Baise Moi - Region 2 DVD

The classification was not inappropriate, given that the film features plenty of genuine, unsimulated sex. Anyone hoping for arousal, though, might do better to look elsewhere. Baise-Moi is written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi, working from Despentes' novel, and stars Karen Bach and Rafaella Anderson. Despentes is an ex-prostitute, while Trinh Thi, Bach and Anderson have all acted in porno movies, and what they give us here is sex as female vengeance, a screwing-and-killing rampage that turns the tables on a violent male world. The movie's been compared to Thelma and Louise, but a closer comparison might be with Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer.

As in most porno movies, the plot is the merest pretext. Nadine (Bach) is a part-time prostitute, Manu (Anderson) is a rape victim. When they meet up both have just killed, more by chance than design. On a whim they link up and take off across country, screwing and killing almost every man they meet. They kill a few women, too, just to even things up. The film's shot on crude digital video; technique is minimal and the acting is rudimentary. There's a certain raw energy that prevents the film from becoming totally depressing but the brief running time (77 minutes) comes as something of a relief. --Philip Kemp