Sadomania - Hölle der Lust (1981) - Jesus Franco
Ajita Wilson in Sadomania (1981)
Sadomania - Hölle der Lust (1981) - Jesus Franco
Franco's Sadomania , which stars the late transsexual actress Ajita Wilson as the sadistic lesbian wardress of an island women's prison. The box promises 88m, but the [censored] tape delivers only 69 of them-retaining nudity while rendering incoherent abusive scenes that gave the film its original title. Franco delivers one of his kinkiest cameos ever as a gay white slave trader, introduced while being sodomized by a native boy! --Tim Lucas, HorroticaDescription
Features "gladiatorial combat to the death between naked prisoners, the torture of a prisoner by sticking needles into and around her nipples, the hunting down of a naked woman with guns and dogs, and the rape of a bound and screaming naked prisoner by an Alsation dog, viewed by the governor and his wife as a sexy turn-on". --British Board of Film Classification 1995: Annual Report. 1994—95 London: BBFC, p. 21Trivia
In the scene where Lucas is seen having sex with a young man, the role of the young man is actually played by lead actress Ajita Wilson, minus her wig and wearing a fake mustache. --http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0083019/ [Oct 2004]Trivia
Sadomania is the infamous Women in Prison flick by the king of ultra low budget exploitation films, Jesus Franco, Spain. He has made many immortal films like Love Letter of the Portuguese Nun (nunsploitation, 1977) and Bloody Moon (ultra-gore, 1981), and even though some of his films are worse and not-so-ambitious, he definitely has a talent and is noteworthy film maker. His greatest masterpiece of the films I've managed to see is Awful Dr. Orlof (1962), the black and white horror classic with Howard Vernon. Sadomania is among his dirtiest films and not without a reason.
The ridiculous plot has a newly wed young couple, who is kidnapped during their journey as they drive their wedding car somewhere in Spain. They are taken to the nearby women prison, led by sadistic lesbian warden (the late Ajita Wilson) and some sleazy governor and his wife, and despite the fact that the prison girls/women work hard there, their real reason to be there is to satisfy these leaders' bottomless sexual desires and perversions. Poor women are raped and abused, in the guaranteed Franco style, but it all ends happily for the protagonists and evil and horny sadists meet their fate, again Franco style.
This film is okay if one happens to like these kind of "guilty pleasures" with huge amount of nudity and love making. The sleaze-o-meter is taken as high as possibly when considered the fact that the head warden Wilson was originally born man, but changed his sex to female, and the close ups of this attractive black lady show that her hands and some parts of the body are definitely male and thus her attractiveness tones down a bit (for hetero sexual man), but still, she is very sensual here, albeit her role character is more than repulsive. The other actors are more or less amateurs, but also talented ones. Beautiful females get naked a lot, and that's the thing Franco has always been able to do. Perhaps every frame of the film "once it gets going" involves at least one naked human being, usually female.
The "message" of this film seems to be that of what hides under our "civilized" surface and what kind of animals we are deep inside. Franco uses plenty of segments without a dialogue and some symbolic scenes (like the knife-fight-to-the-death scene), which show and depict the wild beast psyche what hides inside every human being, but in many cases un-active. Another thing is, that the sadists in the film are totally insatiable and hungry for sex, which is perhaps the strongest instinct in human nature and psyche. Sadomania shows us the faces of human nature we wouldn't necessarily want to face, but as we think about the state of the world and what kind of things take place, Franco's thoughts are more than true and serious. The fact that this film is mostly exploitation oriented doesn't mean that the film couldn't have any artistic merits, and Franco definitely wants most of his films to be more than mere exploitation.
Sadomania is noteworthy piece of Franco cinema, and shot with his usual zooms and beautiful images of nature, stained only by the presence of the film's ugly and evil protagonists. Sadomania has also some interesting elements in its soundtrack, which is supposedly composed by the director himself. I give Sadomania 7/10 rating, but that's only possible if one can watch these films and appreciate them despite their many filthy scenes and characters. --Bogey Man, Sleazeland, 2002, http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0083019/ [Oct 2004]
Sadomania : Sinema de Sade (2006) - Jack Hunter, Stephen Barber (Contributor)
Sadomania : Sinema de Sade (2006) - Jack Hunter, Stephen Barber (Contributor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Book Description
Sadomania investigates the zone where the Marquis de Sade's life, literature, and legend most closely collide with cinema.
Featuring directors such as Luis Bunuel, Jesus Franco, Joe D'Amato, and Pier Paolo Pasolini, and covering genres from horror, sexploitation, and hardcore porn to art house and underground, Sadomania covers a plethora of films that are inspired by the writings or life of de Sade.
Illustrated throughout, Sadomania will appeal to fans of erotic film and literature alike.
About the Author
Jack Hunter is an experet on Japanese culture and author of the Japanese film study "Eros In Hell". his other film books include "moonchild', on the films of Kenneth Anger.
Synopsis
First ever book on de Sade and Cinema EXTREME ADULT FILM CULTURE The Marquis de Sade (1740 - 1804) is perhaps the most extreme example of a writer whose actual life history has been inextricably confused with the events and characters depicted in his fiction, resulting in the popular perception of de Sade as some mythic personnification of sexual depravity, cruelty and evil. Sadomania investigates the zone where de Sade's life, literature and legend most closely collide with cinema. Featuring examinations of the films of directors such as Luis Bunuel, Jesus Franco, Joe D'Amato, and Pier Paolo Pasolini, and covering genres from horror, sexploitation and hardcore porn to arthouse and underground, Sadomania covers a plethora of films that are partially or entirely based either on the writings of de Sade, or on de Sade's life, or on some fictional notion of de Sade or his family. Fully illustrated throughout, Sadomania is a comprehensive document of "Sadean" cinema that will appeal to fans of erotic film and literature alike. Covers many different film genres, and directors ranging from Pasolini and Bunuel to Jess Franco and Joe d'Amato; packed with cult movies; Heavily illustrated with rare erotic film stills; Contributors include noted film critics and cultural historians: Stephen Barber, Xavier Mendik, Jack Sargeant...; Number 6 in the acclaimed "Persistence of Vision" series; Jack Hunter is author of many film studies, including: "Eros in Hell", "Moonchild", and "Inside Teradome"; Part of Creation's "Marquis de Sade" season; National press coverage, full online promotion --via Amazon.co.uk
See also: Creation Books - Stephen Barber - Jack Hunter - Sadean cinema
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