One of the most significant names in the history of '60s and '70s European erotic films, Max Pécas will be a familiar name to readers of Pete Tombs' pivotal genre books thanks to his prominent mentions in Immoral Tales. At least superficially, his films fall within the usual template of French erotica with their studies of young women discovering the joys of sexual rapture and all the psychological complications that entails. However, he also brings a touch of visual class and stylish weirdness to the proceedings, sort of like a more aesthetically restrained Jess Franco at times. He started off doing humid melodramas with Elke Sommer like Daniella by Night that found an appreciative audience in the U.S. thanks to Radley Metzger's Audubon Films, and that trend carried on and off into the 1970s until Pécas briefly veered into more explicit fare (films shot in both soft and hard versions like Sweet Taste of Honey, often with legit actors), and wrapped up his career in the '80s with some frivolous St. Tropez sex comedies and insane Death Squad. Two of his more famous films, I Am a Nymphomaniac (also shown in the U.S. as The Sensuous Teenager) and I Am Frigid... Why?, were shot as vehicles for star Sandra Julien, whose short career included starring in Jean Rollin's The Shiver of the Vampires, Ravishing Dany, and Tokagawa Sex Ban). As the director himself noted with dismay, the first film did far better since audiences would rather watch a nymphomaniac than someone who's frigid, but both films, released together as a double feature Blu-ray in 2024 from Mondo Macabro (including a limited edition with a bonus third film, Private Club), deliver the deranged goods with plenty of weird story turns, stylish lighting, swooning music, lush beach-side scenery, and game performances by Julien at her peak.

Delivering exactly what the title promises, I Am a Nymphomaniac (co-written by Pécas and the outrageous Claude Mulot of The Blood Rose fame) unfolds through the eyes of young Carole (Julien), who lives with her conservative, constantly whining father and meek mother. Thanks to her parents' oppression, she rebuffs her current boyfriend and coworker, Eric (Hitier), during a romantic date at the beach and exhibits disgust at some hippies making out on the beach. Soon after she experiences self-described "love at first sight" in her apartment building after spying a handsome man in the hallway, but the distraction causes her to plunge down an elevator shaft. The injury leaves her unconscious for days with minimal physical damage, but psychologically the experience has turned her into... yep, you guessed it, a raging sex machine. At first she discovers the joys of her own body in a mirror, then turns her attentions to Eric who's quickly overwhelmed by her new appetite. After unwisely getting it on with her incredibly gross boss' nephew, she sets off for Paris where she ends up with the cosmopolitan bisexual Murielle (Succubus' Reynaud) and Bruno (Seven Women for Satan's Lemoine, Reynaud's real-life husband at the time). A few masked orgies and random partners later, she seems to be heading down a destructive road with only helpful shrink Michel (Verde) offering a chance for salvation.

Completely absurd and utterly enjoyable, this one makes for a great showcase for Julien and doles out just enough eroticism to appeal to the couples crowd. That doesn't stop Pécas and company from going wild in a few scenes though including a crazy hallucination bit and lots of grief for our poor heroine before things eventually take a more romantic turn. Reynaud is a powerful presence as always, while everyone else mostly gets to look very serious and stroll around in chic clothes. Released in the U.S. by Mahler Films (who also handled Deep Red), this one hasn't had much of a home video history but looks very nice here taken from a well-preserved print with sufficient detail and color saturation to help appreciate the voluptuous color schemes. The original French and dubbed English tracks are included in DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono tracks that both sound fine, with optional English-translated subtitles provided.

Julien undergoes more sexual trauma of a different kind in I Am Frigid... Why?, which answers its own question by the time the main titles finish as we see sweet Doris (Julien) being sexually assaulted in a greenhouse by perverse siblings Eric (Terrade) and Carla (Pascal). To buy her silence, Carole gets packed off to a rich kids' school where she feels emotionally isolated from everyone else and suffers from regular nightmares. Fellow student Léa (Don't Deliver Us from Evil's Wagener) tries to help her with some schoolgirl fiddling under the covers during a thunderstorm, but it's clear Doris' issues run deep. Naturally that means she has to head off to Paris for some Belle de Jour-style emotionless prostitution, more masked orgies (this time at that underground swimming pool house seen in many, many French erotic films), an ongoing stint in an experimental theatrical troupe, and ongoing attempts to cure her frigidity once and for all.

Despite what you'd expect from the title, this one still comes through with plenty of steamy shenanigans, a more upbeat performance by Julien here (weirdly enough), some Parisian travelogue footage with Julien and theater manager Thierry Murzeau nearly getting creamed in traffic, and the usual saturated red and pink lighting all over the place. This one was picked up Audubon for its American release with four outtake scenes added in for extra prurient value, two of which have been reinstated from the negative here for the longest presentation to date with both the English and French tracks again with English subtitles. Quality is excellent throughout apart from a little green scratch in the restored footage. The remaining extra U.S. footage is included here as a VHS-sourced extra (13m18s) including a wacko Marquis De Sade recreation and a strange gender-bending theater performance involving a piano, a coffin, and lots of booty shaking in white wigs. Also included here is the Mondo Macabro TV episode devoted to Pécas, "I Am a Nymphomaniac" (24m35s), featuring amusing interview footage with the man himself chatting about his rise from assistant director during the early French New Wave to exploitation king, interspersed with critical appraisals and lots of lively film clips.

Reviewed on November 25, 2024.