SEVEN WOMEN FOR SATAN (1974)
Duration: 90 Minutes (Extended), 85 Minutes (Theatrical)
Region: Region-Free
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: English & French DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Michel Lemoine
Cast: Michel Lemoine, Joëlle Coeur, Nathalie Zeiger, Howard Vernon, Robert de Laroche, Martine Azencot
French actor Michel Lemoine (The Castle of Creeping Flesh) stepped both behind and in front of the camera to make this delirious slice of cult cinema about a aristocrat named Boris Zaroff. He is the descendant of a sadistic nobleman named Count Zoroff, a notorious torturer who hunted humans sport on his vast French estate. Boris leads a seemingly mild-mannered life as a successful businessman by day, but when he steps out of the office he returns to his ancestral castle where he follows very much in the footstep's of his infamous ancestor, the film opening with a scene of Boris hunting a nude woman through the forests of his estate while on horseback, eventually chasing her right off a cliff to her death. The fact that you can see the nude and barefoot woman wearing tan tennis shoes as she runs through the terrain sort of lets you know right of the bat that it is gonna be a bit amateurish, but that is not to say it's not gonna be fun, I had a good time with it!
Extras include a 16-minute archival interview with director Michel Lemoine that was also on the previous DVD, and a fascinating 58-minute interview with assistant director/actor Robert de Laroche who speaks of how he met Lemoine when he was working as a film journalist, before he ended up working in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes on a number of productions. There is also specific talk of his experiences making this film and of how the film was banned in France.
Special Features:
- Brand new 4k transfer from a film negative, fully restored.
- Interview with cast member Robert de Laroche (58 min)
- Interview with director Michel Lemoine (16 min)
- Exclusive Extended Version (90 min) HD
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes (38 min)
- Trailer (2 min)
- Mondo Macabro Trailer Reel (14 min)
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: English & French DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Michel Lemoine
Cast: Michel Lemoine, Joëlle Coeur, Nathalie Zeiger, Howard Vernon, Robert de Laroche, Martine Azencot
French actor Michel Lemoine (The Castle of Creeping Flesh) stepped both behind and in front of the camera to make this delirious slice of cult cinema about a aristocrat named Boris Zaroff. He is the descendant of a sadistic nobleman named Count Zoroff, a notorious torturer who hunted humans sport on his vast French estate. Boris leads a seemingly mild-mannered life as a successful businessman by day, but when he steps out of the office he returns to his ancestral castle where he follows very much in the footstep's of his infamous ancestor, the film opening with a scene of Boris hunting a nude woman through the forests of his estate while on horseback, eventually chasing her right off a cliff to her death. The fact that you can see the nude and barefoot woman wearing tan tennis shoes as she runs through the terrain sort of lets you know right of the bat that it is gonna be a bit amateurish, but that is not to say it's not gonna be fun, I had a good time with it!
This film starts off with notes of The Most Dangerous Game with the hunting humans for sport set-up, or perhaps more appropriately Jess Franco's Countess Perverse (1973), and while that sort of remains as a through line it begins to melt away in favor of something a bit more Jess Franco-ish, meaning the plot begins to drift wildly but in it's place we get plenty of eye-catching visuals and erotic naughtiness. Not too coincidentally, the film features frequent Franco collaborator Howard Vernon (She Killed in Ecstasy) as Boris's deviant manservant Karl. Karl seems to have a strange influence over his master, kind of subliminally pushing Boris to continue to commit his murderous acts. There's a reason for that, we get a bit more about it later in the film, with Vernon playing a dual role as Zaroff's bearded father, but this is not the sort of film that cares to explain a whole lot, so I wouldn't come into it expect too much explanation of anything, just let the weirdness wash over you.
