Today, in Paris!

I wish I could have traveled to Paris for this event.

Nicolas LahayeBLU RAY EUROCINE JESS FRANCO

Daniel Lesoeur/JA Lazer/Claude Plaut/AM Frank/AL Mariaux/Dan Simon en pleine Alainpetit-exploitation (merci pour cet après-midi!).

Daniel Vishwas/JA Lazer/Claude Plaut/AM Frank/AL Marian / Dan Simon in full Alainpetit-operation (thanks for this afternoon!). (Translated by Bing)

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HAPPY BIRTDHAY, MONIKA SWINN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MONIKA SWUINE, a uniquely talented Actress,  Artist and Photographer....

She is especially memorable in such Jess Franco films as LA COMTESSE NOIRE [FEMALE VAMPIRE],  EXORCISM, BARBED WIRE DOLLS and DORIANA GRAY.  She also appears in Jean Rollin's LES DEMONAIQUES and other cult/underground/experimental films. 

cinematon289.flv

Cinématon de Monika Swuine (aka Monica Swinn) réalisé par Gérard Courant en 1983

CINEMADROME - HORROR RISES FROM SPAIN - Horror Rises from Spain 3.1: Diego Arjona

CINEMADROME - HORROR RISES FROM SPAIN - Horror Rises from Spain 3.1: Diego Arjona

In the September podcast I review the Spanish DVD of  Jess Franco's final film and the recent Redemption  Blu-ray releases of  THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF, NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT and A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD. Thanks to Elena....

The Awful Dr. Orlof, the Blu-Ray: Guest Review by Mirek Lipinski

Comparison screen captures of GRITOS EN LA NOCHE/THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF from, top to bottom: 1) the Image DVD, 2) the Spanish Regia DVD, and 3) the Kino Blu-Ray, the latter courtesy of Mondo Digital (www.mondo-digital.com).  The inadequacy of the Kino version should be evident. While offering more side information and sharpness, the picture lacks the vital interplay between black and white and their various shadings, a requirement for good black and white cinematography.  Almost completely missing in the Kino capture is the white light of the candles, the left glow beyond the door, and the sensual dimensions of actress Diana Lorys' skin and dress.


The lineup is impressive: Nigel Wingrove and his Redemption label, which has for decades brought euro-horror to fans and the public, David Gregory, the premiere interviewer/supplement director for many euro-horror DVD and Blu-Ray releases, and Tim Lucas, whose credentials are impeccable.  The result of this convergence, however, is a regrettable disappointment.

Right off the bat, it must be stated that any release of GRITOS EN LA NOCHE that doesn’t include the Spanish version is already facing a serious deficit. The Spanish version is the true landmark film that Franco shot in 1961. By not showing this version, viewers are denied about 11 minutes of the original film and the appreciation of what the Spanish audio reveals, which in a couple of key scenes is an absent musical score that lets silence and natural sounds accent the tension and illuminate key scenes with the blind Morpho (Ricardo Valle). The tension is particularly heightened in the sequence where Morpho, by hearing, follows a wandering Wanda (Diana Lorys) in Orlof's castle, guided by the sound of her movement. Yes, we do get the clunky nude inserts that were mandated by Eurocine and probably, but not certainly, shot by Franco.  These two scenes would be perfectly deposited in  “extras” as they are not imperative in the body of the film where they distract.  Undoubtedly, rights to the Spanish version were either difficult and/or too expensive to acquire, so this deficit is understandable, though still persistently unfortunate.

As with the Blu-Rays of BLACK SUNDAY (the Kino and Arrow release), THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF suffers from a transfer that dilutes in many parts the black and white photography of its cinematographer, in this case Godofredo Pacheco.  At times we seem to be witnessing a peculiar solarized grey that robs a scene of impact and annoys. The dynamic power of black and white, its sleazy, shadowy invocations when dealing with horror or exploitation films, are gone. Naturally, with the high resolution, the viewer will notice visual minutia missed before:  In one scene I could see, remarkably, the abraded threads of loosened wallpaper.  While such sightings may be revelatory and impressive, much more important, I think, is seeing the chiaroscuro power of the entire film, the essential strength of black and white that, in the right hands, can be breathtaking.  Courtesy Bob Furmanek’s 3D Film Archive, I recently had the opportunity to see a 35mm trailer for the American version, and it was more dynamic and even awe-inspiring in those few minutes than any replication of this film I have ever seen. The Blu-Ray release is particularly lacking the intensity of the original film element, and, aside from the absence of a Spanish version, this is its major shortcoming.

