NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Severin Blu-ray (December 2019): Severin have transferred Just Jaeckin's Gwendoline (or "The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak") to Blu-ray. It is advertised as being "mastered in 4k from the original negative recently discovered in a Paris vault". It looks quite strong, the colors show depth and there is consistent grain. Both the image, and production values, are far better than I would have anticipated. Contrast can waver a bit but this may be a function of the original production. There are a few, mostly frame-specific, damage marks (see two samples below). Overall few inconsistencies and a bright, textured, 1080P image presentation.

On their Blu-ray, Severin use a DTS-HD Master 16-bit audio tracks in both English and French and both 2.0 channel and 5.1 surround. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score by Pierre Bachelet (Private Collections, The Story of O, Emmanuelle), sounding a bit deeper with more consistent dialogue - the DUB'ing is apparent and the surround separations not particularly discreet. Severin offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Severin Blu-ray has abundant supplements including the 1.5 hour alternate US release version The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak looking inferior but watchable with some of the nudity cut. It's almost 15-minutes shorter than the featured 'uncut' "Gwendoline" version. The longer feature includes two optional audio commentaries - the first with director Just Jaeckin and the second one, kinda fun with Tawny Kitaen and Brent Huff enjoying their viewing. The Butterfly Effect is a 2019, 1/4 hour, interview with director Just Jaeckin remembering the production and its evolution. Bondage Paradise is a 34-minute interview with costume and concept designers & comic book artists François Schuiten and Claude Renard who discuss the style of Gwendoline. The Perils of Production spends 18-minutes with executive producer Jean-Claude Fleury who produced over 35 films. Gwendoline's Travels is a 1/4 hour interview with production designer Françoise Deleu plus there are 6-minutes worth of Blu-Ray Promos with Tawny Kitaen and Brent Huff. The Last Temptation of Just is A 25-minute, 2006, interview with Jaeckin and we get a 3/4 hour audio-only piece with Dr. Kinsey interviewing John Willie, creator/writer of The Misadventures of Sweet Gwen, The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak and other 'Gwen' videos. There is a brief gallery of Tawny Kitaen's photo-spread for the French LUI magazine and two trailers for the film.

The first hour of Gwendoline reminded me a lot of Jane and the Lost City - which I really liked. A damsel-in-distress pulp adventure from comic to celluloid. Just Jaeckin added some bizarre and mostly tasteful, but still euro-trashy, bondage and Amazonian-nudity. All I can say is that it was better than I anticipated with some reasonable production intent. There is stuff to like here beyond the fun cheesecake homage. The Severin Blu-ray is stacked and while not an 'A' film it still have a niche audience. I remember having a crush on Miss Kitaen back in the day. I'm glad I saw it rather than wondering if it had merit. As I say 'better than I thought' and definitely worth a spin to a nostalgic and curious audience.

Gary Tooze