User Reviews

While I had always been intrigued by the plot (maybe because I've a twin brother myself:)!) of this, my 25th Jess Franco movie, and the fact that it was inspired – if ever so loosely, as is his norm – on Oscar Wilde's literary classic 'The Picture Of Dorian Gray', I was a bit wary of approaching the film in view of its graphic depiction of sexuality which, this time around, can ONLY be described as pornographic. Well, surprisingly enough, I didn't hate it because of this and, in a strange way, it was kind of refreshing to watch the real thing as opposed to its bland/fake representation in most mainstream films – though it does overstay its welcome, in the long run, despite the relatively brief running time.

The narration and the various conversations between Lina Romay and Monica Swinn (lending it a vaguely intellectual slant), coupled with the natural beauty of the settings, are the best of it, in my opinion…not that there's much else to look up to:). I also liked the eclectic, and lyrical quality of the soundtrack comprised of Walter Baumgartner's sitar-infused score and the 'invading' audio effects of the various natural elements that are present all around Chateau Grey. Besides, the clarity of the DVD transfer (marred only by a curious stop-motion effect every once in a while, possibly the result of some missing frames), the muted color scheme, and the frank sexual content makes it feel like a product from some two decades later – which is a good or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it! What I mean to say by this last statement is that the film was totally removed from the Franco of the early 1960s or his work for Harry Alan Towers (which are perhaps the periods I admire the most, or have most affinity with) and, if anything, is probably a very good indication of where his cinema was really heading to, starting from the mid-70s up till the present day.

DORIANA GREY gives Lina Romay what is possibly her greatest role(s), though the mad sister is somewhat annoyingly one-note (despite her frequent rendition of a delicate ditty); the Lady Grey character, on the other hand, was quite well-sketched, compelled to love her partners to death – gradually becoming more bestial (reaching its apex in the disquieting 'murder' of Ziros' girlfriend, aided by him, and later his own messy demise). Unfortunately, however, the all-important confrontation between the two sisters feels rather hurried and, consequently, is not as effective as it should have been; in fact, the pace bogs down during the whole last section and the film ends on a mysterious (did she masturbate herself to death, too?!) and abrupt note. By the way, why, if the film was transferred to DVD from the original negatives, are there no credit titles at all?!

The film is considered by some as virtually a remake of an earlier Lina Romay vehicle, FEMALE VAMPIRE (1973), which I've yet to see; also, in DORIANA GREY, Franco inserts (for no good reason!) his recurring Dr. Orloff character whose function here, however, is marginal at best and adds next to nothing to the proceedings! In the end, the formal attractiveness of the film (an Erwin C. Dietrich production) makes for a very interesting contrast, I think, with the crude, almost inconsequential but more fervently experimental and personal films from his Robert De Nesle period.

The newly-recorded English dubbing feels too studied on the whole; the narration, at least, comes off as appropriately detached (though the original German language would definitely have been preferable, as evidenced by the brief subtitled snippets featured in the documentaries elsewhere on the DVD). This being my first opportunity to check out VIP's 'The Official Jess Franco Collection', I'd say that the extras were pretty well done. There was some initial disappointment regarding Erwin Dietrich's comments during the restoration featurette not being subtitled (though sections of it are reproduced 'correctly' in other parts of the supplementary section). The numerous pieces on JACK THE RIPPER (1976) make it sound reasonably enticing, apart from the excessive violence, and they also stress what sort of work must go into the production of a DVD – especially when an extensive restoration is necessary. As for DORIANA GREY itself, we do get three brief interview segments with Dietrich, Franco and Romay, which go into only the most preliminary details about the production, though they are still nice to have. The copious trailers are fairly hilarious: I couldn't help but wonder, for instance, how the notorious horse-mating scenes from Walerian Borowczyk's LA BETE (1975) found their way into Dietrich's COME PLAY WITH ME 2 (1980)! Also, from the cast/crew bios I learnt that Jess and Lina took some time before forming their real-life partnership due to their commitments to other partners.

There are some who almost regret that a non-hardcore variant of DORIANA GREY is not readily available (though I'd think it would be virtually impossible to edit satisfactorily, since it would doubtless compromise its 'construction' rather drastically!): considering that the film's sex scenes – some of which are quite erotic – go into such gynaecological detail, for lack of a better word, it comes as no surprise at all that Franco opted to operate the camera on this film himself – under his nom-de-plume of David Khunne!

Doriana Grey should please Franco's admirers, leaving others alternately bored, confused, and aroused in spite of themselves. As with others of the director's films, there's a dreamlike quality to the proceedings, with wealthy and ennui-afflicted recluse Doriana strolling leisurely through her home or staring at the sky between sexual encounters played out to tranquil sitar music.

