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Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac – Le Chat Qui Fume (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1973
Director: Jesús Franco
Writers: Jesús Franco, Elisabeth Ledu de Nesle
Cast: Montserrat Prous, Anne Libert, Kali Hansa, Jacqueline Laurent, Howard Vernon, Doris Thomas, Francisco Acosta, Manuel Pereiro, Jesús Franco

Release Date: August, 2018
Approximate Running Time: 86 Minutes 44 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD Mono French
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free/Region Free NTSC
Retail Price: OOP

"Ortiz (Manuel Pereiro) is suspected of killing Linda Vargas, a stripper he met during a show. Visiting a friend of the dead, Countess Anna of Monterey, Rosa (Jacqueline Laurent), Ortiz’s wife, learns how Linda has fallen into a spiral of sex and drugs after being assaulted on a fair ride by Ortiz, while she was young." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.2 GB

Feature: 22.7 GB

The source used for this release is in great shape and any print-related damage is minimal. With the bulk of print related damage being cue mark dots that appear at the reel changes, Colors and flesh tones look correct, black levels fare well, and details look crisp.

Audio: 4/5

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in English and a DTS-HD mono mix in French. Both audio mixes sound clean, clear, and balanced throughout. Included with this release are removable English subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an interview with Alain Petit, author of Jess Franco Ou Les Prosperites Des Bis titled The Intimate Journal of Jess Franco (41 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French, no subtitles), an interview with filmmaker Gérard Kikoïne titled The Intimate Journal of Gérard Kikoïne (47 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French, no subtitles) and an interview with actress Jacqueline Laurent titled Jesus and Me with (25 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles).

Other extras include trailers for Eyeball (2 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian, no subtitles), La saignée “The Contract” (3 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), The Blood Rose (2 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French, no subtitles), Come Cani Arrabbiati (3 minutes 50 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian, no subtitles) and Love and Death in the Garden of the Gods (2 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian, no Subtitles).

Included with this release is a region-free NTSC DVD that contains the main feature and the three interviews.

Summary:

The narrative revolves around a young girl from the country named Linda Vargas, whose innocence is taken away due to the perversity she encounters shortly after her arrival in the big bad city. The narrative is primarily told via a flashback by those who came into contact with Linda. With the first half of the film being told via a character named Countess Anna de Monterey’s point of view, The second half of the film shifts the focus to memories from Linda’s diary. Overall, the plot of Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac is one of Franco's most coherent and reality-based erotica films.The story is fascinating from start to finish. There is no fat that needs to be trimmed here as there is never a dull moment.

The cast is exceptional and it features many Jess Franco regulars like Howard Vernon, Montserrat Prous and Anne Libert. Howard Vernon (The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus, Diabolical Doctor Z.) steals every scene he is in despite only having a secondary role. Howard Vernon plays a doctor who tries to cure Linda’s sexual appetite. Howard Vernon doesn’t look like any doctor that I have ever seen. He wears white pastel suits and sunglasses making him look like a detective straight out of Miami Vice.

In the lead role of Linda, there is an actress named Montserrat Prous (The Silence of the Tomb, The Sinister Eyes of Doctor Orloff), who worked with Jess Franco a half-dozen times. Montserrat Prous’s solid performance is what totally sells this film. Through her performance, she actually makes Linda a character who one can sympathize with despite her lack of morals. Montserrat Prous is one of the most beautiful women to ever work with Jess Franco, and it is a shame that she is not held in higher regard among Francophiles.

Another standout role is Anne Libert as Countess Anna de Monterey. Most Jess Franco fans will recognize Anne Libert from films like The Demons, The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein, Dracula Prisoner of Frankenstein, Dracula’s Daughter, A Virgin Among the Living Dead, and Devil’s Island Lovers. My favorite moment with Anne Libert is her first scene, where she is sitting in a law chair on the patio in the sun with oval-shaped sunglasses on.

Visually, Jess Franco is in top form, and one of his more prominent techniques, zooming, is mysteriously missing in this film. And Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac, like so many Jess Franco films, features a nightclub scene. This scene is reminiscent of the one from Vampiros Lesbos with the way it uses red and the way the two female performers interact. Jess Franco even makes a cameo as a detective in Sinner.

What makes Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac so enjoyable is the journey of why Linda died. The narrative, while focusing mostly on Linda as a nymphomaniac, is actually a revenge film in disguise. Even in Linda’s fragile state of mind, she still has the fortitude to devise a devious and poetic revenge against the person who helped shape the sinner she became. The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac features a progressive rock sounding score that also features more rhythmic and percussive musical motifs. The films of Jess Franco are most known for their jazz-infused musical scores, and I liked how Jess Franco embraced a more rock-oriented score for Sinner. Ultimately, Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac is a De Sade-like morality tale about the loss of innocence and the aftermath that follows.

Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac gets a solid audio/video presentation from Le Chat Qui Fume, Recommended.