With the Franco interview in the Kino Blu-Ray we probably have the final words of Franco on the topic of GRITOS EN LA NOCHE.  It seems, however, that the main question asked of Jess was the one to get him started: “So tell us about GRITOS?”  Franco rambles on, entertaining and mischievous and lovable as always, but offering up no significant new information.  Could not the interviewer, given what could have been surmised as the last words of Franco on the subject, have poised questions not typically asked of Franco of this film:  Did Franco shoot the nude scenes for a French version?  If yes, was he anxious in doing so, considering the Spanish government’s prohibitive stance on nudity in films?  How was it shooting at the San Martin de Valdeiglesias castle, a location Franco used before and after GRITOS?  What other locations were used in the film? Did actor Conrado San Martin offer financial assistance to the production?  None of these imperative questions are asked.  Sure, Franco could have lied his head off in response, but then his words would have been before us to evaluate.  An opportunity lost that can never be retrieved.  (The other featurette I saw—memories of the film from French cinephiles—is of more interest.)

Doing a commentary for GRITOS EN LA NOCHE is a thankless job, no doubt.  Whatever little information exists about this film has already been regurgitated among Francophiles, and, aside from Franco and Vernon, no interviews are readily available from its cast or crew.  Tim Lucas braves it out, but finds himself weaving too much among IMDB factoids (so-and-so was born on____;  so-and-so made his/her last film in the year____, etc.) not to suspect an over-reliance on them. Then, too, there were, surprisingly, a number of erroneous statements and highly dubious theories put forth.  I had to do a mental double-take and speed my player back to the scene a couple of times when Tim spoke of the light illuminating Orlof's face in the cabaret scene with Dany (Maria Silva) as coming from the necklace presented to her, when it's very clear that the light is coming from a reflection off the compact mirror she is looking at to admire the necklace around her neck. In referencing the Spanish version, Tim mentions that the operation on the face of the Mara Lasso character ends in a fade-to-black, but it actuality cuts to Morpho standing nearby. Tim suggests that Orlof, after accidentally stabbing Arne (Perla Cristal), considers using her skin for an operation on his daughter, when it appears clear to me that the distraught Orlof is placing the blade of the scalpel to her nose to see if any breath will appear on it. (The scene is played too quickly, to be sure, but the implication remains.)  In listing the films Maria Silva co-starred with Paul Naschy, Tim includes I HATE MY BODY, which is not a Naschy film, though its director, Leon Klimovsky, is a familiar presence in Naschy's filmography.  He states that the name of Orlof is taken from the Edgar Wallace novel, THE DARK EYES OF LONDON, when the novel doesn’t have any Orlof--or Orloff--in it. (That name would be created for the 1939 film of the book.)  He insists that Franco must have been influenced by the German film version of the novel, DIE TOTEN AUGEN VON LONDON (DEAD EYES OF LONDON), but that film was in production in the same year as GRITOS and did not have a Spanish exhibition until a few years later.

Tim also mentions that nowhere in its theatrical showings, domestic or international, was GRITOS exhibited under the name "Jess Franco," but he does mention that the Spanish release contains the directorial credit of "Jesus Franco"--Franco's real name--so I'm not sure why this is of import, unless the commentary would follow through, which it doesn’t, on when and why Franco, or his producers, began using "Jess" instead of "Jesus."

Tim toys with the intriguing possibility (implying it may be a long shot, thankfully) of the elderly flower lady seen later in the film as being Franco’s mother, but the actress, Mercedes Manera/Manero, is listed as being in other films before this one, and Franco notes in his autobiography, MEMORIAS DE TIO JESS, that his mother was small and plumpish, hardly the woman we see in the role.  In a bit of trump card playing, Tim presents toward the end of the commentary the concept that GRITOS  is “Jewish film.”  There is some validity to this. Yes, the producers were Jewish (something Tim doesn’t mention) and Franco has claimed Jewish blood, but just how Tim figures that Orlof is taken from the Polish name Orlowski is puzzling and, further, why "Orlowski" would then be a Jewish name is beyond me.  I like speculation, btw, and use it, but it has to face the evidence of facts to remain even remotely credible.  

I winced badly almost every time Tim spoke a Spanish name or a Spanish film title.  There were frequent enough occurrences of this that proved so distracting to me that I had to pause the commentary and return to it at a later time when I had calmed down.  I think it’s incumbent on anyone doing a film commentary, which demands far more preparation than, say, an interview, to make the attempt to approximate the proper pronunciation of a name or title in a foreign language.  (I could do without the attempt to mimic the Castilian lisp, though.)  Spanish is one of the easiest languages to find someone who can render phonetic help.  Certainly using in this capacity Elena Anele, for instance, whom we all know from her HORROR RISES FROM SPAIN audio blog, would have been prudent. Emailing and then Skyping with her should have solved the problem.

There are several high points in Tim’s commentary, to be sure, and Tim employs his familiar erudite and occasional poetic manner to make one appreciate his smooth intelligence and be charmed, overall, by his commentary.  But as a track of substance and value, the commentary falls short and simply bewilders at points.

