Directed by: Michel Lemoine

Stars: Michel Lemoine, Nathalie Zeiger, Howard Vernon

Language: English

Country: France

Also known as: Les week-ends maléfiques du Comte Zaroff

Description: The dreams of a sadistic businessman become the nightmares of his weekend visitors in this psychedelic tale of terror that was originally banned in France! In the light of the sun, Boris Zarloff (Michel Lemoine) appears to be a mild-mannered businessman, but when night falls and Zarloff sleeps, he silently savors hideous visions of torture and domination — much like his notorious father.

When a pair of travelers arrives at Zarloff’s secluded castle for a weekend getaway, the beautiful young girl begins to express a morbid fascination in the history of the estate and asks Zarloff for a guided tour of its infamous torture chamber. With all the elements in place to live out his dark fantasies once and for all, Zarloff soon succumbs to the madness that plagues his family’s bloodline.

This is barely worth it’s given rating but despite the slow pace, the nonsense story, the pretentiousness and the dialogue I liked it. I guess the well shot nudity helped but also the slightly odd angle (to call it surreal would be far too flattering) and surprising jolts of violence amid the sleepiness. The way the Count turns upon his first victim is a real shock and the couple trying out the historic torture instrument certainly get a surprise, as do we. Hard to recommend though because it is hardly quality stuff and certainly does not live up to Mr Lemoine’s claims for the film. But then if you are not expecting too much and know something of the genre you could do worse. It’s certainly as good as many of the below par and over rated Jess Franco movies.





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