Lemoine manages to give the character of Boris a tiny bit of pathos, he does not seem sadistic just for the sake of being sadistic, he seems to be struggling to separate reality from his torture fantasies, almost in a hypnotic state, but you feel like he is being directed, perhaps by Karl or perhaps a supernatural force, still struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife (Joelle Coeur, Schoolgirl Hitchhikers). The bizarre flick is not a bloodbath by any means but the set-ups are fun if a bit corny. Boris is picking up hitchhikers and showering women in champagne before slicing them up, running them down in his car, or sicking his massive hunting hound on his secretary who is seen wearing only a blue feather boa. I would absolutely describe the tone is this as Franco-ish, if I had not known who directed it I would have assumed it was Jess Franco based on what I was seeing. It just has that Franci-feel to it, full of that hallucinatory eroticism and on-the-fly narrative that feels like they were just making it up as they went along, with the final result varying in success from captivating to cornball, but never really dull, just ineptly strange.
One of my favorite corny sequences involves a couple who arrive at the castle looking for lodging after having a bit of car trouble. While settling in for the night the young woman strips nude and does a bit of dancing around the room, till she looks out the window and is startled to see the corpse of the woman in the feather boa alongside that of the hunting hound. Alarmed she calls her lover to the window, but by the time he arrives at the window the bodies have disappeared. Apparently refusing to believe her own eyes she simply goes back to frolicking around the room nude like it is no big deal! Later while exploring the castle the same couple become curious about a particular torture device kept in the basement dungeon, the count obliges their curiosity by tying them willingly to a stone slab, the couple unaware that they are now helpless to stop an iron spiked stone slab from impaling them.
At a certain point the film stopped having a discernible linear plot and seemed happy to go into weirdo euro-cult mode with the demented protaganist continuing to kill a string of women who almost nonsensically appear at his castle, and to that end we get plenty of nude women, some diabolical violence and a weird ghost story that doesn't seem to go anywhere. On a purely traditional storytelling level it all falls apart, but if you're in the proper euro-cult mode the film is a hallucinatory and erotic head trip that should bring a smile to your pervy Franco-loving faces.
Audio/Video: Seven Women For Satan (1975) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro who are upgrading their 2003 DVD release with a new 4K scan and restoration of the original negative. It is presented in 1080p HD and framed in 1.66:1 widescreen. We get two version of the film on this release, the 85-minute theatrical cut and the longer running 90-minute uncut version. The source elements are in good shape with not much of any print damage to contend with, grain is well-managed and appears natural with no evidence of untoward digital manipulation. There is a bit of odd haloing in certain scenes that look like the whites have been over-exposed, it's not ruinous by any measure but it is noticeable. Colors and skin tones look natural throughout, the bare flesh of the women have a warmth and the colors are well-saturated throughout.
Audio on both he theatrical and extended cuts come by way of English and French DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. Some segments of the extended cut were never dubbed into English so those stretches are in French with English subtitles, both tracks offer decent fidelity, but I thought the English-dub offered more depth to my ears.
We also get 38-minute of alternate and deleted scenes that were cut from the film, some of which are quite substantial. These include more footage of the hitchhiker sex scenes and death, a seventh victim, and footage of two men discussing the nature of reality versus non-reality. Some of the scenes have commentary from director Michel Lemoine, but not all, and some are just silent outtakes. Some of this stuff has been re-inserted into the film for the longer running director's cut of the film, also presented here in 1080p HD. The last extras is a two-minute French trailer for the film under the alternate 'Les week-ends maléfiques du Comte Zaroff' title, and a wild 14-minutes Mondo Macabro trailer reel.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single sides sleeve of artwork. Mondo Macabro previously issued this release as a limited red case edition that included reversible artwork and a booklet with writing on the film from by MM's Pete Tombs.
Special Features:
- Brand new 4k transfer from a film negative, fully restored.
- Interview with cast member Robert de Laroche (58 min)
- Interview with director Michel Lemoine (16 min)
- Exclusive Extended Version (90 min) HD
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes (38 min)
- Trailer (2 min)
- Mondo Macabro Trailer Reel (14 min)
Seven Women For Satan (1974) is hallucinatory and sleazy slice of Euro-cult that should prove plenty enticing to the hardened seekers of strange and erotic cinema. The Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro is a significant upgrade with a new 4K scan and a solid set of extras that include both the theatrical and extended cuts of the film in HD. Another top-notch release from Mondo Macabro who continue to scour the dust bins of world cinema looking for the gems and seedy crumbs we never knew we needed to see!
More screenshots from the Blu-ray:
