chaos-rampant If Franco did a single great thing in his tortuous career, that was discovering Soledad Miranda.Forget what the plot is supposedly about. If you don't have the DVD, there's an accompanying interview with Franco on making the film. His discussion of De Sade and how that informs his work is as boring as De Sade's own writings, but look how he lights up when he starts talking about Soledad. As an old man, you can tell he is still touched by having known her. It is the same mystique that enthralled Von Sternberg to Dietrich.Born, according to Franco at least, to gypsy parents, she was a successful flamenco dancer and singer before making the transition to film. I've only seen her in this and Vampyros, she's great in both but in the extraordinary way of dancers. It isn't about acting, she wasn't much good in the sense Streep is good. It's having a presence, enchanting, teasing by simple breath.As Franco talks of her, that segment is peppered with images of her from the film, the rest of the film was beginning to blur but every single one of those I could instantly remember—crouched before a fireplace holding her knees, grazing a thigh, splayed on a bed, pensive with sunglasses in the car, gypsy tinkle in the eye before murder, playful dancing out of her skimpy skirt, I will probably revisit the film years later and be able to recall every pose. And isn't this what the film is about?It's Franco photographing Soledad.There's a surrogate father here who, in essence, takes Soledad on the journey to staged erotic images. Franco is actually in the film as the 'writer' looking for a fascinating character. It's probably his most pure, because it is most purely about his desire to photograph beauty (and murder). The film begins with a softcore scene that leads to strangulation, 'looked on' by Franco as the director. Framed as Soledad's confessional to Franco, the whole film is gauzy, erotic reminisces on a deathbed. So how poignant when you know that she was already dead when the film was released? That, framed as memory, this is the last we'll see of her? And the images? The violence is tame by contemporary standards, which is for the better, fewer distraction. Being so blatantly stagy, it even adds to the effect. And whereas the male-driven story of violence is typically sloppy, the images, Soledad's images as she remembers, attain a unique quality. Soft around the edges, selfless by contrast to Sade's juvenile philosophy of selfishness. Seeing select footage of this at some film festival, you'd call it experimental. Sometimes the camera roams over mundane details, sometimes it floats in air, sometimes it blurs and finds again, faces, textures of weather. It's as if someone is trying to remember, distorting, fixating, carried along by intruding thoughts—a sort of inverse visual Lolita.It isn't self-consciously so, which again is for the better. A filmmaker with a semiconscious talent for images, films a woman (not outright sexy) semiconscious of her allure. It's great if you can drift in that space between them.

Falconeer Like another reviewer here, I was simply blown away by this indescribably macabre film, and I consider it to be possibly, Jess Franco's masterpiece. Normally it is style over substance when it comes to Franco's work; not so here. The story was gripping and utterly mesmerizing from the first minute, up until the last beautiful frame. In what must be the strangest, most disturbing father/daughter relationship ever filmed, we have the beautiful Soledad Miranda, who discovers her father is living a horrifying secret life. Rather than being repelled, Eugenie is fascinated, and excited, much to her father's delight. The two of them become a team, both in and out of bed, as they embark together on a shocking sex crime spree! The film's minuscule budget actually is responsible for the starkly gorgeous look of the production; reds and dark greens are the primary colors, with indoor shots being of well-appointed homes with red satin curtains and red carpets. Franco wisely decided to film the whole thing in Berlin and Paris, in the dead of Winter, and the snow covered outdoors look haunting and ethereal. And it is the perfect setting for the pale, porcelain beauty of actress Soledad Miranda. The subject matter is so creepy and disturbing that it actually made me a bit uncomfortable even watching, but it really is impossible to turn away. "Eugenie" possesses a genuine feeling of evil, unlike anything that other horror films have achieved. And even with all the morbid goings on, I was moved and saddened by the tragic end, and the demise of a musician whose only mistake was having some bad luck. Jess Franco even cast himself in this, in a pivotal role, and he is wonderful to watch as well; what an unique and fascinating guy! Anyway for fans of Jess Franco, who have not seen this lesser-known title, i recommend it highly! and for fans of films about sexual deviance, such as "Peeping Tom" or "The Night Porter" this cannot be missed. I will even go as far as to say that "Eugenie" is in the same league as Nicolas Roeg's "Don't Look Now."

pushthenpull69 There must have been some creative photography work or it took four years to edit and perhaps add more footage but Soledad died in a car crash Aug 18 1970. How Franco directed her beyond the grave must be one of the arcane skills of this director. Maybe bringing back Monroe, Orson Wells, and some others to act would be a worthwhile event.. but seriously, someone should find out how or why this took so long to make.. Perhaps her accident wasn't. Just part of the trivia this director has created.. I mean really just how many Eugenie did me make - four?? I like Lindberg's the most... and yet I still have to write... to make another line

inkybrown Eugénie, Soledad Miranda's first truly starring role in a Jess Franco film, is based on the Marquis de Sade's Eugenie de Franval, and it is a very faithful adaptation by Jess Franco. Soledad plays Eugénie, the daughter of Albert de Franval, an acclaimed writer who, under the pen name "Radeck," is engaged in researching into sexual perversion. Eugénie is a shy, bookish girl whose chance discovery of one of Albert's erotic books unleashes a powerful incestuous attraction. When he becomes aware of this, he introduces her to his sadistic philosophy and they quickly become partners in sexual crime. Their addiction to committing the perfect crime leads them to their next intended victim, a nightclub musician. Yet Eugénie ends up falling for him and her father takes revenge out on everyone. Soledad dominates and enriches the film; her coquettish behavior and enigmatic screen presence make it impossible to look away. She seems to spend half her screen time curled up with her knees to her chest, looking perfectly innocent, which makes her turn to the "dark side" all the more interesting. Franco appears throughout the film as Attila Tanner, a writer intent on learning more about Albert. The film's storyline is told from Eugénie's deathbed as she recounts her tragic life to Tanner. A lush and haunting melodic score by Bruno Nicolai adds to the beauty of this film.