HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Taste for Women, A Quite a dish
Year: 1964
Director: Jean Léon
Stars: Guy Bedos, Sophie Daumier, Grégoire Aslan, Edwige Feullère, Gérard Séty, Graziella Granata, Roger Blin, Maria-Rosa Rodriguez, Colette Castelle, Georges Adet, Raoul Delfosse, Gordon Felio, Guido Alberti
Genre: Horror, Comedy, Thriller, WeirdoBuy from Amazon
Rating:  6 (from 1 vote)
Review: Jerome Fenouic (Guy Bedos) is dining at a restaurant with his Aunt Flo (Edwige Feullère) when he becomes instantly smitten with beautiful Violette (Sophie Daumier) seated at the next table. Upon flirting her way into Jerome’s car, Violette realises she has mistaken him for the person to whom she intended to deliver an urgent message. Nevertheless they end up sharing a pleasant evening at his apartment, but the next morning Jerome discovers Violette has vanished without a trace. Searching desperately for his lost love he stumbles across an abandoned apartment and the corpse of an elderly woman surrounded by cats and with a poisoned dart in her eye. Inscrutable police Inspector Palmer (Grégoire Aslan) takes an interest in Jerome whose quest uncovers a sinister conspiracy involving wheelchair bound criminal mastermind Larsen (Roger Blin) and his violent theatre group, a guilt-ridden assassin in old lady drag, pompous guru Mr. Khouroulis (Guido Alberti) and a secret cult dedicated to the celebration of beautiful women... by cooking and eating them!

Co-screenwriters Roman Polanski and Gérard Brach adapted the novel Aimez-vous les femmes (Do You Like Women?) as a darkly comic vehicle for Guy Bedos, France’s most enduringly popular stand-up comedian, and his real-life partner Sophie Daumier. The pair were a fixture on sketch comedy shows and in the pop charts at the time. Despite Polanski’s involvement the film remains unaccountably obscure but viewed in retrospect anticipates the unique style of comedy practiced in The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). Both films bear the same sinister undertones and a distinctive mix of absurdity, cruelty and slapstick that Polanski would push further with films What? (1973) and The Tenant (1976). A Taste for Women shares a familiar preoccupation with hapless heroes entrapped by eccentric bullies, sinister architecture and oppressive societies.

However, the film has a playful whimsicality to it that offsets the darker aspects. Its peculiar brand of slapstick surrealism evokes the films of Frank Tashlin and Charlie Chaplin while juxtaposed with a plot parodying another favourite of French cinefiles: Alfred Hitchcock. Hinging on a case of mistaken identity and a missing blonde, the film interweaves allusions to Vertigo (1958) and North By Northwest (1959), notably a sequence in which the villains get Jerome sloppy drunk in order to fake his suicide. Although Hitch would have likely appreciated the joke much as he did with Mel Brooks’ later, flawed tribute High Anxiety (1977) one suspects he would have been less enamoured with the deliberately meandering storyline. Truth be told the film is more intriguingly odd than consistently funny. A running gag wherein beautiful women keep throwing themselves at Jerome at inappropriate moments only to meet a violent fate is amusing at first but gradually run into the ground. Nevertheless the central love story proves surprisingly sweet.

The film greatly benefits from Bedos’ engaging performance as jittery Jerome complemented by a charming turn from Daumier who has the most enticing voice. At one point she performs a song about sharing a threesome with her twin sister whilst bound captive in a dungeon. To describe the premise as misogynistic arguably misses the point. The film seems to serve up a critique of men’s extreme infantile obsession with the female form. It also musters some moments worthy of a serious horror film, including Jerome’s grisly discovery of the old woman’s body half-ravaged by a legion of cats, and builds to a rousing if undeniably twisted climax.

Reviewer: Andrew Pragasam

 

This review has been viewed 3891 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: