Nostalgia Kinky

Cult Epics continues its essential Just Jaeckin collection with his wonderful 1980 coming-of-age comedy/drama Girls. Never before released in America in any format, this new Cult Epics collection marks the worldwide 4K and Blu-ray premiere of Jaeckin’s hardest-to-see film. Packed with hours of extras, the limited deluxe postcard edition can be ordered directly from Cult Epics, while the standard version is available everywhere, including from MVD.

Since I contributed heavily to this Cult Epics release of Girls, is it unfair to offer up any sort of proper review. Needless to say, I adore this special little film that meant so very much to Just Jaeckin. For this release, I provided full commentary, a video-essay, and helped with various other aspects from the interviews to isolating the German footage. It was a long but super-rewarding process. I’m typically not happy with my work and constantly second-guess myself, but that’s not the case here. I’m exceedingly proud of my contributions here, and I’m so honored to be involved with another Just Jaeckin release.

Along with my commentary and video essay on Just, this release also includes interviews with star Isabelle Mejias and Just Jaeckin, shortly before his sad passing. We’re also treated to a vintage interview with Just and his young cast on a French talk show. Various other extras are available, including a lengthy reel of alternate scenes from the German cut of the film.

Finally, and most importantly, is the restoration of the film. Taken from the original negative, this colorful and vibrant new 4K scan shows that Jaeckin’s least stylish film is actually pretty damn stylish. I was so blown away the first time I got a look at even a compressed version of this new restoration, as I’d only seen the fuzzy old European DVD. Seen on this new UHD 4K, Girls is a real revelation, and the Blu-ray version looks nearly as stunning.

With this release of Girls, we now have nearly the entirety of Just Jaeckin’s filmography on an HD format here in the States. Only Story of O and his contribution to the anthology Private Collections are currently missing in action. I’ll be forever grateful to have helped out with some of his greatest works, including the very charming and endearing Girls.
Thanks to Cult Epics and Nico B for letting me be involved!


-Jeremy Richey, April 2026