Malpertuis

Malpertuis (Legend of Doom House) Directed Harry Kumel, Starring Mathieu Carriere (1971).

This is the very last DVD that tanked Barrel Entertainment. You know the company founded by the Xerox Ferox author John Szpunar. I saw it get returned by a creepy beret wearing man who often returns cult movies they bought and brought back. 

Malpertuis starts off on a high note during this brothel scene of light up titties and German debauchery. The language spoken is Dutch. There are tons of dirty seamen---ahem---I mean sailors looking for drinks and to get laid. The makeup and production design reminded me of Fassbinder's work. The director Harry Kumel also made Daughter of Darkness (71), I love that film because of its tone and eerie fuzzed soundtrack. In this very Germanic/Dutch scene a "Lilly Von Stup" type sings Bawdy songs in English. I think I prefer the title The Legend of Doom House it sounds like a drive-in flick. 

YAY BOOBIES!

The camera work during the dance floor fight is channeling 60's Batman. Jan the main blonde sailor looks heavily made up and androgynous. Jan is played by Mathieu Carriere. Uncle Cassavius is played by an extra chunky and withered Orson Welles. They are all waiting for him to die but bring up revolting food items and a taxidermy rat statue. There’s also a stuffed monkey, vulture and most of the characters want Orson to die already like Tr—-p. 

  

Steve Bannon and I share a dermatologist.

There’s lots of melodramatic wailing over the clause of the will. I won’t spoil it in this review. The visuals are like a Czech film. It’s odd to me that this was released by Barrel, considering half of their catalog is Jorg Buttgereit titles but obviously they saw something in this work. Maybe this was Roger Watkin's jam and that’s why they chose this sleeper. Watkins was into high-brow shit like Kurt Vonnegut. It’s a bit of a slog and it felt like a school project viewing. 

I'm like school in the summer time: a no class filthy whore.

All the painted doll like women are after "Jan the androgynous" to marry him so they can please Orson's character. There’s lots of peepholes and hidden bookcases like Scooby Doo. Jan stumbles onto a lab with dead things in jars of water (which reminds me of Nekromantik 1987).Could this have influenced Buttgereit's career, perhaps. 

pickled babies yum....

This squat little man explains the frog corpses in jars by saying “He wanted to make the world a better place” Gee where have I heard that before", from Silicon Valley so you know it’s bad! After an hour and 25 mins we see full bush nudity from Jan’s beard I mean bride! There’s a disappearing snake needle point scene, very odd. The worst part is that I kept looking at the time through out this foreign film. 

When Bets aka the nightclub singer finds Jan he reminded me of a battered Charley Bucket from Willy Wonka (1971, which came out the same year)! This movie has got some phantasmagoric imagery but is still pretty lifeless and unimportant. 

WATCH ONLY IF YOU HAVE TO WRITE A RESEARCH PAPER OTHERWISE GO FOR SATAN'S BREW OR FOX & HIS FRIENDS BY FASSBINDER.

Are we Mr. Rogers characters!

fancy a snog?

the edible just hit.