Emanuelle and Francoise

Director– Joe D’Amato

Starring –  George Eastman, Rosemarie Lindt

Country of Origin – Italy

Distributor - Severin Films

Number of discs –  1

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 05/13/2019

    Joe D'Amato throughout the 70's and early 80's would become known for his Black Emmanuelle series starring Laura Gemser (previously released on DVD by Severin Films). Emanuelle as a named cinematic commodity was popularized by 3 films featuring Sylvia Kristel in the early to mid-70's, and the name became tied into wild Erotic cinema. D'Amato before Gemser and he would take on the Black Emmanuelle series, made a first Emanuelle film in 1975 called Emanuelle's Revenge (aka Emanuelle and Francoise). This film would feature a reporter character named Emanuelle, but aside from that the film would not connect to the later films.

    In Emanuelle and Francois, the film opens with Francoise (Patrizia Gori) finding her boyfriend Carlo (The immortal George Eastman) in bed with Mira a new lover. On top of her shock, Carlo kicks her out of their mutual apartment, where she begins to search unsuccessfully for her sister Emanuelle who is on assignment. Francoise would take her shock and devastation to the grave, as she soon after throws herself in front of a train.  When Emanuelle returns to identify her sister, she is presented a letter that tells of all of Carlo's misdeeds toward Francoise. It is at that point she begins to search for Carlo to enact revenge on behalf of her sister.

   It is interesting that Emanuelle and Francoise came out when it did. The film with it's solitary revenge plot closely resembles a Greek film put out by Mondo Macabro on Blu-ray just last month called Wild Pussycat.   In both films an abusive former lover is taken, kidnapped, and chained up to be tortured. I'm not sure if it was an intentional remake, but it's close enough to make these an interesting double feature.

    Emaneulle and Francoise is a true sleaze fest.  The film features lesbian orgies, cannibalism, and so much more. This is the type of film that  a viewer might be tempted to run through a car wash to get the grime off from watching. Eastman is most well known, for playing the titular Anthropophagus another D'Amato delight. He does well here with the role of the sleazy abusive boyfriend. The rest of the cast is solid, and Rosemarie Lindt does a fantastic job as Emanuelle.

    Severin Films presents Emanuelle and Francois in a splendid 1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer. Everything here looks quite solid with excellent detail, and well reproduced colors. Audio is presented in English and Italian with a DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track. This sounds quite solid and without noticeable issues. Extras include 2 featurettes Three Women and a Mirror and the Other Side of the Mirror which interviews some of the cast including Eastman. There are also about 15 minutes of deleted scenes a trailer. Emanuelle and Francoise is an absolute delirious sleaze-fest, and the Blu-ray from Severin Film is fantastic. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.