Never mind the title, this does not have much affinity with the famous French S&M movie, Histoire D'O. Instead, it is one of Franco's several movies inspired from and loosely based on Sade's Philosophy in the Boudoir. This is quite unlike some of Franco's better known kitsch sleaze flicks. It is a deliberately slow-paced, minimalist piece of erotica. Yes, there are quite a lot of (soft-core) sex, three-some, lesbian, etc., scenes esp. in the first 2/3rds of the movie, and yet despite the presence of these skin scenes, the movie is a very uncommercial and personal effort. The victim's eventual descent into being a prey of the predatory aristocrats from cherishing a chance at free sex experience is very well executed and the final sado-orgy is terrifyingly nightmarish.

Quite possibly the best of Jess Franco's early '80s Golden Films International period, a position only threatened by his delirious MACUMBA SEXUAL, this apparent rip-off in title only (as usual forced upon him by the production company, something of a running thread throughout his career) provides a continuation of his long-running and well-documented obsession with the Marquis De Sade rather than any tangible connection to the once deemed scandalous "Pauline Réage" novel or Just Jaeckin's high gloss 1975 film version. Closest in spirit to his 1970 and 1980 EUGENIE adaptations, it provides another allegory of good versus evil, the likes of which the incarcerated Sade's work is teeming with and which may have found their ideal cinematic translator in Franco, who always does proper perversion well as opposed to mere kinkiness, the narrow-minded bourgeois variation thereof. The pattern stays the same : an innocent victim abused by depraved society, a single if ultimately extinguished ray of hope offered by the fleeting shadow of doubt she stirs up in the heart of one tormentor, briefly reacquainting him with his cynically relinquished humanity.

Budgetary constraints demanding, this narrative construction's even more pared down than usual here, allowing for just five characters in an otherwise seemingly uninhabited environment. Franco's no stranger to limitations that would stifle a lesser talent and as usual makes the best of what he has got, pushing the claustrophobic hothouse atmosphere off the charts. "O" stands for Odile, an American tourist to Spain, the language barrier playing an important part in the plot as it effectively renders her naive character oblivious to the evil intentions of her apparently (all too) friendly next door neighbors. Tag-along girlfriend of Emilio Linder, who was particularly memorable in Franco's LILIAN THE PERVERTED VIRGIN before renouncing his disreputable past - including a spot of hardcore penetration - for a career in Spanish TV (not exactly a step up if you have ever seen Spanish TV), Alicia Principe at least makes for a credible innocent even if she's decidedly the weakest link in an otherwise sterling ensemble. Moving in an opposite direction from her mentor career-wise, she wound up playing dress-up in penny-pinching Eurociné fare like GOLDEN TEMPLE AMAZONS. Wiling away the hours listening to inane radio shows and playing with herself, Odile catches the eye of the mercenary Mario (hunky Mauro Ribera, also in José Ramon Larraz's BLACK CANDLES) and his hot to trot girlfriend (a scene-stealing turn by juicy Mamie Kaplan from Franco's MANSION OF THE LIVING DEAD) who supplement their income by supplying young women to a pair of perverted aristocrats, the formidable Princess De Bombaqui (the disquieting Carmen Carrion, a legitimate theater actress who moonlighted in Franco fodder, his hardcore FALO CREST presumably the nadir of their collaboration) and her highly strung husband, another singular performance by the idiosyncratic Daniel Katz who left an indelible impression in the director's NIGHT OF A 1000 SEXES the same year.

Oblivious to the nefarious plans they quite bluntly discuss right in front of her to chilling effect, Odile's seduced with a master's hand, not so much by Mario who's somewhat shaken by the girl's trusting demeanor as by his diabolical squeeze who's even more compelled to do damage by her man's impending change of heart. Sex scenes are both elaborate and intensely erotic, permeated with an aura of doomed melancholy due to Daniel White's recycled theme music from Franco's fabulous BARE BREASTED COUNTESS a/k/a EROTIKILL made a decade earlier. Severing all ties between Odile and a society that couldn't care less, these petty criminals take her to the island (of course) of the story's real evildoers, as always with Sade and more often than not with Franco belonging to decadent aristocracy. This sets the scene for the inevitable climax, one of the strongest sequences in the whole Franco filmography where so much mayhem is implied through intricate cinematography by the criminally underrated Juan Soler (because of his sustained employment on the sleazier side of cinema) and judicious editing by the director himself. Defragmenting this incredibly unsettling scene, it's amazing how little Franco gets away with actually showing. Detractors who have dismissed him as a hack in the past would do well to study the maligned Maestro's power of suggestion working overtime and humbly eat their words. Truth will out after all.

Odile(Alicia Príncipe) is a young woman just writhing with the desire of sexual embrace. It's only a matter of time before someone(..or multiple someones)would offer their services to her. Often freely sporting her naked flesh, soon a couple discover her from their own hotel bedroom and a sexual rendezvous will commence. What Odile doesn't expect when she takes up an offer to join the couple on a trip to an isolated island estate is the Count Von Karlstein(Daniel Katz)and Countess Wanda Von Karlstein(Carmen Carrión)a wealthy elite who are also into kinky sex with sado-masochistic tendencies. Odile's mistake in trusting in Mario's(Maura Ribera)'s bi-sexual wife(Mari Carmen Nieto)who is the culprit behind her seduction..what Odile does not realize is that when you travel down the road to passion and ecstasy, embracing the sexually free lifestyle she soon excepts with open arms, comes a dangerous price when associating yourself with the wrong person.

To be honest, I felt Jesús Franco's "Sexual Story of O" is ultimately about sexual awakening and the dangers of embracing a sexually free lifestyle with just anyone..often is the case, there are repercussions if you have passionate relations with just anyone. In Odile's case, she is "selected" by a woman searching for another without inhibitions or restrictions..some woman who is yearning for the touch of another, whether it be male or female. Odile lets her guard down, because of this attraction and free-spirited delight towards Mari Nieto's seductress. Franco successfully builds their scenes, starting with the eye-contact between Odile and Mario's wife, while we also see that Odile ogles Mario, from their hotel windows..an opportunity is presented, and we watch as Mario's wife makes the first move. Odile could very well turn her down, yet a heart-pounding desire inside both women drives them to accept the passion that awaits them. An three-way commences, as well as a heated lesbian encounter, where Mari Nieto's seductress enters Odile's room ready for action. The last portion of the film has us entering the world of the Count and Countess, where we see how Odile's life will be threatened when their masochistic appetites emerge. Mario, his wife & Odile meet them, there are dinners, and soon Odile is unconscious on a bed as others(Mario's wife and the Count)disrobe and molest her as the Countess looks on, so moved by what she sees that an act of masturbation soon begins. Franco's camera really likes to move in on characters' faces as sexual acts take place showing the pleasure of watching. My favorite sequence, the lesbian encounter in Odile's hotel room couch between her and Mario's wife..Franco's camera really moves in close and both actresses seem to be into the moment, especially a long kiss as their tongues slide and caress. I do feel that "Sexual Story of O" is just that..her sexual experiences which soon leads down a dangerous path.