Blutjunge Verführerinnen 2 (4 Stars)

This is Ingrid Steeger's fifth Swiss film, made in 1972. The title, which means "Underage Seducers 2", suggests that it's a sequel to "Blutjunge Verführerinnen", made a year earlier. This isn't the case. The first film was about schoolgirls seducing older men. In this film, which is divided into eight segments, the women are all older. Probably in their early twenties, judging by their appearance. Only one girl is still a schoolgirl, but she's described as an Arbiturient, which means she's in the 13th year of school, making her 18 or 19.

The film begins with a man ringing up an agency, asking for a temporary secretary. The woman arrives almost immediately. Women must be desperate for jobs in Switzerland. The man is Manfred Gregor, a film screenwriter, and he wants someone to type his latest script. There's a subtle detail here that casual viewers might miss. Erwin C. Dietrich was the screenwriter for this film, but he used the pseudonym Manfred Gregor. That means he's writing the film about himself, which becomes important in the later dialogue.

There follow eight vignettes, unrelated short stories that make up Manfred's screenplay. This is the typical style for the report films which were popular in the 1970's, but there are no claims to be reporting anything, and there's not even a thread to link the stories. Manfred just wants to write a film to entertain audiences. Fair enough.

1. Rosa is taking ski lessons in Switzerland. She attempts to seduce her instructor, but when she tells him she doesn't take the pill, he walks out on her. She takes the train back home, feeling frustrated. There's a man called Roland with her in the sleeping car. This time she doesn't mention not being on the pill, because he jumps on her at the slightest invitation. Roland, exhausted, goes to sleep. Isn't that what men always do after sex? Another man gets into the sleeping car later. He's also a ski instructor. Rosa has sex with him as well. I wonder what colour hair the baby will have. It could even be twins.

What's interesting is that there is frequent dialogue from Manfred and his secretary off screen, arguing about the screenplay. She tells him that he doesn't know how women think. This criticism is repeated in every vignette.

2. The second short story takes place in the Middle Ages. A knight called Dagobert leaves for war and locks his wife Kunigunde in a chastity belt. Unknown to him, Kunigunde has a spare key, so she invites her four lovers to have sex with her. We hear Manfred relating the story in voiceover (frequently interrupted by the secretary), but what we see on screen is a girl called Nelly in a bowling alley with four friends. Her bowling is awful, so she gives up and retires to the changing room. One after another, the four friends take a break and have sex in the changing room, returning as if nothing has happened.

That's an interesting way of making a film, showing one story while narrating another, but one thing spoils this vignette: Nelly looks so unhappy while having sex. I don't think this was part of the film, it looks as if the actress (Melitta Tegeler) just wasn't enjoying it. She's pushing the men away while they were pretending to have sex. "This is only softcore, I wish they would stop getting so excited. I want to collect my cheque and go home".

3. Herbert spends every night at home watching silent movies. The only other thing he does is spy on his neighbour Anja who lives in the next apartment. There's a small hole in the wall, and he can see her bedroom. Unknown to him, Anja knows about the hole, so she makes a noise whenever she goes to bed, then undresses seductively. This is an amateur peepshow! One evening she's had enough. She sneaks into his room naked and spreads herself out on the sofa. Herbert can't resist her, but he's not particularly good at sex. He was a virgin. Anja mocks him because he spends all his time watching girls in films and naked girls next door, but he isn't man enough to pick up a girl for sex.

In voiceover, the secretary tells Manfred that this is just like him; Manfred makes films with naked women, but he doesn't know how to have sex in real life. Manfred grudgingly agrees, although he doesn't admit to being a virgin.

4. Babette is the only schoolgirl in the film, albeit an older schoolgirl. She's still a virgin, but she lies in bed at night masturbating to a poster of Elvis Presley on one wall and Bridgette Bardot on the opposite wall. She keeps turning her head from one side to the other as she gets more excited. This looks silly, and the secretary agrees with me. She goes on a school trip, and she's seduced by Sebastian, the best looking boy in her class. In the bus on the way home Sebastian ignores her. He sets next to his girlfriend Gerda, telling her she's the only one he loves.

That's the end of the story. No message to sum up, not even suggested. The secretary doesn't approve. Neither do I.

5. A young countess goes to the cinema, pretending to watch the film, but actually looking for a man for sex. A murderer goes to the cinema, pretending to watch a film, but actually looking for his next victim. They go to see a film and sit next to one another. The film is about a murderer killing a countess on the beach. The two people leave their seats and go to a back room to have sex. This scene isn't completed. Manfred says that she's going to die, but the secretary insists that no woman would be stupid enough to go into a back room with a killer. She refuses to type such rubbish, so the scene is cut short.

6. This is a strange, almost psychedelic vignette. A married couple are sitting in bed. The man is reading a news report about two people who were found dead in their apartment. The woman says that she isn't interested, but she's actually fantasising about the two people. So is her husband. She's having sex with the man, he's having sex with the woman. We see couples in bed, but they morph into one another, so we never know who's really having sex. The picture in the fantasies is in red tones. Very strange.

7. A lorry driver delivering goods to Hamburg picks up a hitchhiker called Eva in Darmstadt. Do you recognise her with her black wig? She's Christa Free, who we know from "The Devil in Miss Jonas". Eva wants to seduce the two drivers, but Günther (on the wheel) and Fritz (on the left) are in a hurry, so they take turns at driving while the other one is having sex. They have sex, alternately, the whole way from Darmstadt to Hamburg. That's an eight hour journey. Lorry drivers must have a lot of stamina.

Needless to say, the secretary doesn't approve of this story.

8. Manfred has saved the best till last. Finally we see Ingrid Steeger as an au pair girl in Berlin. She's waiting at home, babysitting the 16-year-old son while his parents are at the opera. They come home, and the wife goes to bed. Ingrid and the father are lovers, so they have sex on the floor. The mother interrupts them and angrily sends the father to bed. Ingrid seduces the mother, the first lesbian action in the film. The son walks in, and shouts "Mother, this is disgusting!" Those were the good old days when homosexuality was considered a sin. Maybe it still is, in some circles. The mother runs out in shame. The boy jumps on Ingrid to have sex. Wow! She eats her way through the whole family!

The End? Not quite.

The screenplay is finished, but the secretary still has plans before she goes home. Despite all her complaints that the stories are unrealistic, hearing them has excited her, so she rips off her clothes and seduces the inexperienced Manfred Gregor.

This is an uncoordinated film with vignettes that are too short, but it's somehow appealing. It's better than the first film in the series.