The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle – Severin Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1982
Director: Jesús Franco
Writer: Jesús Franco
Cast: Muriel Montossé, Ina Balin, Carmen Carrion, Antonio Mayans, Robert Foster, Antonio Rebollo, Flavia Hervás, Angel Ordiales, Al Pereira, Juan Soler

Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 86 Minutes 33 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"When a violent assault upends her uninhibited lifestyle, Emmanuelle (beautiful Muriel Montossé of Franco's Cecilia and Devil Hunter) chooses to pursue a perverse odyssey of machismo, repression and erotic degradation." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “presented in HD for the first time ever.”

The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 35.2 GB

Feature: 25.6 GB

Though the information about this transfer is vague, the source is actually in great shape. Flesh tones and colors look correct, though there are a few moments where the image looks soft (which is most likely intended knowing the cinema of Jess Franco), the bulk of the time the image generally looks crisp, black levels and compression look very good, and there are no issues with digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD Mono Spanish), 3.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. The Spanish-language track sounds excellent. There are no issues with distortion or background noise; the dialog comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced; and range-wise, things sound very good. Also, the Spanish-language track sounds noticeably more robust than the English-language track. That said, the English-language track tends to sound flat. Fortunately, there are no issues with distortion or background noise, and the dialog comes through clearly enough to follow. It should be noted that when watching the English language track, that part of the voice-over narration that is present on the Spanish language track is not on that English track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an archival interview with director Jesús Franco titled Inconfessable Jess(17 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English subtitles), a featurette titled In The Land Of Franco Part 9 with Stephen Thrower and Alain Petit (21 minutes 21 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English and French with non-removable English subtitles for French), and an interview with Stephen Thrower, author of Flowers of Perversion: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco titled Emmanuelle Exposed (28 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles).

Summary:

Once again, we have a Jess Franco adaptation that is nothing more than just in name, as he creates his own scenario around the Emmanuelle character. In fact, according to Franco, the lead character was never going to be named Emmanuelle until the producer of the film insisted on it. The lead character, as seen in The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle and directed by Jess Franco, bears many similarities to the character of Emmanuelle, most notably how she approaches and indulges in sex so freely.

The narrative revolves around Emmanuelle, a woman on vacation who has a sexual awakening that unlocks her sexual desires.

Jess Franco’s direction is really good, and what he is able to achieve on a shoestring budget and with limited time is nothing short of amazing. Through a juxtaposition of shots, locations, and what is going on in The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle, they are given more credence than they would have in lesser hands. One scene that benefits greatly from this juxtaposition of shots is the one where Emmanuelle, who is on her way to reconcile with her estranged husband, is raped by two men on a remote beach. This is by far and away the film's most brutal moment, and the way Jess Franco frames the scene gives it a deeper, more meaningful meaning.

The narrative is straight-forward, and most of the screentime is dedicated to sex scenes. These scenes are all really well done, and some are really inventive, like the opening erotic scene where Emmanuelle and her husband have sex in a wax museum of famous movie personalities. The most pivotal scene involves Emmanuelle and a stripper having sex on stage in front of many bystanders. Jess Franco does a solid job with all the erotica moments; they never look or feel vulgar, and in many ways, this is one of his more normal erotica films that stays closer to the soft-core and never ventures like so many of his films into the hard-core elements of erotica.

The cast is all very good, with the standout performance being Muriel Montossé, under the name of Vicky Adams, in the role of Emmanuelle. It is her performance and beauty that ultimately make The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle work as well as it does. Other notable performances are Carmen Carrión as a lesbian seductress and frequent Jess Franco collaborator Antonio Mayans under the name Robert Foster. Once again, Franco teams up with Daniel White under the name Pablo Villa, who delivers another well-rounded score. Ultimately, The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle may not be classic Franco, but it is a minor erotic classic that his hardcore fans will surely appreciate.

The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle gets a first-rate release from Severin Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a trio of insightful extras, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer