Color, 1971, 86 mins. 29 secs.
Directed by Bruno Gantillon
Starring Dominique Delpierre, Mireille Saunin, Michéle Perello, Regine Motte, Alfred Baillou
Mondo Macabro (UHD, Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 4K/HD/NTSC), Another World (DVD) (Norway R0 PAL) / WS (1.66:1) (16:9), Pagan (UK R0 PAL) / WS (1.66:1)


A particularly odd and dreamy entry in the French erotic horror sweepstakes initiated by Jean Rollin and The Blood Rose, the unheralded Girl Slaves of Morgana le Fay (Morgane et ses nymphs) features the usual genre staples like a forbidding castle, an insatiable villainess, a bevy of potential female initiates, and even a sex-crazed dwarf, but its hypnotic artistry easily puts it in a realm all its own. Cleverly riffing on the Mallory version of the King Arthur legend, the story follows two modern day girls, Françoise (Saunin) and Anna (Perello), whose afternoon road trip takes them to a strange house where they spend the evening. The next day, Françoise finds Anna missing from their bed and follows a sinister, gray-haired dwarf, Gurth (Baillou), on a boat to a mysterious castle. There the mythical Morgana le Fay (Delpierre) welcomes her and offers a choice: she can either become an immortal, sapphic resident of the castle (as Anna has already chosen), or she can grow old in the dungeon with the other party poopers. Soon all the castle girls are spending their time having banquets, licking each others' calves, spilling wine on their bare breasts, and stringing each other up with colorful ribbons for light bondage.

Rarely seen in its native country and completely unknown to English-speaking viewers until its release in the early days of DVD via Pagan in the UK, this debut film from future TV fantasy helmer Bruno Gantillon (Highlander, The Hitchhiker, and tons of Canadian and French programs) would actually play better alongside the works of Walerian Borowczyk than Rollin or other French sleaze favorites like Seven Women for Satan. (Or considering its fetishistic masked sex parties, you Girl Salves of Morgana le Faycould bill it up with Sin in the Suburbs.) The entire film is extremely well photographed with a careful eye for colorful, erotically-charged details; though the women show off a fair amount of skin, the nudity never seems gratuitous. The sparse but haunting score keeps the ear occupied as well, and the story - which makes subtle but clever use of its titular witch queen character - remains unusual enough to carry the viewer through some of the more languorous passages.

Unlike the rather unremarkable-looking flat letterboxed U.K. DVD from 1999, Mondo Macabro's American release was a visually satisfying presentation in 2005 from the original negative; as an added bonus, it reinstates several minutes (about four or five judging from PAL conversion) of heaving breasts and fetishistic caressing censored from the original release version. None of this helps the story along, of course, but who cares? The mono dialogue sounds crisp and clear, and the optional English subtitles are sharp and legible. The extras section kicks off with Gantillon's stylish, earlier short film, "An Artistic Couple" ("Un couple d'artistes") (13m15s), which carries the Borowczyk comparison even further as it tells another macabre variation on Roald Dahl's "The Landlady" about hospitable hosts hiding perverse intentions for their guest. Forget the predictable story and enjoy the sumptuous visuals, which make one sorry Gantillon didn't direct more financially robust projects later in his career. The director himself turns up for a solid 10m57s video interview in which he talks about his early short work, the main feature, and his subsequent activities; you also get three short (1m23s) deleted scenes (two silent, one from a rough-looking Italian TV broadcast) that offer some alternate footage and illuminate one interesting plot point. Other bonus material includes a typically thorough Mondo Macabro essay detailing the film's history, Girl Salves of Morgana le Faycast and crew bios, still and promotional galleries, the French trailer, and that familiar Mondo Macabro "also available" reel.

Mondo Macabro later revisited the title in 2025, first as a limited site exclusive UHD and Blu-ray edition and then as a general retail Blu-ray release. Featuring a new 4K scan from the film negative (and running slightly longer by about 40 seconds by adding in some of that deleted material), it's presented with the usual French DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono audio with optional English subtitles. The presentation is quite different compared to the DVD, looking much cooler throughout and with much of the running time (mainly the last reel) leaning heavily on the teal side. The Gantillon short film is ported over here in a new HD scan (also much cooler in appearance) with optional English subtitles, while Gantillon himself appears for a very solid new audio commentary with Lucas Balbo and lone English-speaker Pete Tombs covering everything you could want to know about the production process. From the agencies used for casting to the location scouting to the censorship done without his knowledge, it's all here with plenty of context for what else was happening in France and throughout Europe at the time. The archival interview with Gantillon is included here, but he also turns up for a two-part new interview, "Bruno Gantillon Holds Up the Ceiling" (26m28s and 16m41s) interviewed by Balbo and Tombs about his entire life and career starting off working on the film Cannabis and going through a number of big screen and TV projects (plus bits about his family's entertainment connections and relevant fashion tidbits). Then you get a fascinating in-depth interview with Delpierre about her upbringing in Lille, her initiation into the world of theater, her modeling work that led to film roles, her high-profile casting in Joseph Strick's Tropic of Cancer, and a number of productions in addition to this one that look like they'd be very much worth a look. Also included are the remaining 48s of deleted material pulled from the same dupey TV broadcast, the theatrical trailer, and a 5-minute gallery of lobby cards, posters, and other publicity material.

Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

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Mondo Macabro (DVD)

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Updated review on June 22, 2025