From Richard Burton’s period of taking paycheck roles in films that, in truth were probably beneath him, but still make for tremendously entertaining viewing. See also: The Klansman, Villain, The Wild Geese and The Medusa Touch. Here Burton plays Baron Kurt Von Sepper, a fascistic Austrian aristocrat who has suffered a serious injury in WW1. One that has left him with a permanently blue beard ….as well as a case of blue balls. Concealing his impotence has led Von Sepper into doing away with a succession of wives, played by the glamorous all-star line-up of Raquel Welch, Karin Schubert, Sybil Danning, Nathalie Delon et al.
Bluebeard has the feel of a grandiose, big budget Hollywood production that has relocated to Europe and absorbed much from Euro-Sleaze film genres in the process. Bluebeard contains elements of Italian gothic horror, Nunsploitation, Nazisploitation, as well as the mondo genre’s attitude towards onscreen animal cruelty, the for-real shooting of a boar being particularly unpleasant. After a relatively stone cold sober opening half, mostly concerned with Von Sepper buddying up to the third reich and his new wife (Joey Heatherton) uncovering her hubby’s murderous past, Bluebeard becomes an unexpected black comedy when Von Sepper is forced to confess all to Heatherton.
In a run of bad luck to rival Udo Kier’s Dracula, Von Sepper had courted a series of seemingly respectable and conservative women- in the hope of enjoying asexual marriages to them- only for them to turn into divas, feminists, nymphomaniacs or lesbians, whose ways drive Von Sepper into murderous rages. Especially hilarious in this respect is Von Sepper’s romance with a Nun, played by Raquel Welch, who insists on torturing him with details of her extensive sex life prior to taking up the habit.
It is rather difficult to post anything relating to this film, be it trailers, stills or posters, without getting into spoiler territory. Since the female guest star list and the ways they are snuffed out formed the basis of the film’s publicity drive “Raquel Welch, beautiful body…suffocated, Karin Schubert, beautiful body…shot, Sybil Danning & Nathalie Delon, beautiful bodies…chandeliered, Agostina Belli, beautiful body…falconated”. Bluebeard’s publicity dept having possibly invented two new descriptions for murder with ‘chandeliered’ and ‘falconated’. Bluebeard’s publicity also seemed hell-bent on referring to the film as ‘Burton is Bluebeard’, much in the same way that ads, posters and VHS releases of 1986’s Cobra would have you believe that film is actually called ‘Stallone Cobra’. Burton’s character would fit right in with the fascist men of Pasolini’s Salò, but with his ridiculous blue beard, pet falcon and colourful wardrobe Von Sepper wouldn’t also be out of place as a special guest villain in an episode of the 1960s Batman TV show as well.
At over two hours in length Bluebeard is a leisurely paced film that takes about an hour to fully get going, but does come back strong in its second half, thanks to its elaborate kills, female nudity and shameless humour at the expense of Von Sepper’s inability to get it up. Its as if the film became entranced by the beauty of its own sets, surroundings and costumes, with the first hour spent mostly wandering around its gothic castle setting and the high society balls that Von Sepper keeps holding. Even in its dull stretches though, Bluebeard is a visual banquet for the eyes, and one where you continuously have to remind yourself that you’re not watching a Mario Bava film here….its that drop dead gorgeous.
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