30. Emanuelle in America (1977)
Good old Laura Gemser! She was a game gal in the 'black' Emanuelle films which sure beat watching Sylvia Kristel in the regular Emmanuelle films. She always gets up to saucy goings on and with Sultan of Sleaze Joe D'Amato directing her - those goings on are likely to be highly lurid! This is an enjoyable, fast paced movie with Emanuelle getting herself into all sorts of pickles as she travels the globe as a journalist, exposing the salubrious side of life including what goes on in a modern day harem and what high society gets up to in Diplomatic Service parties in Venice. Trouble brews when she stumbles across a snuff movie ring... This film is only for the very broad minded. There are plenty of hardcore sex inserts - including one of a woman fondling a horse's penis. It's a much better affair than Erotic Nights of the Living Dead with Gemser giving a spirited performance and there is a cheekiness to the movie which is infectious. Definitely one of D'Amato's best.
29. The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave (1971)
A cross between a gothic horror and a Giallo, The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave is a must for lovers of camp Eurotrash. A wildly overacted Lord Alan Cunningham lures red headed women back to his castle so he can kill them. This is caused by bitterness over the death of his wife Evelyn. He eventually marries again but bad stuff starts happening to his family and Evelyn's tomb is an-opening... Stand out scenes include the amazing Euro-starlet Erika Blanc doing a strip tease in a coffin and foxes eating Auntie's intestines. It is a good fun film which doesn't take itself too seriously. If you want something substantial, go watch Bergman and leave us sleaze-hounds to revel in The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave
28. Dressage (1986)
A prime piece of smut from our Gallic friends, I am lucky to possess a VHS copy of this sordid little jewel. Dressage has a hint of pretentiousness about it but it is a highly erotic, very well made soft core film. You will find no exploitation here. Nor will you find the titters of the German and British sex films. You will be genuinely sexually aroused (if you have a healthy libido and a streak of kinkiness). There is a lot of revenge and humiliation at the heart of Dressage as the main plot concerns political rivals plotting each other's demise. This main plot makes Dressage interesting and not just a softcore piece of sex. The film is made for a specific audience. If you don't like Euro-Erotica, you won't get it at all but for us fully paid up members of the Euro-Erotica club, the film delivers over 90 minutes of thrills without prurient aspects such as violence and degradation to mark it down as an exploiter.
27. Lorna the Exorcist (1974)
Wahey! A Franco film with Lina Romay in it! Back in his desperate youth, Patrick made a deal with a witch to give her his first born child. 18 years later, Lorna comes looking for Linda his daughter. Lots of close ups of a very young Lina Romay's vagina will either make or break this film with you. It is another classic case of Franco's pubic hair zoom shots. I read somewhere that Franco thought Lina's pubes had "an astonishing wild beauty" that hypnotised him. With the action occurring over glamorous hotels and casinos, there is sex and nudity galore. The one thing I can't get over is Lorna's eye makeup - bright green eyeshadow up her forehead. It simultaneously makes her look sinister and daft. There is also a very disturbing scene involving crustaceans. A moderate psycho horror, I honestly see the bulk of fans as being Franco aficionados.
26. Faces of Death (1978)
The infamous death movie that launched a thousand sequels and imitators still remains the best of the bunch. Made primarily for the Japanese market to showcase violent and morbid things to our Nippon friends, Faces of Death billed itself as a serious and authoritative guide to all things death related. We have the dubious pleasure of our expert narrator - Dr Francis B Gross - to guide us through this heap of depressing crock. He looks like a registered sex offender. Scenes of misery are transposed against the most inappropriate music. A woman jumping off a roof to her death gets a countdown - "One! Two! Ah One! Two! Three! Four!" - Splat. Chickens getting their heads cut off are treated to Old McDonald Had a Farm. I think Faces of Death is a rite of passage movie. You feel compelled to watch it just to see if you are 'man' or 'woman' enough to sit through its sick horrors. I would neither warn you against the film or urge you to watch it. Approach it with an open mind according to your own morals.