Blu Release – 3/5
I Am a Nymphomaniac
Director – Max Pecas (Sweet Taste of Honey, Brigade of Death)
Starring – Sandra Julien (House of Cruel Dolls, Freddy), Janine Reynaud (Two Undercover Angels, Operation White Shark), and Yves Vincent (Surprise Party, Knights of Terror)
Release Date – 1971
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “You have read about it. The Sensuous Teenager is now a motion picture”
Exploitation cinema is one of the main reasons behind why I started writing reviews. I wanted to cover forgotten direct to video action flicks and the thousands of exploitation films lost to time. I’ve always been fond of exploitation flicks with blaxploitation and hixploitation being my favorite sub-genres of it. When I started my run writing reviews I never expected to find sexploitation flicks sent to my mailbox for review but over the years I’ve reviewed dozens, if not hundreds of them. Hell, I’ve actually enjoyed most of them when I reviewed them.
A few weeks ago Mondo Macabro sent over a double feature of I Am a Nymphomaniac and I Am Frigid…Why? The first one of the chopping block was I Am a Nymphomaniac which was originally releases as The Sensuous Teenager. Like always, I want to thank Mondo Macabro for sending this one over.
**Spoiler Alert** This one follows a beautiful young woman who sees a man for the first time and finds herself becoming hot and bothered. Not paying attention to where she is going, she falls down some stairs and hits her head. She walks away from the accident with minor injuries but the incident forever changes her. A once prude woman, she is now consumed with sex and tries frantically to screw everyone she can while trying to live a rather normal life. **Spoiler Alert**
I went into this one completely blind aside from the fact that it was an erotic drama. It wasn’t until I wa putting my review together that I saw that it was directed by Max Pecas who also directed Brigade of Death, or Death Squad, that was also released by Mondo Macabro. I was lucky enough to review this several months back and really enjoyed it and was surprised to see that he helmed both of these films. I Am a Nymphomaniac is a solid sexploitation flick that does rely heavily on the sleaze but still delivers a decent enough story.
The acting in this one is great. You will see several familiar faces from genre films and they all give it their all. With that being said, no one in this film will be winning awards for their performances but they are still solid especially for a skin flick. The story for this one id so fucking clever for a sexploitation flick. A stuck up woman hits her head and becomes sex crazed. That’s absolutely brilliant and instead of that being the end of the film we get the added stress and drama you would expect from a person obsessed with sex as they try to hold down a real job and so on. It’s a well written film that does a great job holding the viewer’s attention.
Finally, no blood in this one for you sick fucks. Instead, a lot of skin and some moaning for the other sick fucks. Overall, I Am a Nymphomaniac is a surprising fun skin flick that has one of the most fitting stories I’ve seen this far in my writing career. I highly recommend snagging a copy from Mondo Macabro.
I Am Frigid…why?
Director – Max Pecas (Brigade of Death, I Am a Nymphomaniac)
Starring – Sandra Julien (The Shiver of the Vampires, House of Cruel Dolls), Marie-Goerges Pascal (5 Kittens, Good Little Girls), and Jean-Luc Terrade (Dossier 51, Bel Ordure)
Release Date – 1972
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “She was hot ice… learn how she melts”
Sexploitation may not be everyone’s cup of tea. In fact, I’ve met an handful of fans over the years and while I am fairly knew to the exploitation sub-genre, I’ve been fortunate enough to review dozens of these films over the years. It’s a sub-genre that I never expected to like but once I dipped my toes in, so to speak, I was absolutely hooked. Not many boutique labels cater to this type of filth but companies like Mondo Macabro has released several must see titles from the exploitation heyday.
Recently, they sent over a double feature of works from Max Pecas. The films, I Am a Nymphomaniac and I Am Frigid….Why?, feature similar stories but told from very different aspects. After I watched the first film in the set I quickly made my way to the second. Like always, I want to thank Mondo Macabro for sending this one over.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a young woman who finds herself being taken advantage of by a man and his sister. This destroys her sex drive so she resorts to sleeping with everyone she can in hopes of re-awakening her sex drive.
I Am Frigid…Why? is a solid sexploitation film that does foster similarities to the other film included in this double feature. Both of these films are rather enjoyable, especially for a first time watch, but I don’t see myself revisiting them anytime in the near future. These are the types of films that you can watch once every decade or so but anymore than that will leave you feeling a bit bored.
The acting in these fit the film very well but there was several scenes where the cast just didn’t feel that dedicated to the film. While these scenes were short in nature, they do stick with the viewer and become somewhat unintentionally funny. The remainder of the film is well acted which makes these scenes in particular stand out more than normal.
The story for this one has a lot of similarities to I Am a Nymphomaniac. The film follows a woman who suffers a traumatic experience and is sent down a lustful path in order to cure herself. In I Am a Nymphomaniac, a woman suffers a horrible fall and awakens a nympho. In this film, a woman is abused by a man and his sister and turns to sex in order to rekindle her sex drive. While both stories are similar in that regard, they are very much different in how the scenarios play out. We get a lot of sleaze and a surprisingly large amount of character development. It’s a well written film that has great pacing and a lot of skin to look at.
Finally, this is not a bloody flick that most of my readers would expect. While the one scene may be unnerving for some, the remainder of the film is more mellow with lots of skin to look at. Fans of sleaze will truly appreciate this one. Overall, I Am Frigid…Why? is a solid sexploitation film. It’s not one that has a lot of replay value but if you are looking for something a bit different then this one is for you.
Special Features:
Documentary about Max Pécas.
Deleted scenes.
