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Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: August 30, 2005.
Director: Bruno Gantillon
Cast: Dominique Delpierre, Alfred Baillou, Mirielle Saunin, Michele Perello
Year: 1971
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The Movie:
Francoise (Mireille Saunin) and Anna (Michele Perello) spend the night in strange remote house and after enjoying each other's company, Francoise wakes up to find Anne is missing. When she goes outside to look for her she meets a strange dwarf in bad eyeliner named Gurth (Alfred Baillou) who tells her he will bring her to Anna if she follows him. She obliges and he takes her on a boat trip to a castle in the middle of an island where she's introduced to the lovely and mysterious Morgana Le Fay (Dominique Delpierre) who soon puts Francoise under her spell.
Eventually Morgana informs Francoise that Anna is indeed in the castle but she finds out that Anna doesn't intend to leave and instead has decided to accept the offer of eternal lesbo life and to become one of The Girls Slaves Of Morgana Le Fay!
God bless the French for giving us some of the finest in arthouse-horror-smut seen anywhere in cult moviedom. There's something soft about the language that gives the girls a little more finesse than we're treated to on this side of the pond and it's always a treasure to see them make out with one another as they do so often in this film. Couple that with the fact that The Girl Slaves Of Morgana Le Fay is an exceptionally well made film on a technical level as well as an erotic level and you've got yourself a film that is as visually stunning as the female performers it utilizes.
Oh, and aside from the dwarf and the lesbian high jinks, there's a pretty interesting story going on as well. Yeah, it's pretty predictable and the ending, despite its best efforts, doesn't come as much of a shocker at all (in fact it's very predictable) but the characterizations are mysterious enough to work and are complimented by some wholly appropriate performances that it all works.
Underneath the ample amounts of supple female flesh on display (And thankfully it's of the pale white kind, or as I like to refer to it - the best kind! Am I revealing to much personal information here? Sorry!) as a keen and creepy little supernatural tale that blends the erotic with some tried and true fairy tale elements. The result is a very 'classical' period piece that relies as much on mood, atmosphere and setting to create its vibe than it does on dialogue or narration.
Pretty much across the board, the performances in the film are quite good. The three female leads each do a fine job with the material and while a lot of the requirements have more to do with the unveiling of specific physical attributes than the delivery of skillfully written dialogue, the talker bits and pieces of the movie work out nicely as well.
The cinematography in the movie is simply outstanding. Every shot is framed with picture perfect precision and the lighting captures every little detail of the castle in which the film takes place. Speaking of the castle, it provides a perfect gothic setting for all the sexy and supernatural shenanigans to occur in, and provides plenty of opportunity for the camera to capture some spooky shadows or dimly light stone corridors to further enhance the already exceptionally thick atmosphere.
Certain shots are captured with a bit of a haze not uncommon in European films that give those sections of the movie a very dreamlike look that works very well within the context of the simple but rather unusual and unconventional narrative.
So while the story isn't going to blow you away, it is an entertaining enough romp that it should easily capture your attention. Add to that a cast of beautiful and often times very naked Eurobabes, some absolutely gorgeous cinematography, a sinister dwarf with bad eye liner and a frumpy smoking jacket, and a creepy creaky and classy old castle and you've got yourself a pretty damn cool little film.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Mondo Macabro's brand new high definition transfer presented in 1.66.1 anamorphic widescreen and taken from original vault materials looks just excellent on this DVD.
The reason it doesn't score a perfect rating is that there is some mild line shimmering and in a couple of the darker scenes you'll notice some minor compression artifacts if you look for them but other than that, the image is fantastic.
The colors are amazingly clean and clear and there's a great amount of detail present throughout the picture. Shadow detail and flesh tones (very important in a movie with this much skin on display) look lifelike and natural and the image is so clean you could eat off of it.
The French language Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack is so clean you could hear a pin drop (that is, if any pins were dropped during the film, and I don't think any were… sorry). The optional English subtitles are free of any typographical errors and plenty easy to read. The film's soundtrack (which kicks no small amount of ass, by the way) comes through loud and clear but never overpowers the dialogue of the sound/foley effects in the movie. As far as old mono tracks go, this one is tops.
Mondo Macabro have done a great job of making a name for themselves by providing not only great audio and video quality on most of their releases but also by stacking their discs with as many interesting and oddball little extra features that they can get their grubby little paws on. This release of The Girl Slaves Of Morgana Le Fay continues that grand tradition - as well as presenting the film completely uncut, it's also got some excellent supplements to offer fans as well.
First up is a short film from director Bruno Gantillon entitled Un Couple D'artistes that kind of set the stage for what the director would accomplish with the feature film presented on this DVD. It's a subtle little movie shot with an eye for careful detail and it makes great use of shadow and some interesting lighting techniques.
An interview with Bruno Gantillon is up next and the director talks about his work on The Girl Slaves Of Morgana Le Fay and also about his career in general. Some interesting clips from throughout his life and his body or work are scattered throughout this interview with plenty of still photographs as well.
A selection of three deleted scenes are included on the DVD as well. These were cut from the French and are included here without audio as no audio has survived from these clips. One of the scenes was only shown once on Italian television and is presented here taken from a rough VHS source (but hey, better to have it in rough shape than not at all).
Aside from that, Mondo Macabro has also supplied the film's original theatrical trailer, an essay on the history of The Girl Slaves Of Morgana Le Fay, biographies on the key cast and crew members involved in the making of the film, and a few still galleries (including a reproduction of a pamphlet used to promote the castle in which the majority of the film was made). The requisite Mondo Macabro promo reel is present on this disc as well, and of course it's all wrapped up under some gorgeous cover art and some fancy animated menus which include a chapter selection feature.
The Final Word:
A gorgeous transfer, great audio, and some seriously solid extras are all shaken in with a feature that delivers equal parts sleaze and class. The Girl Slaves Of Morgana Le Fay is a strange, slow moving and very dreamlike film but one that is very much worthwhile especially in this uncut and remastered special edition.