Is The Sadist of Notre Dame a Hidden Treasure or Dumpster Fire?
Blu Ray Distributed by Severin Films
THE SADIST OF NOTRE DAME: In 1979, legendary writer/director Jess Franco (VAMPYROS LESBOS) re-purposed elements of his satanic sex shocker EXORCISM with all-new footage to create a depraved new epic that – even by Uncle Jess standards – achieves new levels of EuroSleaze insanity: Franco himself stars a defrocked priest turned hooker-slashing psychopath, prowling the streets of Paris in a fever of violence, voyeurism, rampant nudity and S&M depravity. Olivier Mathot (TWO FEMALE SPIES WITH FLOWERED PANTIES), Pierre Taylou (HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA), Antonio DeCabo (VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD) and Jess’ beloved muse Lina Romay (MACUMBA SEXUAL, MANSION OF THE LIVING DEAD) co-star in what Franco considered to be his most personal film of all, now scanned in 4k from elements discovered in the crawlspace of a Montparnasse nunnery.
Jamie’s Take
Franco steps in front of the camera and stars as Mathis Vogel, a derelict ex-priest who is consumed by anger over women, especially those who seem un-pure. When a prostitute comes on to Vogel with Vogel shutting down her advances, he is soon taken over with anger and hostility by stabbing the woman to death. This death sparks Vogel into going after countless women who he believes are sinners, killing for the name of God.
Traveling the streets of Paris, The Sadist of Notre Dame feels like I was watching a French version of Taxi Driver with Franco taking over the Travis Bickle role with paris posing as New York City. Vogel is a conflicted man, one who thinks he is doing good by taking the lives of those women who he sees as unfit to live under God’s eye. When he isn’t killing, Vogel is submitting his own writings to a local underground magazine where one of the women who works there named Anne (Lina Romay, Franco’s muse) catches the eye of Vogel.
Unbeknownst to Vogel, Anne swings both ways and likes to take in an orgy or two when she’s not at work. These orgy’s consist of mock devil rituals and while The Sadist of Notre Dame barely touches upon the reasoning why these participants are doing so, it just adds to the sleaze factor and depravity that this film reeks of.
While the film does have a higher body count than most Franco films, there are also moments of calmness and quiet creepiness that I found different and enjoyable than some of Franco’s other works. The Sadist of Notre Dame is slow paced but never boring or dull.
The Sadist of Notre Dame is actually a recut of Franco’s earlier 1975 film Exorcism with many of the scenes re-dubbed and only 25% of new footage was shot for this version. You can see Franco’s hair style jump about from various scenes and even the storyline is a bit jumbled up and cryptic. Some of the newly shot footage consists of Vogel speaking to and confessing to a priest about the acts that he committed. Making matters even more confusing, there is a hardcore version called Sexorcismes where Franco added in graphic hardcore sequences and yes, Uncle Jess even joins in on the fun.
Now Severin’s blu ray may throw off some viewers as the source print has been heavily damaged as this version was thought to have been lost. Severin even has a disclaimer before the film saying how hard they tried in preserving the film. Sure it has damage and there is an annoying light green water mark on the top left frame but if it wasn’t for Severin, you folks would never have a chance to see this film. The 2.0 DTS soundtrack is just fine and viewers can watch the film in the original Spanish language with subtitles (that seem to go by too fast for my taste).
As you would for any Severin release, the blu ray is filled with special features and some pretty good ones. There is a 30 minute featurette on the Parisian Horror Cinema and it’s theaters that would show horror / sex films back in the heyday. There is selected scene commentary by webmaster Robert Monell and an interview with Alain Petit, an author on a book about Franco. The best featurette in my opinion is one with Franco aficionado Stephen Thrower who speaks about the three versions of the film – even showing footage from the XXX rated version (Franco eats the triangle!).
While it may not be my favorite Franco film nor his most entertaining (the 99 minute running time does drag) The Sadist of Notre Dame does have enough sleaze and atmosphere to recommend to fellow creatins.
Hidden Treasure / Dumpster
| Movie: |  (3.0 / 5) |
| Video/Audio: | (3.0 / 5) |
| Extras: |  (4.0 / 5) |
| Average: |  (3.3 / 5) |
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Special Features
- The Gory Days Of Le Brady – Documentary Short On The Legendary Parisian Horror Cinema
- Stephen Thrower On Sadist Of Notre Dame – Interview With The Author Of ‘Murderous Passions – The Delirious Cinema Of Jesus Franco’
- Selected Scenes Commentary With ‘I’m In A Jess Franco State Of Mind’ Webmaster Robert Monell
- Treblemakers: Interview With Alain Petit, Author Of ‘Jess Franco Ou Les Prosperites Des Bis’
