LET’S GET PHYSICAL: EMANUELLE AND FRANCOISE (1975) ** ½

FORMAT:  DVD

For whatever reason, Emanuelle and Francoise was not included in Severin’s The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle box set, despite the fact that they had previously released it on DVD.  Clips of the film were also featured in that set’s documentary, Inferno Rosso, which made its absence especially conspicuous.  I guess they didn’t want fans to double dip.  Fortunately, I already had it on my “To Be Watched” shelf, so it all worked out. 

Francoise (Patrizia Glori) is a model who comes home early to find her no-good boyfriend Carlo (George Eastman) is cheating on her.  Distraught, she throws herself in front of a speeding train. Her sister, Emanuelle (Rosemarie Lindt) reads her lengthy suicide note and learns Carlo had also pimped Francoise out to pay off his debts.  Emanuelle then sets out to make Carlo pay for Francoise’s death. 

Emanuelle and Francoise is a rare Emanuelle outing directed by Joe D’Amato that doesn’t star Laura Gemser.  It does, however, feature a snappy score that features a few tunes from the previous Black Emanuelle movies.  Because of that, it feels like there is some connective tissue there, despite the lack of Gemser. 

Lindt is a solid replacement, all things considered.  She is plenty hot as she kind of resembles a sexed-up version of Marg Helgenberger.  She also really seems to enjoy tormenting Eastman, which gives the later scenes a little bit of a kick. 

Too bad the pacing is on the deliberate side.  D’Amato also uncharacteristically gives us more tease than please.  Thankfully, once Emanuelle finally sets her plan in motion, it’s kind of fun.  It’s here where she chains up Eastman in her private dungeon and forces him to watch from a two-way mirror as she seduces those near to him.  He eventually winds up so deranged from his predicament that he imagines seeing Emanuelle and her friends participating in a cannibal dinner party/orgy!  The slight detour into horror movie territory doesn’t exactly work, but it adds to the anything-goes vibe.  While D’Amato can’t quite stick the landing, the sometimes ghoulish third act adds to the overall unpredictability of the film.  

All in all, Emanuelle and Francoise is about as uneven as most of these fake Emanuelle movies can get, but it hits more than it misses. 

AKA:  Emanuelle’s Revenge.  AKA:  Blood Vengeance.  AKA:  Demon Rage.