The release of THE AWFUL DR ORLOF as a Blu-Ray certainly makes business sense. It’s a title that excites the Franco and euro-horror fan, and can even intrigue the Universal classic horror aficionado.  But the result, particularly as several renowned principals were involved, makes one achingly wish for something far different.  All one asks is that the film be done right by the sterling and wide-ranging possibilities of the Blu-Ray format.  Such is not the case here.

Jess Franco Blu-rays: Comments/Critiques?

I'm opening up the blog for reader's comments/critiques on the 3 recent Jess Franco Blu-rays. The ups and downsides can be mentioned in detail in the comment section. I'll publish a sample in a future post. I think it's important that this blog be more interactive and that JF enthusiasts get to air their compliments and complaints. 

For my part, I must admit, before turning to a detailed look at the VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD BD, and reconsidering the film itself, is still in need of a full restoration. I'm not sure of the availability of negative elements but some scenes are very dark, although that may be due to shooting conditions. Also, the color, contrast and sharpness need improving and the images needs a general cleaning as is done frame by frame in a restoration. 

The fact that you get another version of the film, with the Jean Rollin directed zombie inserts and the Eurocine erotic inserts, is a very good special feature. I had never seen this particular variant before. I also enjoy the additional sleazy softcore erotic "lawn orgy" featuring Alice Arno which is also included in the special features. But the image still could be improved. In terms of video quality I would rate it a C or C - at best. After repeat viewings I now have concluded the disc is still recommended for its numerous special features and this is the best it has looked on home video but that best still leaves something to be desired.

Please let me know your reactions below.

A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD Blu-ray:

Basilio (Jess Franco), the sub-normal manservant in CHRISTINA, PRINCESS OF EROTICISM, the new Blu-ray edition of the "Director's Cut" of this milestone in the long, twisting, prolific film career of Jess Franco. I'll be adding some more comments and thoughts in future blog posts.

One question came to me after the most recent viewing: Is this babbling, sometimes childish, sometimes sinister, character actually Christina's, and the viewer's, designated spirit guide to the esoteric netherworld in which this film unfolds?

A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD on BLU-RAY

Robert Monell ESPRESSO COMMENT: If you are a lover of Jess Franco movies then you already love this key title in his long, prolific career. An oneiric, personal project which finally projected the director into one of his best periods. There have been numerous VHS, grey market, DVD releases of various versions, all with different lengths and footage.The new REDEMPTION BLU-RAY is the one you've been waiting for

Featuring the long awaited HD debut of the Director's Cut, with a slew of Special Features including the notorious Zombie edition with inserts by Jean Rollin, alternate erotic footage, a detailed interview with the late director by David Gregory, a superb Daniel Gouyette documentary with comments by Alain Petit among other Jess Franco associates/experts, a fascinating commentary by Tim Lucas, and more! The best, most comprehensive release of this legendary film yet. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF Blu-ray review

• Hartog-1912: With the help of his deformed, blind, deranged manservant Morpho (Ricardo Valle),  Dr. Orlof (Howard Vernon), a disturbed ex-prison medic, abducts and skins music hall performers and local prostitutes, attempting  to crudely graft their facial tissue onto the ruined head of his daughter, Melissa (Diana Lorys, who also appears as Wanda Bronsky, the gorgeous girlfriend of the not-to-bright but nice Inspector Tanner [Conrado San Martin], who is not making headway in solving the serial kidnappings). Wanda proposes a daring, dangerous mission in which she will pose as a "harlot" to trap the villain. Her plan succeeds all too well, resulting in her eventual abduction and new role as the next unwilling tissue donor in Orlof's operating theater of horrors. 

Title credit card for the censored Spanish version. The  new Blu-ray contains all the nudity missing from this edit, done at the time of the regime of General Francisco Franco.

The basics of this plot would be repeated, sometimes shot by shot, in such subsequent Franco efforts as EL SECRETO DEL DR. ORLOF (1964), LA VENGANZA DEL DR. MABUSE (1971), THE SINISTER DR ORLOF (1982), FACELESS (1988), to name but a few, each time adding more nudity, sleaze and gore whenever allowed. ORLOF [onscreen title: L'HORRIBLE DOCTEUR ORLOF] was, of course, censored in Spain of all nudity, including a scene of Orlof cutting into the exposed upper torso of an abducted showgirl (Mara Lasso) and Morpho pawing the exposed breasts of Wanda ( a body double was used when Lorys refused to do the shot). These were shocking images then, if not today. Somehow the richly shadowed B&W cinematography of Godofredo Pacheco makes these moments seem all the more transgressive, suddenly erupting within a more charming, genteel period setting.

