"Feminine Carnivores"-who could resist watching the film with such lovely title?I could not.Basically "Feminine Carnivores" is about a woman,who checks into a health spa-clinic secretly inhabited by cannibalistic and very sexy feminists who enjoy killing and eating men.One gory and surreal scene shows a body being dismembered and ground up by a sadistic nurse.Is it part of the woman's nightmare or is it real?"Feminine Carnivores" is worth checking out for its psychedelic atmosphere,funky 70's fashion style and beautiful,often nude ladies.This is perhaps the only movie I know of that has a group bra burning and a man being split down the middle with a table saw.The quality of my copy is hideous,but I strongly doubt that "Feminine Carnivores" will be ever released on DVD.6 out of 10.
5 Reviews
Psychedelic S.C.U.M
christopher-underwood8 October 2013
Well, WTF, I think is the current expression, most apt after watching this, admittedly little seen movie from 1970. No narrative structure to speak of but still plenty happening and good looking it all is too. Ostensibly about a young girl with some psychological problem affecting her sex life visits a clinic that turns out to only be occupied by women, baring some ape man figure who appears now and again. It seems the women have a certain disregard for men and they seem keen to entrap them and kill and possibly eat them. There is a fine sequence of a praying mantis dealing with the male of the species in a similar manner and other clues as to where this may be leading. In fact there is only one gory sequence that comes right near the end, though it is worth waiting for as we see a guy sliced down the middle with a circular saw. in the meantime we are treated to many a psychedelic sequence with crazy music, mad dancing and nudity. I must also mention that there is a pretty decent sequence where a whole host of women of all shapes and sizes actually rip off their tops and dancing round a fire, burn their bras. There is even a brief shot of the Solanas book, S.C.U.M and surely only the Italians would react by making a film so literally in that vein.
Eve, Adam and a garden... but that's not all!
punishmentpark12 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
The young and beautiful woman Eve gets off the train in Van Maren, a little town that is sort of a spa for women. She is to see a female doctor in a special institution there with again only women, except for Adam, the ogre-like gardener. Adam and Eve and a garden, yes...
It is the premise that was based on the book 'S.C.U.M. Manifesto', I just learned. Eve's treatment is interrupted (or catalyzed?) by the murder of a man (who came into town by accident) the very first night, and from then on her life becomes a nightmare. She witnesses murders, the police will not help her, she falls in love with a possible new victim and she learns about the ways of the praying mantis...
The film is exuberant in almost every way: camera work, colors (especially red - lights and blood), music, pretty young (and often naked) women make this a trippy experience even if the set-up (the 'is it real or is it a dream?'-story working a circular motion) is a familiar one.
For other memorable details I could refer you to the other reviews here on IMDb, but in short: bra burning, man cut in half by buzz saw and female praying mantis eating a male congener. A very decent 7 out of 10 from me.
It is the premise that was based on the book 'S.C.U.M. Manifesto', I just learned. Eve's treatment is interrupted (or catalyzed?) by the murder of a man (who came into town by accident) the very first night, and from then on her life becomes a nightmare. She witnesses murders, the police will not help her, she falls in love with a possible new victim and she learns about the ways of the praying mantis...
The film is exuberant in almost every way: camera work, colors (especially red - lights and blood), music, pretty young (and often naked) women make this a trippy experience even if the set-up (the 'is it real or is it a dream?'-story working a circular motion) is a familiar one.
For other memorable details I could refer you to the other reviews here on IMDb, but in short: bra burning, man cut in half by buzz saw and female praying mantis eating a male congener. A very decent 7 out of 10 from me.
Shoddy and all over the place, lacks focus entirely
Horst_In_Translation11 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Die Weibchen" or "Little Women" or "The Females" truly is a European movie as it is a collaboration between West Germany, Italy and France. The title here on IMDb is German as is the writer, but the director is Czech. The cast is a mix of German and French actors and the language I watched this film in (perhaps the one that is the easiest to find) is Italian. So lots of multicultural aspects we have here. Lead actress is Uschi Glas and there is no denying how gorgeously stunning she was back then in her mid-20s. People who only know her from "Fack Ju Göhte" nowadays will probably be surprised to find her in some horror thriller movie like this one here. At 75 minutes, it is a really short one, but I believe that is a positive thing as very little about this worked out fine unfortunately. The performances were nothing special at all and the script went for cheap thrills that weren't working that often either instead of going for depth, interesting character development or subtlety. As a consequence none of it is really convincing, neither the scare factor, nor the romance, nor the story as a whole.
