The loopiest S&M fantasy film of the decade and the Barbarella of the 1980s. It’s got breasts, bondage, blood, and bad acting. In short, it’s got everything.
Unconvincing virgin Tawny Kitaen goes to China to search for her father who went missing while looking for exotic butterflies. Along the way she cons an unconvincingly disinterested sailor to help her out and they have a madcap adventure in a secret underground city of women who wear tiny metal thongs and gladiator helmets and who are always putting each other in chains
This film was on late night television a lot in the 80s and 90s. If you were an adolescent boy surfing the channels, Tawny Kitaen’s butt in a thong for almost an hour stopped you in your tracks, hooked you to the screen, and later scooted into your dreams. Today, this survives as a kitschy cult film. It makes no sense and is proud of it. It’s a sexploitation action comedy with exotic Eurotrash vibes courtesy of French director Just Jaeckin, best known for Emmanuelle and the film adaptations of The Story of O and Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
This is loosely based on the old 1950s fetish comic strip, The Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline by John Willie, an artist who loved bondage, high heels and well-formed women. There isn’t much in the way of high heels here, but there’s plenty of the other stuff.
The original title is Gwendoline, but the film’s American title, The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak, will always be closer to my heart.