Tender Flesh — Tender Flesh(DVD)
Artus films is a French DVD label- so much of their focus of is on releasing French versions of cult films- but with this release of Tender Flesh we get both English & Spanish versions of the film, and each of these have French subtitles. The release is a two-disc region 2 DVD, and on the second disc we get a fair selection of extras- many of these are in French language, so this limits the appeal to none French-speaking people like myself, but there are a few rather worthy behind the scene features- where we see Franco filming & interacting with the actors, and longest of these is From Malaga With Love- this is a forty minute feature, that comes in three different versions- one with French commentary/ voice over, one with just music, and one without either commentary or music- and this really does give a very nice insight to Franco’s working methods in his later years.
Anyway let’s move onto the film its self- Tender Flesh appeared in 1997, and was 179th film directed by Franco. The film's plot finds rather naïve & young stripper been paid a large sum of money to go to an island with a group of rich perverts- and what in sues is all manner of sleaze, and later murder. Longtime Franco muse & partner Lina Romay plays the strippers madam Mrs. Radeck, and she does an effective enough creepy & sleazy turn as skinhead leader of the action, though at times her rather thick accent is rather difficult to fully discern on the English version of the film.
I guess the best way to proceed with the review is talking about the pros & cons of the film, and then you can decide if it’s for you. On the negatives first & foremost is the soundtrack which is to be frankly a mess- it moves from extremely bland REM-like euro guitar music, through to more rocky instrumental numbers, onto more moody & effective blends of stripped back church organ brood & haunting female vocalising- often there seems little rhyme or reason to the placing of the music, and fairly often it does ruin scenes, as it just doesn’t fit the mood. Next , and I guess you could level this at many Franco films; the acting is very, very mixed- as I mentioned early on Romay does a good enough turn, and the remaining rich perverts are ok- but the stripper’s boyfriend (who often sports cult film shirts) is frankly bland & often wooden, as is some of the other supporting cast. Lastly, and again I guess you could level this at many of Franco’s filmography, the soft-core interplays are often stretched out way, way too long- and really try one's patience.
On the plus side- there are some fairly classic examples of Franco's erotic dance scenes- first, we get the opening credits number, which sees the young stripper be coerced by Romay to undress & act-up. Next, we get a rather bizarre & seedy sequence where the stripper is dancing around these weird bandage wrapped mannequins who have false erect members. Other positives come in the form of a really unsettling-to- haunting S&M torture scene- we see the stripper first get badly whipped, then we get kaleidoscopic effect layered images of the rich pervert's caressing her body. Lastly, when the more stalk & murder moments kicking in the last twenty or so minutes, the soundtrack is stripped completely back save for some rather unsettling & jarring laughter & crowd noise.
After becoming more & more fascinated by Franco, and seeing large chunks of his classic period it’s great to check out his later work. Sure Tender Flesh is far, far from a masterpiece- but if you compare it to the later work of other cult auteurs like Dario Argento, John Carpenter, and Lucio Fulci- at least Franco was sticking to his guns creating work that still had his distinctive feel/ vision, he didn't sell-out, and from time-to-time he slowed flashes of brilliance.