Joy House (Les Felins)
by René Clément
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alain Delon, Jane Fonda, Lola AlbrightDirector: René Clément
Brand: Koch International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-08-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Koch Lorber Films
Product features:
- A small-time con man on the run from the gangster husband of his girlfriend hides out in a strange, brooding mansion run by two mysterious women. There he finds himself trapped in deception between the two women. A lush, decadent thriller featuring beautiful French Riviera settings. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 741952313991 UPC: 741952313991 Man
Movie Reviews of Joy House (Les Felins)
Movie Review: A New Wave-Gothic-Noir Soufflé
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember seeing Joy House (Les Felins) when I was about fifteen and thinking it was a long and boring affair. Well time changes things and with luck a little sophistication comes with age.
Upon revisiting the film I found it a fun French-New Wave-Gothic-Noir romp along the Riviera at the height of the jet set age. The film is a mystery and my review will leave the plot just that for you (I hate so called reviews that are just a synopsis of a film and nothing else). I will say this much, Joy House is labyrinthine and delicious an well worth a visit down it's rabbit hole.
The cinematography in cinemascope black and white is crisp, sharp and glamorous. It shows off the lovely landscapes of the South of France at the same time, the twisted psyches of the three main characters.
Jane Fonda here in her French ingénue period is luscious and interesting. She gives one glimpses of where she is going in the near future as an actress. It is fun to watch her bubble and squeak as the freaky sex kitten Melinda. Alan Delon steams up the scene and the screen as Marc a hustler who gets more than he bargained for. Delon is just so much fun to watch. One of a few French actors of the 60's who translated to American audiences and made a splash in English language films. (This film was shot in English and can be watched in dubbed French as well). Here he is playing a variation on his role in Purple Noon, but that is not a bad thing since his Ripley was so much fun. Then there is Lola Albright as Barbara, a woman with more than just a little secret upstairs in the attic. Here is an actress who has been forgotten for the most part and I myself cannot recall any of her films. But her performance in this glittering soufflé is the nutty center of the film that fascinates. She is hard, sexy, dangerous, and yet as it turns out more vulnerable than her seemingly sweet cousin Melinda.
The whole thing is directed with style and flair by Rene Clement and served up with panache and a wink.
Summary of Joy House (Les Felins)
"The French James Dean" Alain Delon (Fabio Montale, ) stars as Marc, a small-time con man on the run from a mobster. After seeking refuge in the mansion of the widowed Barbara (Lola Albright) and her curvaceous cousin, Melinda (Jane Fonda), Marc becomes trapped in the passionate snares of both women, who are full of deadly surprises.Also Includes Added Bonus: French language version of Joy House ("Les Félins) with optional English subtitles
Besides showcasing Barbarella-era Jane Fonda in one of her sexiest roles, Réné Clément?s thriller Joy House offers enough psychological suspense to count as horror. In it, Marc (Alain Délon of Purple Noon) agrees to indentured servitude to two women, Melinda (Jane Fonda) and her Aunt Barbara (Lola Albright) who hide him from police following a crime he has committed. Though the ladies appear from the outset to have renounced corruption for a life of monastic charity, their catfights over Marc result in his being trapped inside their castle, glamorously located in the French Riviera. The harder he tries to escape, the more he realizes he is trapped in the web woven by these two spider-like villainesses. Joy House?s suspense is wrapped in elegance. The stars, its settings, and the film?s score by Lalo Schifrin lifts it out of the B-movie, Hammer-film haunted house tale category. Like so many classic horror movies, most of the action takes place in a grand chateau, allowing Joy House to revel in its sense of claustrophobia. This recalls Mario Bava films, such as Black Sabbath and Hatchet for the Honeymoon, though the sexual tension implicit to Joy House is more akin to Jean Rollin?s movies, which focus as much on physical attraction as impending death. It also recalls Mommie Dearest or All About Eve, in which an elderly female competes with the younger for attention. Mirrored closet doors and reflective furniture throughout the mansion, as well as car rear-views, emphasize deception thematically in an especially Giallo way. However, there is zero gore here, and this film shies away from direct violence in favor of the implied, which is more in line with its sexually deviant undertow. --Trinie Dalton
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