IN THE SIGN OF THE VIRGIN

(A.k.a. I JOMFRUENS TEGN; DANISH PASTRIES)

This film wastes no time in setting it's stall out, opening with a graphic lesbian session (as seen on the front cover, no less), set to a gentle guitar-led score.

The two girls in question are Virgine and Tauretta, two students at Nulpolitterorden, a strict private boarding school for girls. When their teacher (Sigrid Horne-Rasmussen) catches them in the act, she spanks them with a cane and sentences them to quiet time reading books in the school cellar.

But it seems their impure thoughts cannot be assuaged so easily - these girls are even open to permitting sexual favours to pervy local brothel owner Rufo (Benny Hansen), in exchange for him finding studs to fuck them, cum on their bellies and even shave their pubic hair off.

A school full of randy girls becomes a bigger problem when the board of school directors meet to discuss the perfect astrological aligning of Venus directly over the building. This, the board predicts, will result in the occupants of the school being overcome with the desire to copulate. Fearing the purity of these "young virgins", the board appoints Armand (Ole Soltoft) with the task of delivering a scientifically developed serum to the school that effectively counteracts the urge to fuck.

Meanwhile, in a laboratory not so far away, goofy professor Bomwitz (Bent Warburg) has invented quite the opposite - a serum that acts as the perfect aphrodisiac. He tests the serum out on his stern, middle-aged assistant Miss Troelsen (Mette von Kohl). Within seconds she's smiling, caressing her genitals and stripping for the professor.

Bomwitz scurries away from Troelsen's manic advances and makes haste for a train bound for the Nulpolitterorden school. He too has discovered that this is the spot where Venus will align itself, and has deduced that it would be the perfect place to test his serum en masse.

Predictably, Bomwitz ends up sharing a train carriage with Armand. Although neither is aware of their companion's reasons for travelling, they are carrying very similar luggage ... and a mix-up seems inevitable at some point.

Sure enough, the lads manage to get their briefcases accidentally swapped and before long the school is rife with oversexed hotties. Furthermore, the madness soon extends to the entire town when the remains of the serum are poured into the local reservoir...

Elegantly shot, making fine use of the sunny Danish landscapes to his disposal, writer-director Finn Karlsson's film is an attractive and appealing one.

While the visuals are very appetising - from the exteriors to the framing and soft lighting, and the stunning climactic underwater sequence - the film also benefits from an assured, tight pace and a script that marries one-liners with hot female nudity and even elements of nunsploitation-style boarding school cruelty to good effect.

Performances range from the affable to the bizarrely over-zealous, but all characters come across as likeable - even when they're bordering on being bawdier than a seaside postcard joke.

The nudity is mainly of the young female variety, and is very attractive indeed. Even in 1973, the Danish were a peculiarly sexy breed. While most of the sex scenes are softcore, there are a few excursions into hardcore territory: fellatio, vaginal penetration, female masturbation, ejaculations. It's difficult to tell for certain whether any of these scenes are insertions, although they do seem to have been shot at the time of filming and there are no obvious signs of stand-ins being used. Certainly not in the blowjob scenes, anyhow ... or the lesbian orgy that involves the novel use of grapes ... or the climactic brothel gang-bang ...

The comedy is a tad more restrained than in the later AGENT 69 films and, other than the presence of the ever-watchable Soltoft and the title, this film bears little relation to them.

A darker proposition as a whole, VIRGIN benefits from lighter moments and a daft backdrop to counteract darker scenes of school punishments and the drab, grey decaying decor of the school itself.

IN THE SIGN OF THE VIRGIN is ultimately an engaging and occasionally rewarding film, filled with set-pieces of nudity and at times explicit sex. It's fun, too.

The uncut film is presented in a remarkably clean and clear anamorphic 1.78:1 presentation. Grain is minimal while blacks, colours and overall detail are given a solid treatment by this above average transfer.

The original Danish 2.0 audio has been preserved for this release and, as with the visual presentation, it fares very well indeed. Clear and consistent throughout, it's an evenly balanced proposition. Optional English subtitles are well-written and easy to read.

A colourful animated main menu set to the strain of a female version of Burt Bacharach's "What The World Needs Now Is Love" greets us into the disc. From there there's a two-page animated scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 12 chapters.

The only extra on this disc is a slideshow consisting of 31 stills that take delight in highlighting the female flesh present in the film. This slickly edited affair is set to bubblegum pop music and lasts just over two-and-a-half minutes.

IN THE SIGN OF THE VIRGIN is an enjoyable romp, and it marks another solid presentation of an interesting early 70s erotic obscurity, courtesy of the folk from the increasingly intriguing Smirk label.

Review by Stuart Willis