BESTIALITA' (1976) Review

Directed by: George Eastman, Peter Skerl
Written by: George Eastman, Peter Skerl
Starring: Philippe March, Juliette Mayniel, Leonora Fani, Enrico Maria Salerno, Franca Stoppi

BESTIALITA' (aka DOG LAY AFTERNOON) is a thick slice of sleazy Italian erotica which was co-written and co-directed by Euro-cult legend George Eastman; remembered by most as the beast from ANTHROPOPHAGUS. No stranger to perversion and filth (he had a history of working with Joe D'Amato and appearing in such films as EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD and HARD SENSATION) he managed to crank things up a notch in this film by adding some forbidden love in the form of some interspecies sex between a woman and her faithful Doberman. Does this mean that dog is actually woman's best friend?

In one of the most memorable opening sequences in the history of cinema we watch as a young girl plays outside on her bike. She is lured towards the window of her home by a woman's moans. Through the window the girls sees her mother lying naked on her back on the floor, the lovable family pet on top of her, thrusting away (the film makers somehow missing the perfect opportunity to include the much more appropriate doggystyle position). Suddenly Husband walks through the door, and he's not at all happy about Wife and Dog doing the horizontal mambo on the living room floor. He pulls up his naked wife, gives her a smack and shoves her out the door before tying up Fido and then burning the house down with the animal inside. A little harsh on the dog if you ask me, I'm sure the whole sex thing wasn't his idea. But then again you never know, maybe the dog used his canine charm to seduce the woman, plying her with alcohol and then having his way with her. But we'll never truly know because the dog is fucking dead now.
But I digress.

It's at around this point that I imagine most people turn the film off, eject the disc and throw it down a well. And then blow up the well and bulldoze the rubble into the ocean. After all bestiality isn't something most people really like to think about or talk about, kind of like the Holocaust, or Limp Bizkit.
But (simulated) bestiality aside the rest of the film settles into a much more palatable kind of erotica; the kind where humans have sex with humans and dance naked at crazy swingers parties. Some years after the young girl sees her mother ding the dirty with Rex she has apparently run away from home and lives on a small island with her very own Doberman.
Paul (March) is an architect visiting said island in order to design some kind of tourism development. His wife Yvette (Mayniel) has tagged along even though it's obvious that she would really rather be somewhere else. The couple see the girl (whose name is Jeanine - played by Leonora Fani) around the island with her dog but each time she disappears with a ghost-like suddenness.

Paul and Yvette finally meet up with Jeanine after she steals Paul's camera and they form a kind of family relationship. The couple have been trying unsuccessfully for years to have a child and Jeanine has in a way filled the void and somewhat repaired their marriage. But this relationship takes a quasi-incestuous turn, culminating in a threesome involving the pair and their surrogate daughter. The movie also takes an unexpected turn ending with a bloody climax (pun intended) and an ironic twist after finding out from a private investigator that Jeanine is ill.

From what I can gather BESTIALITA' only ever received a release in Italy and as a consequence the only official way to get a hold of it is by trying to find the Italian dvd - which has no subtitles. I've noticed that other reviewers have mentioned that they could follow the story well enough without understanding any of the dialogue but in all honesty I have to say that they are actually missing out on quite a lot. Take for instance the scene where Paul and Yvette discuss which of the party attendants they would rather fuck, or the deliciously ironic and depressing ending. But don't fret because it is possible to watch the movie with English subs, if you rip the dvd (or find a torrent) you can download the subtitles here. Without the subs BESTIALITA' is a decent (if rather slow) sleaze flick, but with them it is actually quite interesting. But that all depends on whether or not you can get past the whole dog-fucking thing.