Knife + Heart

Avant garde queer French filmmaker Yann Gonzalez's sophomore feature may be more accessible than his debut, "Les Rencontres D'Après Minuit" (remembered mainly for footballer Eric Cantona's impressive prosthetic organ), but this campy gay slash horror flick is still definitely a very acquired taste.

The setting: The 1970s. The plot: Someone is killing the cast and crew of a gay porn movie being produced by its slightly deranged, and recently dumped, lesbian boss named Anne Pareze (played by a very excitable and impassioned Vanessa Paradis). The object of her affection is Loïs (Kate Moran), the editor of all her cheap porno films, and whilst Anne may make a mess of trying to win her back, she is at least a great deal more successful touring construction sights and persuading hunky laborers to take their clothes off for money.

In a movie where everyone is part of the porn industry, there is surprisingly very little flesh on display. Gonzalez's very stylized film gives far more graphic detail to the bloody murders. After the first stabbing, however, there is little suspense left as we wait for the perpetrator to find his next victim. The police show little interest in investigating the crimes, and Anne tastelessly uses them for the plot of her next porn film, which she calls "Homocidal."

This intriguing soft-porn farce is both funny and baffling, and at its Cannes debut received some good reviews (and some equally bad ones, too). The jury is still out on this, but we will probably end up opting for somewhere in the middle.