MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Dries Vermeulen Spanish smut-meister Jess Franco was finally granted the funds by recently deceased globe-trotting film financier Harry Alan Towers to fully indulge his avowed admiration, running as an undercurrent throughout his entire freak filmography, for the literary endeavors of the unfortunate Marquis de Sade and the results should have been dirty movie devotee nirvana. So what went wrong ? Well, one aspect careening out of control was definitely the compromise that comes with any international production, the phenomenon disrespectfully if often accurately described as "Europudding" ; another reason seems more endemic to Franco and similar cinéastes whose bark is much worse than their bite, screaming at the top of their lungs how they would be able to realize their potential if only ignorant money men would wise up and bankroll their pet project. Another of the director's "what if ?" achievements, his JACK THE RIPPER (paid for by Swiss movie mogul Erwin C. Dietrich at the behest of the provenly persuasive filmmaker), was to generate a comparably underwhelming response.Not even the best of Franco's admittedly glossy and perhaps as a result somewhat generic collaborations with Towers, an honor split down the middle between EUGENIE and VENUS IN FURS, JUSTINE on the surface probably comes about as close to the mainstream as either movie maven ever has and that's not necessarily a good thing. Framed by scenes of an incarcerated Marquis (madman Klaus Kinski putting in another strictly debt-allaying gig) furiously scribbling away while plagued by blood-soaked female phantoms emanating from his fevered mind, the film traces the road from comparative riches to rags and back again followed by sisters Justine (Romina Power) and Juliette (Maria Rohm, Mrs. Towers at the time) as their parents' self-inflicted demise when business turned sour leaves them destitute and as a direct result rather uncharitably cast out of the convent by the sisters whose piety's clearly limited to the amount of Francs pouring into their coffers. While Juliette becomes the original happy hooker and quickly gathers a small fortune through lewdness, thievery and worse, her God-fearing sibling desperately clings to her virtue with all the ensuing sad consequences readers of the novel or, more likely, viewers of any of sexploitation cinema's myriad movie renditions are familiar with.Rather astonishingly, though a lightness of tone might conceivably have been imposed in order to reach as wide an audience such a costly endeavor (by Towers' standards anyway) would warrant to recoup its investment, Franco plays most of Justine's trials and tribulations almost strictly for laughs. This only serves to make poor Romina Power, daughter of Hollywood heartthrob Tyrone and a subsequent pop sensation with husband Al Bano in '80s Italy, look ridiculously naive to the point of certifiable brain damage, perhaps a deliberate move on the director's part as she was imposed by the producer as an eleventh hour replacement for his own choice of Rosemary Dexter, now relegated to supporting duty playing Juliette's sister in slime Claudine. An early section with debt collector Du Harpin (hammed to the hilt by legendary character actor Akim Tamiroff) comes off worst as he even sells off the girl's few garments, leaving her hanging around his boarding house dressed in nothing more than a barely buttock-covering men's shirt, a sight sure to raise some eyebrows in 18th century France ! Much better is the sequence involving the devious Marquis de Bressac (popular German actor Horst Frank, known primarily to Euro horror aficionados for appearing in Armando Crispino's underrated THE ETRUSCAN KILLS AGAIN), whose pan-sexuality is considerably more downplayed than it was in Claude Pierson's astonishing JUSTINE DE SADE a mere three years later, scheming to poison his wealthy spouse (the always welcome Sylva Koscina, once again baring almost all for her art) with or without Justine's help, threatening to let her take the fall if she refuses to comply.Along the way, it soon becomes obvious that the "big name" actors attracted to the production because they had fallen on hard times financially - a slumming Mercedes McCambridge and Jack Palance among them - are the ones behaving most unprofessionally while it's the modest second stringers saving the day. Refuting all accusations of nepotism, ravishing Rohm acquits herself well as usual, remorselessly amoral as Juliette, and Kraut matinée idol Harald Leipnitz (who prominently figured in several of the frothy FRAU WIRTIN a/k/a SEXY SUSAN Terry Torday sex comedies) makes the most out of Justine's insipid love interest Raymond because, yes, adding insult to injury, Franco and/or Towers saw fit to tag on an illogical if allegedly crowd-pleasing true love conquers all happy ending to boot ! Talk about taking the sting out of a scorpion's tail. Even our hapless heroine's ordeal at the hands of an order of lascivious libertine monks fails to generate much in the way of shock value, shot in the foot by Palance over-acting on a level that even Dennis Hopper might have considered beyond the pale. Left to her own devices, the unseasoned Power barely seems to register anything that goes on around her. As for production values, this picture paradoxically ranks among their creators' sterling achievements, spectacularly shot by veteran DoP Manuel Merino and superbly scored by Bruno Nicolai, then at the top of his game just as he was starting to branch out from Spaghetti westerns.