This is the tale of a young woman who goes to a health clinic, but health (and sane people) is exactly the one thing she won't find there as everybody is apparently even more of a maniac than she is. There is no graphic stuff, no sex really, no violence either and this is what makes a difference between this film and a Jess Franco film for example that also could have had the same title as he did some German-language stuff with Erwin C. Dietrich. Anyway, overall the scenes of Glas just standing there doing nothing except staring at the camera summarize the film nicely (even if it is fairly nice staring back at her). It is all very bland and depth is nothing you find here. Whatever goals, Brynych and Purzer/Flügel had here, I don't think they achieved anything. 4 stars out of 10 is still really very much on the generous side for this prime example of forgettable style over substance. Don't watch.
This is the tale of a young woman who goes to a health clinic, but health (and sane people) is exactly the one thing she won't find there as everybody is apparently even more of a maniac than she is. There is no graphic stuff, no sex really, no violence either and this is what makes a difference between this film and a Jess Franco film for example that also could have had the same title as he did some German-language stuff with Erwin C. Dietrich. Anyway, overall the scenes of Glas just standing there doing nothing except staring at the camera summarize the film nicely (even if it is fairly nice staring back at her). It is all very bland and depth is nothing you find here. Whatever goals, Brynych and Purzer/Flügel had here, I don't think they achieved anything. 4 stars out of 10 is still really very much on the generous side for this prime example of forgettable style over substance. Don't watch.
A cautionary satire on "Women's Lib"
melvelvit-11 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Before she became famous for 15 minutes after shooting Andy Warhol in 1968, militant feminist Valerie Solanas penned "SCUM Manifesto", which "argues that men have ruined the world, and that it is up to women to fix it. To achieve this goal, it suggests the formation of SCUM (Society For Cutting Up Men), an organization dedicated to overthrowing society and eliminating the male sex." Was it satire or dead serious? Many thought the latter -which made it ripe for lampooning- and who better than Andy Warhol's factory crowd in 1971's WOMEN IN REVOLT which turned the feminist movement into PIGs (Politically Involved Girls)?
"Women's Lib" was a shock to the status quo and ridiculed on screen almost from the get-go; the year before Warhol et al had their way with it, there was Gore Vidal's MYRA BRECKINRIDGE and Zbynek Brynych's CARNIVOROUS FEMALES which was set in the scenic town of Van Maren where, at Dr. Barbara's all-girl clinic, Eve goes for a rest cure. The cure includes LSD which could account for the male corpses she keeps seeing but after reading a book on the preying mantis, Eve's not so sure...
The film starts out seriously enough but a copy of Valerie Solanas' "SCUM Manifesto" on display in the local library and a bra-burning rally in town are in-your-face indications things are about to go off the rails. I thought for sure I'd be heading into SOYLENT GREEN territory but no, men are ground up for cat food (beating Ted Mickels' THE CORPSE GRINDERS by a year) and body parts of the particularly stupid are kept as souvenirs. The CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI-esque ending was a satisfying way to wrap up a cautionary tale meant to scare the soon-to-be "weaker sex" and seen in the context of its times, the damn thing was actually kinda fun.
"Women's Lib" was a shock to the status quo and ridiculed on screen almost from the get-go; the year before Warhol et al had their way with it, there was Gore Vidal's MYRA BRECKINRIDGE and Zbynek Brynych's CARNIVOROUS FEMALES which was set in the scenic town of Van Maren where, at Dr. Barbara's all-girl clinic, Eve goes for a rest cure. The cure includes LSD which could account for the male corpses she keeps seeing but after reading a book on the preying mantis, Eve's not so sure...
The film starts out seriously enough but a copy of Valerie Solanas' "SCUM Manifesto" on display in the local library and a bra-burning rally in town are in-your-face indications things are about to go off the rails. I thought for sure I'd be heading into SOYLENT GREEN territory but no, men are ground up for cat food (beating Ted Mickels' THE CORPSE GRINDERS by a year) and body parts of the particularly stupid are kept as souvenirs. The CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI-esque ending was a satisfying way to wrap up a cautionary tale meant to scare the soon-to-be "weaker sex" and seen in the context of its times, the damn thing was actually kinda fun.
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