The Countess X (1976)

In-between his personal projects Jean Rollin directed several hardcore movies, mostly under the name of Michel Gentil. It's difficult to review a pure porn movie. I'm not watching stuff like this because I think it's exciting (and it's obviously aimed at a straight audience anyway), but Rollin is still Rollin and it's very interesting to see how he tackles something so generic and boring as a normal porn movie. Not very different than most other porn directors it seems, because it the only way it differs from the rest of the world is the language, and speaking French in a movie always makes it more natural and interesting - at least listening to!

Rachel Mhas plays a thief that takes the identity of the mysterious Countess X that no one has seen. She infiltrates a swingers party, drops some chemicals in the champagne that makes everyone extremely horny and looses interesting in anything else than sex. One man sees her putting the poison in the drinks and pours out his own champagne to be able to see what she plans to do. And of course, while everything is fucking she starts stealing the jewellery - and that's the story.

Cock. Vagina. Sex. Anal. Juicy close-ups. Gegghål. Sperm. Vaginas. Anal, sucking, licking, fucking and everything in-between. It's porn. What do you expect? I mean, this is like every other porn movie - low on story, high on disgusting close-ups. Forget that porn from the seventies was classy and tasteful, this is like a shot-on-video Mega Boobies 22 epic. Not that I've seen such a thing, but you know what I mean.

But still, this is Rollin and his talent is still visible among all the hair and sperm-eating. First of all we have that wonderful cinematography that I always thinks is brilliant in Rollin's movies. It's cheaper and nastier here, but it's beautiful. It's arty (except those close-ups) and naturalistic. Prepare for handheld camera, sometimes slightly out of focus and soft, stunning lighting. I could look at this kind of quality for hours. The directing is quite...how shall I put it? Free? Yeah, free. Some actors, not prepared when the camera comes, looks right at us, dialogue is probably adlibbed directly on the one single take that they needed for most of the scenes. I doubt this took more than two days to film.

What's more interesting is the interview included on the DVD. It's an honest and very fascinating talk with actor Alain Plumey (aka Cyril Val) who talks about his career in the porn business during those eight years he acted. The interview is filmed at the museum he owns and is the curator at, Museumof Eroticism at 72 Boulevard de Clichy in Paris. I never been in "Le Gay Paris", but now I have two places to visit there: this museum and the catacombs underneath the city!

Okey, who am I kidding? I have no idea what more to write about The Countess X. It's a must for fans of Jean Rollin and those that appreciates sex movies from the seventies - and great for us this is just out on a very nice-looking DVD from Njuta Films in Sweden. It also have English subs, so for you pervs outside Scandinavia - there's not excuse for not buying this!