Here is another one to baffle even the most fastidious of world cinema completists : a Belgian self-described "philosophical thriller". Closer to the truth, it plays more like an inane vanity vehicle for the non-existent talents of former beauty queen Katia Alens, lovingly concocted by her then husband Paul Collet. A respected filmmaker gone to seed, Collet tries to recapture the sulfurous effect of his once notorious L'ETREINTE from 1969, an unofficial STORY OF O adaptation.
Alens, remarkably plain of face in light of her prize-winning past, headlines as mysterious Angelica, an illegal immigrant from an unspecified South American country found working as a stripper at what must surely be the tamest peep show in the Western hemisphere by law student Michael, played by soap thespian Kristof Clerckx. The latter promptly dumps his longtime girlfriend and marries the furtive floozy to supply her with a coveted green card. After a brief interval of wedded bliss, it dawns on Michael that his wife harbors a hidden agenda regarding her homeland. A former rebel with a murky cause (this flick sure is hesitant about spelling out anything !), she witnessed her entire family's slaughter by military police. As vengeance, she has injected herself with HIV+ blood - but why come all the way to Belgium for this ? - and fornicates her way through the entire military top back home, signing their eventual death warrant at her own expense.
While far-fetched, this twisted noir could still have come off as an off-beat chiller in the KISS ME DEADLY vein had some talent on either side of the camera been involved. Tragically, Collet appears to have sacrificed what prowess he once possessed to raging hormones. His stone-faced spouse at least has the good sense to bare her bountiful breasts - her real assets - on several occasions, reviving flagging audience interest as Collet unimaginatively aligns "philosophical" (spider web imagery suggesting characters feeling trapped !) with slow and uneventful. Script invites derision by its very nature yet is played totally straight to howling effect, exactly what it achieved on its single week local theatrical run.
Alens, remarkably plain of face in light of her prize-winning past, headlines as mysterious Angelica, an illegal immigrant from an unspecified South American country found working as a stripper at what must surely be the tamest peep show in the Western hemisphere by law student Michael, played by soap thespian Kristof Clerckx. The latter promptly dumps his longtime girlfriend and marries the furtive floozy to supply her with a coveted green card. After a brief interval of wedded bliss, it dawns on Michael that his wife harbors a hidden agenda regarding her homeland. A former rebel with a murky cause (this flick sure is hesitant about spelling out anything !), she witnessed her entire family's slaughter by military police. As vengeance, she has injected herself with HIV+ blood - but why come all the way to Belgium for this ? - and fornicates her way through the entire military top back home, signing their eventual death warrant at her own expense.
While far-fetched, this twisted noir could still have come off as an off-beat chiller in the KISS ME DEADLY vein had some talent on either side of the camera been involved. Tragically, Collet appears to have sacrificed what prowess he once possessed to raging hormones. His stone-faced spouse at least has the good sense to bare her bountiful breasts - her real assets - on several occasions, reviving flagging audience interest as Collet unimaginatively aligns "philosophical" (spider web imagery suggesting characters feeling trapped !) with slow and uneventful. Script invites derision by its very nature yet is played totally straight to howling effect, exactly what it achieved on its single week local theatrical run.