Michael_Elliott Marquis de Sade's Justine (1969) * 1/2 (out of 4) Jess Franco's adaptation of de Sade's story features the biggest budget the director ever worked with and also has one of his most impressive casts but that doesn't mean you're going to get a good movie. Marquis de Sade (Klaus Kinski) is thrown into an asylum where he begins to have visions of two young girls as well as spirits. Justine (Romina Power) and Juliette (Maria Rohm) are sisters who get kicked out of a convent after their father is kicked out of the country. The wilder Juliette goes to work at a whore house but the innocent Justine tries to make good in the world but constantly finds herself being used and abused by various perverts and freaks. I've owned this film on DVD for probably five years but it's two-plus hour running time kept me away. Even though I've seen over ninety Franco films, the long running time scared the hell out of me and after sitting through the film I've gotta wonder in the American version, running thirty-plus minutes shorter, is any better. A lot has been written about Romina Power, Tyrone's daughter, but I've got to agree with what's usually said. She certainly didn't get any of her father's acting talent, although she did get his nose. Her acting range is never strong enough for the part but she does have a beautiful body, which is on full display here. The innocence of her character is certainly there but I believe this is due to Franco who is always able to get this out of his female characters when needed. The supporting cast is highly impressive but most give really embarrassing performances. Kinski is wasted in his mute role and Jack Palance turns in the worst performance I've seen from him. Apparently he was so drunk while making the film that when asked about it years later he had no idea he was actually in the film. Akim Tamiroff, Howard Vernon and Mercedes McCambridge also come off pretty badly. The only saving grace among the cast is Franco regular Maria Rohm but sadly her part isn't very big. The visual look of the film is very good as are all the sets and Bruno Nicolai's score is a masterpiece. Even with that said there's not enough going for this film, which runs out of steam around the thirty-minute mark. Franco would have much better luck with this theme in several future films.

Flixer1957 Derived from a novel by the Marquis De Sade, this is a prime example of Jess Franco having a chance to do something good and outrageous–and blowing it altogether.Sisters Justine and Juliette (Romina Power, Maria Rohm) go their separate ways after the death of their parents. Juliette spends her life chasing degradation and growing rich. Justine pursues virtue only to suffer at the hands of one pervert after another including Jack Palance who gives the overacting job of his career–and for Palance that covers a lot of territory. She also crosses paths with Mercedes MacCambridge as a whore-mistress imprisoned for murder. Franco regular Howard Vernon hams it up in one scene. Akim Tamiroff, Sylvia Koscina and Rosalba Neri also co-star in this mess. Franco himself appears as an emcee in what passed for a strip joint in the 18th Century. He may be flawed as a director but here, he manages to out-act most of the cast.Up to a point, DEADLY SANCTUARY is accurate in terms of its dim world-view. Crime DOES pay, good guys DO finish last and if the good don't die young, it's only so they can put up with a ton of crap while they're still alive. The preaching at the end, about how Juliette's life is empty but Justine will get her reward in heaven, is an unfortunate carry-over from the novel JUSTINE itself.Good news: Klaus Kinski plays the Marquis De Sade. The bad news is that his screen time is brief. He's taken to prison in a four-minute prologue, and the rest of the movie is punctuated by shots of him scrawling with a quill pen and expounding, in badly-dubbed voice-over, on the misfortunes of virtue. His visions of bondage and torture in the prologue are the most enthralling parts of the film. Most people who had Kinski under contract as France's favorite nobleman would have written a whole film around him, turned him loose and let him do some real damage. Not ol' Jess and producer Harry Alan Towers–and some fool even misspelled Kinski's last name in the end credits.Redeeming qualities include rousing (for Franco) crowd scenes, a violent prison break, eye-catching costumes and a great Bruno Nicolai score. However, despite outbursts of sadism and occasional shots of nipples the size of hob-nails, the main effect of this flick is to cure insomnia. And it's not even Franco's worst...

Peter Alan Roberts Poor De Sade, persecuted and imprisoned in his lifetime, misrepresented after his death, and unlike one-time-fellow-prisoner Laclos, author of Dangerous Liaisons, is persecuted and tortured on film. Appalling cinematography, grating music, atrocious acting, and a director who praised Palance's what-was-he-thinking turn and despised the very presence of Power as Justine, although she was almost the only one who wasn't mugging in every scene. What was Mercedes McCambridge on? Dear Klaus Kinski, no wonder he spends his time running desperately from one set of bars to the other: "Get me out of this movie! I'm trapped in it forever!" They even removed his vocal cords. Still, a few points for Power's sweet breasts and eyes, and some other brief anatomical contributions by others. Poor Donatien, even Geoffrey Rush assassinated him while he was dead. At least there is Salo.