Some of the actors seem to be playing their parts in a trance, as if hypnotized before shooting, like the cast of Herzog's Heart of Glass. The English dubbing, too, is mostly monotone, which only enhances, rather than hurts, the timeless, otherworldly atmosphere, with dialogue ranging from the seemingly lofty ("It is the destiny of all beauty to be destroyed") to the simply lewd ("Go down on me").

The DVD, as of writing, has long gone out of print, but Franco enthusiasts are encouraged to look for this one. The staring, frightening lust expressed in Lina Romay's eyes alone is worth at least one visit to her château.

Not much of young Oscar left in this but I guess that once Jess caught sight of that Ms Romay's swinging bottom and breasts, he was soon too mesmerised to worry overly about plot details. And one can sympathise, Lina Romay is naked throughout the film and seemingly perfectly happy to not only reveal all but to get down and very dirty in a surprisingly explicit Franco outing. Nudity is hardly unknown in the 'dirty old man's' films but were this not so different in feel to accepted hardcore, that is the label one might find appropriate. Elegantly shot in widescreen this is a colourful, erotic tale with surprising moments hinting at vampirism and despite the appalling dubbed dialogue very watch able and amazingly possibly one of Romay's best.

Doriana Grey (1976)

*** (out of 4)

Art-house and porn collide in this extremely bizarre and mildly poetic film from Spanish director Jess Franco. A young woman (Lina Romay), with vampire like qualities, lives alone in a castle where a new reporter (Monica Swinn) comes to do a story on her. It appears Doriana needs to suck the life out of various men and women, in a sexual way, in order to stay young but she gets none of the sexual feelings out of it. Those go to her sister, also played by Romay, who is locked up in an asylum where she goes through various sexual fits whenever Doriana is with someone. If you've seen VAMPYROS LESBOS or even FEMALE VAMPIRE then you know what to expect with the "sucking life out of someone". Being Franco, this is done with sexual heat and this time out it crosses into hardcore range. I think a lot of hardcore scenes are rather ugly and unerotic but I think that's the point. The rather ugly sex scenes really make you feel the fact that Doriana isn't getting any pleasure out of the situations either. Franco likes to give graphic close ups of the sexual act and his way of filming them is rather ugly and dull but I mean both of them in a good way. I personally prefer FEMALE VAMPIRE but this is still a rather surreal film that mixes both genres. Romay turns in a fairly good performance even though I think she goes way too over the top with the locked up sister. Some of her "masturbation fits" are also a bit over the top with Franco's slowed down camera but outside of that there's not too much to complain about. The hardcore scenes will certainly keep a lot of people away but then again, Franco's name alone keeps a lot of people away. This isn't a pretty film but it's not suppose to be and that's where the films magic really is.

Lina Romay is stunning in a dual role here, in an atmospheric hardcore feature loosely inspired by "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Her principal role is that of "Doriana" Gray, a mysterious young lesbian living in a secluded castle. The kicker is that Doriana has a twin sister who's been institutionalized practically from birth. Despite her many sexual encounters, Doriana isn't able to derive any real satisfaction from them, while the twin sister simultaneously experiences enough sexual ecstasy for the both of them.

Directed by Romay's extremely prolific filmmaker husband, Jess Franco, this is interesting as far as adult films go. It foregoes such things as story in favour of multiple sex scenes, both lesbian and heterosexual. (Doriana has a male servant named Ziros (Raymond Hardy) who gets his fair share of action.) The abundant female and male nudity will definitely keep viewers happy. There's even a hint of something like vampirism due to the fact that people don't always survive these sexual unions. Franco's film does seem to have *some* intellectual aspirations, given that Doriana is interviewed by a journalist (Monica Swinn) who is intrigued by her personality and lifestyle. And "Die Marquise von Sade" is attractively photographed (by Peter Baumgartner and Franco himself) and designed, with an amusing sitar-based music score composed by Walter Baumgartner.

Of course, the main reason to watch is to see Romay, Franco's longtime muse, in a thoroughly uninhibited performance. She's quite enticing.

Seven out of 10.

In my humble opinion this is one of the best Jess Franco films ever. Lina Romay is hot as hell, mostly spending her time masturbating away. The film has an eerie hallucinatory feeling to it, like watching porn in slow motion while on dope. Beware: There are two versions on the market, one is softcore and not that good, one is full hardcore and that's the one I'm refering to. Erwin C.Dietrich told me he was given this film as a gift from Jess Franco in gratitude but never really done anything with it. Finally, due to the DVD revolution it's finally out on silver disc, And it's looking absolutely stunning! Check it out!