Hot Nights of Linda, The (1975)

Author: Brett Gallman
Submitted by: Brett Gallman   Date : 2013-10-24 01:02
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Written by: Jess Franco and Nicole Guettard
Directed by: Jess Franco
Starring: Alice Arno, Lina Romay, Pierre Taylou


Reviewed by: Brett Gallman




“Come. Come and embrace me."


When Jess Franco passed away earlier this year (if there’s an afterlife, I’m guessing he and Lina Romay have already produced at least three films by now), I had intended to eulogize him with a review but never got around to it (considering he was still directing multiple movies a year in his eighties, I obviously have no excuse for such laziness). I had a vague notion that I’d tackle one of his and Romay’s more famous works (like Female Vampire) before fate intervened in the form of Severin Films’s release of 1975’s The Hot Nights of Linda. It seems disingenuous and absurd to consider it a lost or forgotten title in an oeuvre that included over 200 films (you’re bound to have a couple dozen slip between the cracks), but it’s not one that immediately springs to mind when you ponder his work.

Somehow, that’s fitting—sure, there are plenty of other more famous (or infamous) films to remember Franco by—the Orloff movies, Vampyros Lesbos, Venus in Furs, etc.—but Hot Nights feels so typically Franco despite its apparent B-side status. One of three Franco efforts from 1975, Hot Nights features many of his preoccupations: hedonism, sexual perversion, murder, incest, lesbianism, and psychosis. It’s a threadbare yarn with little plot: Marie (Alice Arno) is tapped to serve as a resident nurse/teacher/secretary for an affluent family. This curious brood includes an odd patriarch (Paul Muller) and his two daughters: paraplegic Linda (Catherine Lafferiere) and nymphomaniac Olivia (Romay). And of course they have a simple servant who can’t speak, the great Eurohorror signifier that this family just ain’t right.

Predictably, it doesn’t take long for the family to explicitly reveal this to Marie, particularly Olivia, who proceeds to hit on her new teacher upon their introduction. More a softcore erotic thriller and less a horror film, Hot Nights owes most of its intrigue to the sensuous relationship that develops between these two, as there’s a real “will they or won’t they?” (spoiler: they do) quality to their interactions that’s obviously meant to tantalize and titillate at the basest levels. While that doesn’t sound like the highest of aspirations, Franco makes an art form out of their entendres and overtures, with Romay especially (and perhaps expectedly) stealing the show. With her incredible screen presence, Romay makes for an alluring, compelling figure in more ways than one. She’s obviously a stunning woman (and lovingly photographed as always by Franco), but this also represents one of Romay’s more impressive performances, as she straddles the line between jezebel and a victim of psychosexual trauma; when she seductively fellates a banana, it’s both incredibly sexy and disturbing, so it’s easy to see how Marie might entertain the thought of entering a lesbian tryst.

Despite the title (and the even more curious alternate and giallo-esque title, But Who Raped Linda?), the handicapped daughter is essentially an afterthought, there only to serve as another object of her cousin Olivia (it’s revealed that the nympho was actually adopted) and serves as the most tragic (if not severely underdeveloped) figure in the film. Instead, the only functioning story here involves Olivia’s twisted, nightmarish memories involving her uncle’s murderous encounter with his adulterous wife and her lover. Franco explores this in typical fashion as he yields to Olivia’s warbling, repetitive nightmares (in an egregious instance of padding, he plays the same sequence out twice) that explain how she’s become such a twisted soul. He also plays fast and loose with the narrative; as if the conflict brewing between Olivia and Marie weren’t enough, Franco manufactures another bit involving an investigative reporter and a detective who hang out in the neighboring house to spy on the depraved clan.

Once these two are properly injected into the proceedings, The Hot Nights of Linda seemingly reflects the madness of its characters. By this point, there have been rapes, a seductive plot involving the key to a hidden room, suicide, and murder. Other curious moments abound, such as the reporter and detective deciding to indulge their own sexual desires right in the middle of their investigation. Like so many Franco efforts, The Hot Nights of Linda becomes a labyrinthine maze of obsession and perversion, and its dreamlike quality is eventually accounted for (albeit in eye-rolling fashion). Hot Nights also features the other, shaggier Franco touches, such as inelegant zooms and silly dialogue (though it should be noted that the latter could be the fault of the egregiously distracting dub job here).

Still, it’s undeniably Franco; I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: you know a Franco film when you see one, and this is a thoroughly sleazy but awesomely enjoyable effort even beyond its nigh-pornographic raison d’etre (though, let’s be real—there’s a reason it’ll be forever known as the movie with Lina Romay and the banana). It might not match the auteur’s more accomplished horror efforts (especially in terms of sheer atmosphere), and it plays like a more distilled version of his work in that it cuts right to the sex and sleaze without much pretense. Something tells me that Franco himself would be pleased with this being among the first of his films to receive a posthumous release, with a high-def upgrade to boot.

Severin has gone all out here; even though the print used for the Blu-ray is occasionally roughshod (I can’t imagine a Franco film ever looking completely pristine), it’s often vivid and striking, and the DTS-HD mono track is more than adequate. The supplements here include an exclusive interview with Franco, an additional interview with both the director and Romay, footage of Franco receiving a Fantastic Fest Lifetime Achievement Award (thus confirming that FF is indeed doing god’s work), a feature with Stephen Thrower discussing Linda specifically and Franco’s career in general, outtakes, and a theatrical trailer. All releases are also packaged with a DVD copy, while the first 2500 printings also feature a rare “French Hard Banana Version” that features hardcore pornographic inserts filmed by Franco featuring the actual actors (let’s just say Romay fellates more than just a banana here). The quality is subpar compared to the main disc, but it should adequately recapture the feeling that kids used to have when they stumbled upon low-rent, murky 70s and 80s porn when they were fiddling around in their parents’ room. This version also captures Franco at his rawest and kinkiest, as Hot Nights of Linda serves as one of his more memorable forays into debauchery. Buy it!



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