8. Successive Slidings Of Pleasure (1974)
Complex and surreal erotic French film by Alain Robbe Grillet. The movie is a glimpse into the tortured psyche of a young girl whose friend Nora is found dead with a pair of scissors stuck in her chest. She is strongly suspected of the murder and she is taken prisoner in a convent where we see her deranged desires and ability to make people melt at her feet. She may have murdered Nora, it may be make believe. No one can really tell. A surreal fantasy film that mixes high brow concepts with lots of sleaze, Alain Robbe Grillet has contributed immeasurably to the world of French artsploitation with Successive Slidings of Pleasure. There is a ton of nudity in the film with the leading lady (a very young Anicée Alvina) being almost constantly in the buff for the entire duration of the film. There are naked mannequins tied up and in poses of torture and degradation. Indeed, there is a strong vein of sadomasochism permeating the film, but this is par for the course with Alain Robbe Grillet. There are anti-clerical forces at work in the film and the director does some pretty surreal stuff with time and narrative. Compulsively watchable in a hypnotic way.