Guilty, sinful cinematic pleasures, that pretty much sums up the Sept. 26 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack release from Blu-ray, sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group.
When Goldfinger delivered Bond Girl Shirley Eaton (in her last feature film — also The Blood of Fu Manchu, The Million Eyes of Sumuru, Ten Little Indians, The Naked Brigade), it was only a matter of opportunity before prolific filmmaker Jess Franco would find a starring vehicle for her. That’s the context of the 4K Ultra restoration (from the original 35mm camera negative) that The Girl from Rio is all about. A film vehicle for Eaton to be absolutely seductively luscious in the spirit of a “Bondish” (play on words very much intentional) spy thriller.
Here she plays Sumuru, the switch-hitting leader of an all-female army of highly-skilled (and very attractive) killers, who holds court in the “city fortress” of Femina. To finance her plans for world domination, she steals from the criminal scum of the earth, which makes her something of an anti-hero (or anti-heroine as the situation demands).
Her latest target is Jeff Sutton (Richard Stapley, aka: Richard Wyler), a thief on the run with a ten-million-dollar booty. The moment he arrives in Rio, he is snagged by one of Sumuru’s operatives, Lesley (Maria Rohm), but her plans of guiding him gently to the spider’s web are interrupted by the evil Sir Macius (played by none other than George Sanders) and his mercenaries. Macius’ men capture and torture her while Sutton ends up in the spider’s web after all.
As it turns out, Sutton has been hired to rescue Ulla Rossini (Marta Reves), a beautiful woman of means who refuses to be seduced by Sumuru … if this is beginning to seem awfully complicated, just stop and remember this is an action “sexploitation” vehicle by Jess Franco to showcase the “talents” of screen beauty Shirley Eaton (and her all-woman army).
So, just settle in and be mesmerized by her charms (a classic beauty) … and those of her all-female army. It’s sexy “KISS” movie-making (keep it simple stupid) at its very best!
Bonus features include a newly minted commentary by film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howard, plus the featurette titled “Rocking in Rio,” as well as vintage video sessions with director Jess Franco, Producer Harry Alan Towers and the film’s star Shirley Eaton.
As an extra bonus, Blue Underground is including The Girl from Rio: RiffTrax Edition (featuring Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy).
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