Sins of the Flesh

Director - Claude Mulot (The Blood Rose, Sexyrella)

Starring - Francis Lemonnier (I Can't Sleep, Green Harvest), Patrick Penn (New Generation, What a Flash!), and Anne Libert (Cat and Mouse, House of 1000 Pleasures)

Release Date - 1974

Genre - Thriller/Crime

Tagline - "Mystery.  Murder.  And madness.  Laced with extravagant sexuality"

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     This week I took a little bit of a break from horror.  I decided to focus on some of the sleazier releases I've received for review.  After checking out three of the Nikkatsu Erotic Films Collection and the exploitation film Sex Terrorists on Wheels, I decided to return to my beloved genre with three new horror reviews.  Two of these were new indie releases while the other was a new release from Mondo Macabro.  I decided to keep the Mondo theme going and decided to review the sexploitation film Sins of the Flesh which was released in France under the title Les Charnelles.  

     The film follows a the adult son of a wealthy businessman who is living on his father's dime until dear ol' dad has had enough.  His lavish lifestyle is now a thing of the past along with his sex drive.  He can no longer get it up.  He catches a young man attempting to steal his car and the two pair up.  HE uses the thief to help him make extra money and in return he lets him sleep with women in his home which he finds turns him on watching.  

     A lot of the movies I get in for review are movies I had never heard of before.  It's because of this I never know what to really expect when I toss them in.  Mondo Macabro has released some seriously underrated horror and sleaze over the years.  A few of the releases wasn't for me but several are some of my favorite films in my collection now.  While Evil Dead and Night of the Living Dead (my favorite horror film so I'm not knocking it) is getting it's 20th re-release other movies are going unnoticed.  That is why I really appreciate the work boutique labels like MM is doing.  Sins of the Flesh was a surprising sleazy good time.  I really enjoyed this flick and I'm now really curious about some of Claude Mulot's other releases after this one.  The acting in this one is pretty well done.  The characters contrast each other while the cast does a fantastic job bring the characters to life.  I've seen a lot of sexploitation and sleazy movie over the years but this one is the best acted by far.  From doing a little research I see that this is the turning point in Claude Mulot's career where he took a raunchy turn which would make sense where this one was casted so well.  The story for this one mixes adult with some crime and a little dash of thriller.  It does have some predictability but the characters and sleaziness holds your attention very well.  With that being said, the film does struggle with what kind of movie it wants to be.  At it's heart, it's a sexploitation film but the addition of the crime doesn't fully reach it's potential while the little dash of thriller is just flash in a pan.  Here one second and gone the next.  Finally, there is a little blood but those looking for a bloody mess will want to check out another Mondo release because this one is not it.  Instead, we get plenty of naked bodies and voyeurism.  Overall, Sins of the Flesh was not what I was expecting but it entertained nonetheless.  I really enjoyed this sleazy ride and the transfer from Mondo is absolutely gorgeous.  This blu looks amazing with some solid special features to accompany it.  Collectors will want to snag this one.