Rote Lippen, Sadisterotica (1969)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writers:

Jesus Franco (writer)
Luis Revenga (writer)

Release Date:

28 March 1969 (West Germany)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Plot:

"Red Lips" are two female detectives trying to find missing models and dancers. A pop artist called Klaus Thriller and his werewolf-like assistant...

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Female Detective | Sculpture | Beautiful Woman | Painter

Cast

Janine Reynaud	...	Diana
Rosanna Yanni	...	Regina
Adrian Hoven	...	Mr. Radeck
Chris Howland	...	Francis McClune
Alexander Engel	...	Albert Carimbuli
Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui	...	Insp. Tanner
Manolo Otero	...	Vittorio Freda
Dorit Dom	...	Dancer (as Maria Dom)
Ana Casares	...	Thiller's Assistant
Michel Lemoine	...	Morpho
María Antonia Redondo	...	Lida Regnier
Vicente Roca	...	Gallery manager
Jesus Franco	...	Napoleon Bolivard
Elsa Zabala	...	Fashion store owner
Marta Reves	...	Girl in Hotel lobby

Also Known As:

Der Wolf - Horror pervers (West Germany)
El caso de las dos bellezas (Spain)
Red Lips (literal title)
Sadist Erotica (USA)
The Case of the Two Beauties
Two Undercover Angels (USA)

Runtime:

92 min | West Germany:81 min | Germany:75 min (video release)

Country:

West Germany | Spain

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Spain:18 | West Germany:18

Company:

Aquila Film Enterprises

Movie Connections:

Followed by Küß mich, Monster (1969)

A real mess from Jesus Franco

Sadisterotica is a great title for a film. Sadly, the title is more or less the only good thing about this effort. This is a real mish-mash of ideas. It's part horror, comic-book hero, comedy, sexploitation and mystery. And really, it doesn't do justice to any of these genres! The plot follows a couple of women investigating a series of murders connected to a mysterious artist.

This is a Jesus Franco film, so expectations have to be lowered accordingly. The man has made some decent flicks such as Vampyros Lesbos and Count Dracula but he's also made an awful lot of dreck. This baby fits into the latter category I'm afraid. Technically it's terrible with a succession of badly photographed scenes roughly edited together. The actors are unappealing and the storyline dire. The version I watched also happened to have truly diabolical dubbing which did not exactly help matters.

The comedy is hopeless, the horror completely unscary, the nudity unerotic, the mystery uninvolving; the only positive I can offer is that it is pretty weird. Other than that I'm really struggling to think of anything kind to say about this. Franco is an acquired taste and this is not one of his best.