A curious film, consisting of four erotic set-pieces. In the first, which takes place at the present time (in the 1970s, that is), a slightly annoying young man (Fabrice Luchini) tells us his young cousin will do whatever he tells her to do. They go down to the seaside, where he tells her to take off her swimsuit under her transparent dress, and to perform oral sex on him until he floods with the high tide. She does so, and thus she supposedly learns about the connection between sex and natural phenomena like the tides. Surely this is either a pretentious bit of fake sex philosophy or a con by the young man, or both/ The girl (Lise Danvers) is very pretty, with freckles, dark blue eyes, and a beautiful mouth, which Borowczyck shows in close up. These close-ups of her face and mouth are the most erotic part of the entire movie. The second tale is perhaps Victorian, involving another pretty girl (Charlotte Alexandre) who lingers after mass in the church, fondling phallic symbols like candlesticks and organ pipes and so on, while a divine voice speaks to her. In trouble for being late and locked into her bedroom at home, she fools around with various old items, a doll, a book of 18th-century pornography, a cucumber, and she undresses and brings herself to orgasm. Later she climbs out her window and wanders off across a field to the edge of a forest where a tramp accosts her. In the third, a Hungarian countess (Paloma Picasso) rounds up women from villages and brings them to serve her, aided by her page Istvan. The young women all take long showers and spend a lot of time naked, then they're given a special drink and permission to touch the countess's pearl dress and then tear it off, and then they tear each other apart, apparently, for the vampire-like countess bathes in blood and then goes to bed with the page, who is actually a beautiful woman (Pascale Christophe). In the morning soldiers arrest the countess and the page kisses the officer. The fourth tale shows a threesome consisting of the pope Alexander Borgia and his daughter Lucrezia (Florence Bellamy) and son Cesare. It's predictable, and not much helped by intercutting scenes of Savanarola scolding the church and then dying in flames at the stake. Much of the movie is filmed prettily, with excellent scenery and costumes and very attractive women often wearing very few clothes, a good deal of sexual activity and nudity. It's interesting to note the women's 1970s hair-styles and tan-lines in the historical parts, and curious also to note the element of excess and cruelty rather arbitrarily conjoined with sexuality. Direct but dated.

This is Borowczyk at his worst, even worse than the other two Borowczyk films I've seen. It is astonishing that the four tales can be packed with beautiful, naked women and still be so boring. Borowczyk does have the ability to portray graphic scenes beautifully, and the tale about Elizabeth Bathory is particularly beautifully shot - and it is the only one with a recognizable story.The other three tales are just very, very boring, with discreet and unerotic sex scenes and no real characters, only stereotypes. The first tale, set in the present day, involves some indulgent rubbish linking tides and fellatio. The second links cucumbers and saintliness (I think!)and I lost the point of the last completely, other than that it involved Lucrezia Borgia and the pope. Give it a miss.

Immoral Tales consists of four stories, each of feminine eroticism through the ages. They work back through time, beginning with a contemporary surrealist story of a 20-year-old man initiating his cousin in a sex act on the beach, timing his ecstasy to the ebb and flow of the waves. In the second story, Charlotte Alexandra stars as a girl whose dedication to God reveals itself as a burning lust when she is unjustly banished to her room for three days. The Countess Bathory episode – starring Paloma Picasso – is largely the study of liquids on flesh, while the final story follows a visit by Lucrezia Borgia to see her father Pope Alexander VI and brother Cardinal Cesare Borgia, and details the bawdiness that follows. The second tale is by the far the most erotic. Elsewhere the film is a little slow – but well worth seeing.

Overall, this film is quite boring. There are 4 unlinked segments, with only the third likely to keep you awake.This is the familiar tale of Countess Elisabeth Bathory. Bathory is a historical character who apparently used to favour blood taken from naked virgins.This scenario is an exploitationers delight, and we get to see room loads of young girls running round in the buff.But even so, this story seems to head nowhere, and much is left to your imagination.