terrible... so disappointed.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Blistering performances.

Marquis de Sade's Justine (1969) * 1/2 (out of 4) Jess Franco's adaptation of de Sade's story features the biggest budget the director ever worked with and also has one of his most impressive casts but that doesn't mean you're going to get a good movie. Marquis de Sade (Klaus Kinski) is thrown into an asylum where he begins to have visions of two young girls as well as spirits. Justine (Romina Power) and Juliette (Maria Rohm) are sisters who get kicked out of a convent after their father is kicked out of the country. The wilder Juliette goes to work at a whore house but the innocent Justine tries to make good in the world but constantly finds herself being used and abused by various perverts and freaks. I've owned this film on DVD for probably five years but it's two-plus hour running time kept me away. Even though I've seen over ninety Franco films, the long running time scared the hell out of me and after sitting through the film I've gotta wonder in the American version, running thirty-plus minutes shorter, is any better. A lot has been written about Romina Power, Tyrone's daughter, but I've got to agree with what's usually said. She certainly didn't get any of her father's acting talent, although she did get his nose. Her acting range is never strong enough for the part but she does have a beautiful body, which is on full display here. The innocence of her character is certainly there but I believe this is due to Franco who is always able to get this out of his female characters when needed. The supporting cast is highly impressive but most give really embarrassing performances. Kinski is wasted in his mute role and Jack Palance turns in the worst performance I've seen from him. Apparently he was so drunk while making the film that when asked about it years later he had no idea he was actually in the film. Akim Tamiroff, Howard Vernon and Mercedes McCambridge also come off pretty badly. The only saving grace among the cast is Franco regular Maria Rohm but sadly her part isn't very big. The visual look of the film is very good as are all the sets and Bruno Nicolai's score is a masterpiece. Even with that said there's not enough going for this film, which runs out of steam around the thirty-minute mark. Franco would have much better luck with this theme in several future films.

Sorry to disappoint, but Justine is by no means the welter of non-stop gore and perversion you might expect from a confluence of Franco, de Sade and producer Harry Alan Towers. Adapted from the Marquis's sublimely immoral 'moral tale,' it plays for much of its length as a bawdy 18th century romp in the style of Tom Jones. Naturally, with the added joys of cut-rate production values and dodgy acting.We only hit familiar Franco territory when our heroine (a bland Romina Power - yes, Tyrone's daughter) is ravished by a coven of depraved monks. Cue for lots of naked Eurotrash starlets, trussed up in chains. Gee, it's good to be home!So Justine is not quite your typical Franco production. For a start, it has something approaching a budget. That means a lot of semi-big names (most of whom have seen better days) show up as 'guest stars.' Indeed, the film is best watched as a vast costume party, whose guests have been invited to Come-As-Your-Most-Embarrassing-Moment.Hence we get Akim Tamiroff as a drunken pimp, Mercedes McCambridge as a lesbian brigand, Sylva Koscina as a cross-dressing noblewoman and Klaus Kinski as the Marquis de Sade himself. The grand prize must go to Jack Palance as Brother Antonin, spiritual leader of the above-mentioned depraved monks. His may be the most deranged performance in the annals of screen acting.Weighed down by the baggage of an international tax-shelter epic, Justine never comes close to the dreamlike delirium of Succubus or Virgin Among the Living Dead or any of Franco's more extreme, smaller-scale works. Still, it's a lot of fun - in its utterly reprehensible way.Franco himself even crops up as the ringmaster of a grotesque peepshow, where Justine is forced to appear after she survives any number of Fates-Worse-Than-Death. Now that's what I call typecasting!

I went into this film expecting lots of nudity and bad acting, as it turned out I got the opposite of both. The star of the film Romina Power is wonderful as well as beautiful. Some other reviewers have said she appeared dull and uninterested, but I don't think that is the case. I think her spaced out look was a cunning ploy to take advantage of situations when needed. Of course she was a virgin and untrusting of men which also lead to her innocence.The beautiful setting and costumes should have won the Academy Award. :) Look for Jack Palance over-acting as a sexual deviant monk, who attempts to free young Justine. Jack and his fellow monks are studying the power of PLEASURE!!! They should have shown this at the Academy Awards the year after Palance won for City Slickers, and the whole place would have fell down laughing. I liked this movie, the uncut version runs 2 hours on DVD and is well worth it. I never got bored with the film. 5/10 Average, but better than I thought it would be.

I have never heard about this movie, but the Brazilian cover of the VHS announced that the exhibition of this flick was forbidden in many countries due to the violent scenes and that it was a horror movie. I became curious and decided to watch it and what I found? A trash of the worst quality! I could never imagine such a terrible plot, with a (may I call him of this name?) horrible director and with the worst cast that you can imagine. There is no horror in the story, but only some free violence especially against Justine (Romina Power). The best quality of this actress is her partially naked beautiful body, exhibited along most part of this flick. How could Jack Palance win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar having such a movie in his filmography? Do not waste your time with such a horrible movie! My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Marquis de Sade: Justine"