Blue Rita: Special Edition – Full Moon Features (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Switzerland/France, 1977
Director: Jesús Franco
Writer: Jesús Franco
Cast: Martine Fléty, Sarah Strasberg, Dagmar Bürger, Pamela Stanford, Eric Falk, Esther Moser, Angela Ritschard, Vicky Mesmin, Guy Delorme, Olivier Mathot, Henri Guégan, Néné Kaò, Betty Laure, Roman Huber

Release Date: December 12th, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 78 Minutes 34 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 English, Dolby Digital Mono French
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $34.95

"This lurid, sexually daring shocker follows the exploits of the titular heroine, Blue Rita (Marianne Flety), an exotic dancer and gentleman's club owner who secretly works undercover as a Communist spy. In the basement of the nightclub, Rita and her band of strippers seduce and erotically torture wealthy, important VIP's using a number of effective but unspeakably bizarre methods at her disposal to acquire vital information. Now an avowed lesbian who despises all men, Rita seeks revenge against the brutes that violated her as a child. However, Interpol begins closely observing the ghastly goings on within the club and soon discover the ulterior motives that its proprietors and Blue Rita herself have in mind." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "fully remastered in HD."

Blue Rita comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 18.2 GB

Feature: 15.9 GB

The source for this transfer is in great shape; all print debris has been cleaned up. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity and black levels are strong, and compression is very good.

Blue Rita comes on a single layer DVD.

Disc Size: 3.8 GB

Audio: 3.5/5 (Dolby Digital 5.1 English)

This release comes with two audio options: a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in English and a Dolby Digital mono mix in French. For this review, I only listened to the English-language track since there are no subtitles for the French-language track. The English-language track is in great shape; there are no issues with distortion or background noise. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented. Included are removable English SDH. It should be noted that the English SDH subtitles are only available on Blu-ray.

Extras:

Extras on the Blu-ray disc include a photo gallery (stills/other promotional materials), a 2013 interview with filmmaker Peter Stickland conducted by Chris Alexander in which they discuss Jess Franco (24 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and a vintage Jess Franco VHS trailer reel that contains these films: Oasis of the Zombies, Demoniac (Exorcism), A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Erotikil (Female Vampire), The Screaming Dead (Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein), and The Invisible Dead (Orloff and the Invisible Man).

Other extras on the Blu-ray are trailers for Barbed Wire Dolls, Naked Girl Murdered in the Park, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, Sexy Sisters, Voodoo Passion, and Women in Cellblock 9.

Extras on the DVD include two unrelated Full Moon Feature promos, an interview with actor  Eric Falk titled Slave in the House of Women (7 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo German with burnt in English subtitles), and a vintage Jess Franco VHS trailer reel that contains these films: Oasis of the Zombies, Demoniac (Exorcism), A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Erotikil (Female Vampire), The Screaming Dead (Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein), and The Invisible Dead (Orloff and the Invisible Man).

Other extras include a slipcover.

Summary:

Blue Rita was one of eighteen films that Jess Franco made with producer Erwin Dietrich over a three-year period. Their collaboration began with Downtown and ended with Girls After Midnight.

The narrative revolves around Blue Rita, who runs a criminal organization that tortures wealthy men for their fortune.

When discussing the cinema of Jess Franco, one thing that you quickly notice are the locations that he uses. And when it comes to locations, no location played a larger role than the nightclub. The opening moments of Blue Rita take place in a nightclub, where the dancers strip down to their birthday suits. Besides being a place where men find pleasure, it also serves as the headquarters of Blue Rita’s criminal operation.

With Blue Rita, Jess Franco once again takes a bare narrative and somehow manages to keep things interesting for the duration. Once again, his unique visual eye is a key element that holds everything together. And though some of his camera angles are odd choices, they somehow suit the story at hand. Another strength of the visuals is how Jess Franco employs shots that are bathed in one color, blue, red, or yellow.

Though Jess Franco films are known for their cast of regulars who often work with him, like Lina Romay (she does not appear as Blue Rita), even Jess Franco, who often makes a cameo, does not make an appearance. That said, Blue Rita is mostly made up of actors and actresses who are more connected to Erwin Dietrich than Jess Franco. The most memorable performances are Olivier Mathot (Midnight Party) in the role of Sebascki, a sex-starved spy being held prisoner in Blue Rita’s dungeon, and Eric Falk (Mad Foxes) in the role of Janosch Lassard, a boxer who is well versed in karate.

Blue Rita, like the other films produced by Erwin Dietrich, gave Jess Franco more resources than he usually had to work with, especially when compared to films he made with his own money. Being that this is a Jess Franco film, it is not surprising that there is an ample amount of nudity and some soft-core erotica moments. That said, Jess Franco’s films, especially his 1970s output, have a freeform quality to them that anyone who is looking for conventional cinema will find his type of cinema difficult to digest. Ultimately, Blue Rita is a satisfying mix of erotica and psychedelia that could have only come from the mind of Jess Franco.

Blue Rita gets a first-rate release from Full Moon Features that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a pair of informative extras, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer