Having seen several Pécas films from each phase of his career, including a theatrical screening of a 1986 release shown in Cannes during that year's festival (but at a regular commercial cinema, not part of the fest), I confess a grudging admiration for his work. It is more stylish than most of his peers (see for example Jose Benazeraf), and he does attempt to make real films, not mere porn. This crime thriller is mostly about the sexy women, whose disrobing scenes are staged in a very stimulating manner, rather than the shoot-'em-ups and caper elements of the story. However, even accompanied by rather crude English dubbing, the visuals often create striking tableaux, especially the exteriors, that suggest Pécas was taking careful note of the accomplishments of Jean-Pierre Melville, dean of French gangster cinema.
While I am somewhat mystified by the resurgence of interest over the past decade in the bottom dwellers of cinema history (read: D'Amato, Franco, Sarno and even Phillips/Millard), I daresay that a film like this one by their soul brother Pécas could be usefully studied as to his control of composition, blocking and simply staging of the erotic scenes, which show far more care than his so-famous peers.
This film is a perfect example of how true cinema survives the matter of soundtrack; I wish some of the younger film buffs would pay their dues like I did -watching films from all over the world in their original languages SANS subtitles - an essential way to learn about film-making without the usual crutches. Whether it be one of dozens of Isela Vega or Sasha Montenegro vehicles I saw off Times Square in Spanish-language cinemas, or untranslated Japanese films, one can discover which movies transcend their limited origins.
