorceress who lures innocent young girls to her castle, along with the help of a creepy midget named Gurth, and then subsequently brings them into an erotic and surreal trance. The girls are offered the choice to remain young and beautiful forever whilst staying with Morgane in her castle, or to be dumped in the dungeons with a horde of old women. Hmm, tough choice! This overcomes also Anna and Françoise, two lively twenty-something beauties on a trip through the French countryside. They get lost and are forced to spend the night in a barn, though not before fondling each other intensely of course, but at dawn Françoise discovers that Anne is missing. She herself is lured to the castle, but Morgane immediately feels a bizarre and unique type of affection for Françoise and keeps her closer to her side than all the other "slaves". There's basically almost nothing happening in this film and, to be entirely honest, the cult reputation of this film is heavily exaggerated and undeserved. The filming locations and cinematography are fantastic and Bruno Gantillon manages to maintain a gloomy and ominous atmosphere throughout, but those are about the only positive aspects I can think of. The all-female cast (with the exception of Alfred Baillou as the whiny and pitiable Gurth) is attractive to look at, but their sexual escapades are brief and not exactly arousing.For me personally, the one special thing about this film is the fact that it provided the inspiration for my own daughter's name. My little girl is also named Morgane, because I like the idea she's named after a mysterious and seductive lead-sorceress of a cult.

Before you read this review, please familiarize yourself with the wonderful world of Mondo Macabro. They are a DVD label that specializes in releasing older obscure fantasy, science fiction, and horror films in North America and the United Kingdom. I've encountered the great films of Mexican director Juan López Moctezuma through them. Not everything they release is worth being discovered, though. Occasionally, a dud from forty years ago miraculously gets a special edition release. The following review is of one of those duds, and I might as well write on it since I will never see it again. If you have Netflix, consider getting Moctezuma's "Alucarda" and "The Mansion of Madness" before they become unavailable.Morgane et ses nymphes (translated as Girl Slaves of Morgana Le Fay) was released in European cinemas in 1971, during the erotic craze. It was another movie made for very little money hoping to empty the pockets of its young male audiences. Mainstream nudity was still a decade or so away, even in Europe, so people had to quietly sneak around to watch films like this. Making a good erotic film sounds a lot easier than it is. Beyond seeing lubricious women fondle things (preferably each other), an underlining plot has to be there. Otherwise the movie becomes boring, and making a boring sex flick is deplorable.Girl Slaves won't do as erotic film, and the problem lies with the filmmakers. On the DVD extras, director Bruno Gantillon says that he wanted the film to be "high art." See if you can reconcile these two: making a "high art" film for people who have only sexual interest in seeing the film. It can't be done, and the director deserves the blame for deceiving his audience. We see this pretentiousness manifest itself early when the protagonists are forced to spend the night in an abandoned building. They sleep close to each other but nothing happens beyond that. Why shouldn't we have seen something? The women find themselves at a magical castle inhabited by the titular Morgane and her beautiful captives. Morgane exists in the world of bad screenplays where issues like motivation for doing, well anything and plot progression don't exist. They are suggestive grooming sequences and interpretive dance. Morgane possesses the ability to transport herself. Some occasional nudity throughout this middle section would have helped a whole lot. It would have made the film more honest. Eventually we learn that prospective slaves may be granted eternal life in Morgane's harem or live out the remainder of their lives in the dungeon where they will become old and ugly. Gantillon fetishizes youth to extreme measures by placing the camera close to the face of old women several times. Again, it really hinders building any kind of atmosphere, which can substitute for nudity if done properly.We finally see the expected girl-girl scene, and it is ineffective due to some crazy idea of rapid cutting. There is one that lasts long enough to satisfy, if only the characters hadn't met only a few moments earlier. Gantillon actually succumbs to the lowbrow necessity of proving love scenes and fails to make them meaningful by just thrusting them in there. It would be refreshing if we actually had a dramatic, progressive narrative spliced with teases and a relieving payoff.The movie isn't stylistically better either. It doesn't appear that Gantillon spent time designing sets. His costume designer had to compensate for this lack of effort by providing unnecessarily weird outfits to be unfortunately worn too often. He also cast a dwarf actor to serve as Morgane's caretaker and unreciprocated love interest. Incompetence and exploitation are combined in Girl Slaves.Not Recommended

I applaud Mondo Macabro for restoring these "lost" exploitation "classics" - and GIRL SLAVES is another suitable entry. I can't say that I've absolutely LOVED any of the MM releases that I've seen so far - but they've all been various degrees of entertaining at least...This one revolves around 2 girls (Francoise and Anna) who while traveling, get lost in a "twilight-zone-esque" village. They go to sleep in a barn after experiencing some car trouble, and when Fran wakes up, Anna is gone. A freaky dwarf guy leads Fran to a castle which is inhabited by some beautiful chicky's - including the mysterious Morgana. Seems that Morgana is a witch who can offer the travelers eternal life in return for their souls...but will they accept??? GIRL SLAVES is paced decently enough that you probably won't fall asleep during the proceedings - and there's a decent amount of 70's exposed-flesh on display. I can't really think of anything incredibly notable about the film, but it's another in a long string of well-made and entertaining 70's era exploit films. Definitely worth a look to the genre fan...7.5/10