If you into B-movies like me you should watch it. Lets see--chicks hot, plenty of skin, music ok, plot reasonable and men do what men always do.
So, in short, producer did good job.
2 Reviews
Too bad its transfer from VHS.
alexferdman-9860212 June 2020
The Prime of Monsieur Jean-Marie Pallardy
Nodriesrespect28 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Former French fashion model Jean-Marie Pallardy parlayed the numerous jet set acquaintances he had accumulated over years of treading the catwalks and an overwhelming passion for all things cinematic, especially the glamorous lifestyle these traditionally came with, into a remarkable filmmaking career which - until its recent DVD resurrection by offbeat Continental company Le Chat qui Fume - barely received any attention whatsoever let alone the respect that is long overdue. The ten titles thus far released offer a nicely representative cross section of his always competent and frequently inspired but invariably unabashedly commercial achievements. They run the gamut from frothy farces like his head-scratchingly odd EROTIC DIARY OF A LUMBERJACK and the surprisingly ambitious TRUCK STOP, re-imagining Homer's Odyssey in contemporary sexploitation terms, to the maudlin melodrama of A VERY SPECIAL WOMAN and LA DONNEUSE, not to mention his notorious naughty western combo of L'ARRIERE-TRAIN SIFFLERA TROIS FOIS and GUNFIGHT AT OQ CORRAL ! A lover of beautiful women and the good life, Pallardy always made sure to include plenty of both, as well as a perhaps less obvious though equally heartfelt plea for a return to nature as a viable alternative for the bustling big city which constantly runs through his work.
While he has freely admitted a tendency to take it easy on set, the yearning for artistic achievement often running a distant second to the creature comforts his productions provided (such as great food and wine and luxury hotels packed with stunning starlets), his occasional stabs at Hitchcock style suspense, like his demented debut L'INSATISFAITE and the tabloid-inspired MY BODY BURNS, reveal an adult "auteur" of considerable power and prowess, as capable of staging a tension-filled set piece as a steamy sex scene. His best thriller by far, HOT ACTS OF LOVE reaps the benefits of a compelling self-penned screenplay, generally solid acting and lavish location shooting on the rugged isle of Corsica, courtesy of classy DoP Jacques Robin who did a sterling job on Alain Jessua's still disturbing SHOCK TREATMENT. Lush romantic theme music by former band leader Eddie Warner, a regular contributor to carnal cinema soundtracks throughout the decade, provides icing on the cake.
A noteworthy skin flick supplier in his own right, the unmistakable Michel Lemoine headlines as Francis Baumel, profoundly troubled heir to the family fortune with his beloved brother Patrick, the latter promptly dispatched by devious sister in law Laurence (Dutch sex symbol Willeke van Ammelrooy, the director's main squeeze at the time) after he has walked in on her adulterous fling with the elderly Paul, played by Eurociné stalwart Olivier Mathot, and threatened to expose her to her husband. Patrick's death ruled an accident by a cavalier police commissioner (burly Georges Guéret), Francis and Laurence accept the invitation of his pretty young aunt Agnes (a rare "downmarket" credit for the respected Corinne Marchand, titular heroine of Agnès Varda's art-house favorite CLEO DE 5 A 7) at the Corsican villa once inhabited by his ill-fated parents. Francis's fears and obsessions are all but allayed by the prodding from both women, each of whom has her own reasons for wanting to see him dead or otherwise incapacitated...
While the odd overheated plot twist gives rise to a histrionic display seemingly from an earlier era, Pallardy usually manages to keep his narrative firmly on the rails, hurtling towards a conclusion both logical and memorably downbeat, with recurrent ringers like the main character's revulsion of red roses knowingly planted to throw viewers off the scent. Already a dependable box office draw in her native Low Lands, largely thanks to her indelible turn as Fons Rademakers's MIRA, Willeke willingly disrobes but somehow her creative paramour wasn't taking any chances. With Just Jaeckin's EMMANUELLE (starring another hot Holland import, Sylvia Kristel) right around the corner, French filmmakers were quick to cash in on the cinema's newfound freedom. Expanding his own peripheral part of a two bit photographer dabbling in pornography, Pallardy added a couple of still simulated albeit considerably more graphic sex scenes featuring one of Lemoine's regularly employed starlets, curvaceous Martine Azencot, along with Claudine Beccarie and Robert Leray, both of whom would soon exchange their body double obscurity for bona fide sexual super-stardom with the legalization of hardcore.
While he has freely admitted a tendency to take it easy on set, the yearning for artistic achievement often running a distant second to the creature comforts his productions provided (such as great food and wine and luxury hotels packed with stunning starlets), his occasional stabs at Hitchcock style suspense, like his demented debut L'INSATISFAITE and the tabloid-inspired MY BODY BURNS, reveal an adult "auteur" of considerable power and prowess, as capable of staging a tension-filled set piece as a steamy sex scene. His best thriller by far, HOT ACTS OF LOVE reaps the benefits of a compelling self-penned screenplay, generally solid acting and lavish location shooting on the rugged isle of Corsica, courtesy of classy DoP Jacques Robin who did a sterling job on Alain Jessua's still disturbing SHOCK TREATMENT. Lush romantic theme music by former band leader Eddie Warner, a regular contributor to carnal cinema soundtracks throughout the decade, provides icing on the cake.
A noteworthy skin flick supplier in his own right, the unmistakable Michel Lemoine headlines as Francis Baumel, profoundly troubled heir to the family fortune with his beloved brother Patrick, the latter promptly dispatched by devious sister in law Laurence (Dutch sex symbol Willeke van Ammelrooy, the director's main squeeze at the time) after he has walked in on her adulterous fling with the elderly Paul, played by Eurociné stalwart Olivier Mathot, and threatened to expose her to her husband. Patrick's death ruled an accident by a cavalier police commissioner (burly Georges Guéret), Francis and Laurence accept the invitation of his pretty young aunt Agnes (a rare "downmarket" credit for the respected Corinne Marchand, titular heroine of Agnès Varda's art-house favorite CLEO DE 5 A 7) at the Corsican villa once inhabited by his ill-fated parents. Francis's fears and obsessions are all but allayed by the prodding from both women, each of whom has her own reasons for wanting to see him dead or otherwise incapacitated...
While the odd overheated plot twist gives rise to a histrionic display seemingly from an earlier era, Pallardy usually manages to keep his narrative firmly on the rails, hurtling towards a conclusion both logical and memorably downbeat, with recurrent ringers like the main character's revulsion of red roses knowingly planted to throw viewers off the scent. Already a dependable box office draw in her native Low Lands, largely thanks to her indelible turn as Fons Rademakers's MIRA, Willeke willingly disrobes but somehow her creative paramour wasn't taking any chances. With Just Jaeckin's EMMANUELLE (starring another hot Holland import, Sylvia Kristel) right around the corner, French filmmakers were quick to cash in on the cinema's newfound freedom. Expanding his own peripheral part of a two bit photographer dabbling in pornography, Pallardy added a couple of still simulated albeit considerably more graphic sex scenes featuring one of Lemoine's regularly employed starlets, curvaceous Martine Azencot, along with Claudine Beccarie and Robert Leray, both of whom would soon exchange their body double obscurity for bona fide sexual super-stardom with the legalization of hardcore.
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