“Eugenie, you’ve just discovered life’s deepest purpose: the quest, the grail mankind has sought throughout the ages – ultimate power of human beings. Yes, the power which comes from the pleasure of giving pain.”
Provocative dialogue like this can only be from one classic film:
“Eugenie!” Her Journey Into Perversion! Christopher Lee’s Most Shocking Movie!
Yes, the Marquis de Sade’s most disturbing work was made into a cult classic, now being released on a great blu-ray!
As you can see, legendary Actor Christopher Lee stars in the film – except he doesn’t!
It’s a classic Hollywood tale: an Actor makes a movie he immediately regrets…but in this case, the Actor is barely even in the film! Time to look into the madness of:
“Eugenie! The Story Of Her Journey Into Perversion!”
I have posted about the films of Director Jess Franco before: he was one of Europe’s most notorious soft-core sex Auteurs, with many of the films starring his wife, the legendary Lina Romay.
As you can see from the subtitles, Franco was obsesses with sex: sex of all kinds. So it’s no wonder he made the greatest adaptation of a Marquis de Sade’s notorious work:
Here is the plot:
Eugenie lives with her stepfather, a famous writer of erotica. One day she reads one of his “erotic” books and she finds herself sexually attracted to her stepfather. He notices this, and eventually brings her into his dark world of sexual perversion and murder!
Well, then check out this movie trailer!
What follows is a whole lot of nudity, shocking sexuality, and Christopher Lee – yes, CHRISTOPHER LEE!
Christopher Lee’s “Shocking” Performance!
As you can see from the movie poster, the film is “guest starring Christopher Lee”…yes, the same Christopher Lee who was in some of the greatest films ever, like “The Lord Of The Rings”…
Christopher Lee’s Sex Movie!
So how did this legendary Actor end up in a European S & M film? Well, it’s a great story that shows what can happen in Hollywood – and the best part is, we can hear from the legendary Actor himself about it!
Lee spoke candidly about his role in “Eugenie” in the book “The Films of Christopher Lee”. Here is his great recollection of the events surrounding his role, beginning with him hearing that another legendary Actor was hired for the movie:
“George Sanders was to have done the picture; for some reason, he was not able to. Then a distinguished German actor was hired. On arriving in Barcelona, where the picture was made, he received word his wife had been killed in an accident. So someone in the production rang me up and asked me if I would come to Barcelona and do it on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, and then go back home. The part was that of Domance, who narrates the story.”
“I saw no reason not to do it: after all, George Sanders, the German actor, etc… So I went to Barcelona. Six months later, to my dismay, I was walking along Old Compton Street, in London, and to my horror I saw this film advertised at the kind of cinema that only shows exploitation films. It seems after I had left, they shot a lot of similar scenes in which everybody took their clothes off. In one scene, I had my back to the action, and behind me it showed some naked girl. This was created by the cutting. I wasn’t pleased. I made my feelings known, but it was to no avail”.
So there you have it, Lee acts in a film without even knowing what the film was about! That said, the film was just released in a terrific blu-ray package, because it is regarded as Franco’s finest film – even if he pulled a fast one on Lee!
This new blu-ray release includes some interview material with Lee as well, so you can hear more about the making of the film, and the “fast one” Franco pulled on the legendary Actor!
This doesn’t seem to surprise me – after all, Jess Franco wasn’t shy about exploiting anyone and everyone, including his wife!
The “Hot Nights Of Linda” is just one of Franco’s notorious sex shockers starring his wife…you can read all about the infamous “banana” scene by clicking here:
http://johnrieber.com/2014/03/11/lindas-shocking-hot-nights-lina-romays-classic-sexploitation/
Franco was quite the Director, making some of the most outrageous – and worst – films of all time:
If you want to read more about this fascinating Director, here is a story about some of his wackiest films:
Let me know if you’ve seen Christopher Lee’s S&M masterpiece!
