Jean Rollin Official Website - Bacchanales Sexuelles review

TOUT LE MONDE IL EN A DEUX (Bacchanales Sexuelles) a.k.a. Sexual Bacchanal, Fille de Chair du Frais (Daughters of the Fresh Flesh), Fly me the French Way. France. 1974.
Director: Michel Gentil [Jean Rollin]. P: Les Films ABC, Nordia Films. Sc: Jean Rollin. Dp: Claude Becognee. M: Rex Hilton.
Cast: Joelle Coeur, Marie-France Morel, Annie Briand [Annie Belle], Britt Anders [Brigitte De Borghers], Willy Braque.

Review based on Synapese Film version "Bacchanales Sexuelles"

This is Jean Rollin's second true soft-core film. The first was "Jeunes filles impudiques" which was titled "Schoolgril Hitchhikers" in the USA. Up to this point Rollin had been a producer of sex and blood tinged art vampire films, which is what he is best noted for. In "Tout le monde il en a deux" a sex cult kidnapers the cousin of a member who is blackmailing them and a sexy romp follows as the cousin's oversexed friend and boyfriend try to rescue her. Like all of Rollin's films the plot is not the important part, though "Tout le monde il en a deux" has a surprisingly strong plot for Rollin's and for the soft-core industry. For example compared to Jesse Franco's equivalent soft-core crime mysteries "El Caso de las dos bellezas" (Two Undercover Angels/Sadisterótica) and "Bésame monstruo" (Kiss me Monster) this is well plotted. Also unlike most films of this kind his actors seem to be enjoying themselves and attempt to do a professional job.

What is important in Rollin's films is not plot or acting however it is his lush filming, symbolism and highly developed artistic flair. He brings us this with his usual vivid colors which far exceeded the color quality of most films of its period. Soon after the film opens we are treated to Catherine Castel and Marie-Pierre Castel dressed as mice or is it cats. Mice appear in the opening credits but they are cat burglars. Fans of Rollin will of course recognize the Castel sisters from numerous Rollin's films. This is followed by a rape to lust scene, French maid catfights, dominatrix flirtation, and a sex goddess shooting at manikins.

This film suffers in compared to Rollins usual vampire films. Lacking the rich symbology of the vampire mythos "Tout le monde il en a deux" is weak in the surreal and symbolic which are Rollin's hallmarks. The cat burglars and the manikin scenes are the only truly memorable surreal gems this film has to offer. He has tried to replace his vampires with sadomasochism but has failed. There is some real S&M scene where actual flesh is struck but this is too brief to allow a true S&M experience. This may very well result in a desire to get the film in the English market where there is strict censorship of S&M where marks appear. Fans of 70's psychedelic may prefer this film over Rollin's vampire films. The opening credits are typical of this psychedelic period. I personally found it cheesy but I'm not much into 70's psychedelica. Other pieces reek of pseudo-psychedilica as well.

I would recommend the film to fans of soft-core films as a better then average sample. I would recommend however that those interested in Jean Rollins start with his vampire films such as Lèvres de sang (1975) aka Lips of Blood.