“Jean Rollin was one of a select group of European filmmakers (including Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jose Larraz, Walerian Borowzyx,and–some would say–Jesus Franco) who used the horror/sexploitation genre as a means to make arty and/or personal low-budget films. But by the mid 1970’s all the sexploitation directors like Rollin had to compete with the burgeoning hardcore porn industry, and he at least decided that if he couldn’t beat them he was going to join them. Rollin was, of course, far more talented than your average porno hack, but it is virtually impossible to make a good hardcore porn movie given the extreme limitations of the genre–i.e. a very low budget, a very short shooting schedule, a complete lack of professional acting talent, and the need to include one long sex scene after another, which inevitably does in any attempt at story, pace, or character development. Naturally, this is not nearly as good as Rollin’s more legitimate horror/exploitation work, but it is certainly better than your average hardcore sex flick.Read More »
