The Girl from Rio

Considering Girl From Rio was directed by the massively prolific Jess Franco, horror and sadistic sex cinema purveyor extraordinaire, you might be surprised to learn that this late sixties entry in the man's list of some two-hundred movies is actually a fairly breezy and lighthearted outing. That's not to say it's a rarity – he has fashioned plenty of entertaining sex comedies and zany spy thrillers but only a few have ever seen the light of day here in the States. Girl From Rio does, of course, have a solid quota of flesh in peril (we are talking about a Franco film after all). Here, though, it tends to be of the more colorful comic book kind rather than the nasty taboo-stomping, mean prison kind he's become more famous for with films like Ilsa: The Wicked Warden and Barbed Wire Dolls. That having been said, rest assured, the film is plenty entertaining. How can anyone not want to see a movie about a man's attempt to save the world from being taken-over by a woman (Eaton) bent on creating a global empire owned and operated by women in skimpy vinyl outfits? This pristine re-mastering of Girl From Rio is the perfect counterpoint to Franco's beautifully nasty Sadomania. Together they provide an intriguing glance into the dark world of this controversial director.

Lee Williams