TENDER FLESH

Tender Flesh 1997 93 MINUTES DIRECTED BY JESS FRANCO--CAST: LINA ROMAY, MONIQUE PARENT, ALDO SAMBRELL, ALAIN PETIT, ANALIA IVARS, MIKEL KRONIN, AMBER NEWMAN =====================================

(a.k.a. BOCCATO DI CARDINALE) As the title indicates, this is another cannibal movie in the ever-expanding Franco filmography. Recycling elements of his own THE PERVERSE COUNTESS (1973), which in turn was lifted from THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, TENDER FLESH avoids the strictly gross approach of the director's 1980s zombie flicks (THE MAN HUNTER, WHITE CANNIBAL QUEEN). It's more of an updated remake of his 1973 LA COMTESSE PERVERSE, with Lina Romay playing a villain role instead of the victim.

The famous French chef Paul Radeck (Alain Petit) and his predatory wife ( Romay) hire Carlos (Mikel Kronin) to find an uninhibited woman to join them in a sensual island vacation. Joining in the fun and games are international financier Kallman (Aldo Sambrell) and his dominating wife (Monique Parent). Paula (Amber Newman), an American tourist in Spain, is auditioned and paid to join this oddball group. Once at the Radeck estate, the vacation turns into a twisted nightmare for her. Everyone wants to have sex with her. Paul constantly records the activities with a camcorder. The food for the feast is seasoned with Radeck's secret recipe, which includes human urine contributed by a live-in sex slave Furia (Analia Ivars). This disgusting brew is similar to the titular concoction in Franco's 1978 COCKTAIL SPECIAL. Things get really out of hand during a televised "treasure hunt" staged by the Radecks, in which Kallman puts up the cash prize, hidden in a briefcase on a boat, that has to be located within a specified time limit. Paula jumps at the chance, but she is hunted by the rest of the players. In addition to their other perverse habits, they are cannibals who cook and eat their prey after an elaborate stalk and kill.

Franco seems to have reinvented himself as a lightweight satirist with this irreverent comedy-of-manners. Shot in English as a USA-Spanish co-production, Franco combines contemporary American performers with Euro-veterans Aldo Sambrell and Lina Romay. The result is an odd culture clashing erotic adventure. Franco begins the film with an amusing and appropriate quote from James Joyce and keeps his tongue firmly in cheek throughout. Monique Parent is wonderfully bitchy as the huntress while Romay, Sambrell, and Petit wisely underplay their sinister characters to good effect. The one completely over-the-top turn comes from by the statuesque Ivars, as the Super-Freak Furia, a mute (except for one hilarious word at the end) and scantily clad siren with a forever darting tongue. This lizard-woman is perhaps Franco's wildest creation since the bird-woman from EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN.

Also, Franco plays with the relationship between audience and movie. For instance, in the climatic hunt sequence he distances the action by putting a canned laugh track over the sequence, complete with audience whistles and catcalls as things turn bloody. (C)Robert Monell 2024