What remains memorable about this film is the stunning visuals which employ B&W film stock to its fullest capacity (unfortunately this is not fully apparent in this transfer, which could used a boost in the contrast, it's sometimes grey and white, instead of jet black and white. However, definition, sharpness and detail are all significantly improved from the previous 2000 IMAGE DVD). Right from the very first image, framed through a street lamp, to the final shot of the survivors walking away down an arched walkway of a Gothic castle, Franco frames his scenes with optical, almost subliminal reminders that we are watching a staged production, an artifice, something at least once removed from reality.

 Morpho, in his voyeur mode, peers at his prey while hiding in a closet. Note the bugged-out eyes which Franco would use to even more outrageous effect with the cannibal-zombie in DEVIL HUNTER (1980).

Then there's Morpho Lautner (Ricardo Valle), who is tagged, in the perceptive and informative Tim Lucas commentary, as the screen's first "oral sadist," biting into the necks and chests of his voluptuous victims, combining the attributes of a cannibal (DEVIL HUNTER), zombie (LAS TUMBAS DE LOS MUERTOS VIVIENTES) and vampire (EL CONDE DRACULA), all in one unique, unforgettable character. This kind of thing just wasn't business-as-usual in the early 60s horror genre, leaving H.G. Lewis (BLOOD FEAST) and Georges Franju aside. The shots of the women's bleeding torsos, skinned faces, their chained bodies hanging from the ceiling of Orlof's dungeon, are the stuff of nightmares and 1960s Fumetti Neri.

This Blu-ray also presents the experimental, slam-bang, atonal, rattling, pounding, non-melodic J. Pagan-A. Ramirez Angel-Jess Franco score to its best advantage. The well-translated, very readable English subtitles (they even took the trouble to subtitle the songs in the music hall sequences) are also a welcome addition to the French langauge track

"Welcome to the Mad, Mad World of  THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF.... such carryings-on and such carryings-out...." the vintage US trailer exclaimed. I would have loved to have seen the SIGMA III Corporation double bill of this with Riccardo Freda's THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK back in 1964, two of the most transgressive horror films of that era, both dealing with still forbidden themes of necrophilia, sadism, rape and sexual sadism, submerged in heavy Gothic aesthetics combining German Expressionism, French Fantastique, the London-Fog Hollywood excursions into mad scientist/Jack the Ripper territory and Jess Franco's own Spanish tinged, macabre-erotic artistic proclivities by way of Luis Bunuel and Edgar Neville.

The plot is an unholy stew of tropes boldly incorporating elements of Franju's LES YEUX SANS VISAGE (1959), CIRCUS OF HORRORS (1960) and countless other Euro/American models. The Owl which inhabits the Orlof household even recalls Chano Urueta's delirious Mexican sex, gore and surgery cheapo THE WITCH'S MIRROR (1960), the latter influence confirmed by the director during my 2005 interview in which he revealed an unending admiration for the Mexican maestro. It remains unclear if Franco actually saw and consciously incorporated any or all of these into his mise en scene but they somehow all pertain.

Wanda (Diana Lorys), in hooker guise, encounters herself on the other side of the mirror, the title of one of the director's best films and a recurring image throughout his long career.

I would like to cite the excellent documentary "The Young Dr. Orlof Chronicles" directed by Daniel Gouyette, featuring a wealth of fascinating information and insights into the making of this Jess Franco horror classic by film historians Alain Petit, Lucas Balbo, Jean-Pierre Bouyxou and Eurocine Exec Daniel Lesoeur. It alone is worth the price of admission to the new Blu-ray presentation of THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF from REDEMPTION FILMS.  These world class experts discuss everything from the impact of the film on the European cultural scene in the early 60s to the elusive "novels" of David Khune/Khunne, with Lucas Balbo nailing the source of the beard.  No one, including the late director, has ever produced one of these mysterious pulp fictions, but it's fun to speculate.  

Equally fascinating is David Gregory's "The Horror of Orlof," the last interview with the director focusing on his first horror film. Franco reveals that he did not set out to be a horror director, his first three features were the screwball comedy TENEMOS 18 ANOS and two light-hearted musical comedies.  He then failed to secure the go-ahead to film B. Tavern's novel THE REBELLION OF THE HANGED, an epic tale of exploitation and violence in the jungles of Mexico, by the author of THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, that had already been filmed in 1954 by Alfredo Crevenna and Emilio Fernandez on Mexican locations. Shifting to Gothic territory after taking the Spanish and French producers to a a screening of  Hammer's THE BRIDES OF DRACULA, the director went full speed ahead on filming the first excursion into full fledged surgical horror, boosted with erotic elements, on Madrid locations. There's not much nudity/sex in LES YEUX SANS VISAGE, but there is much sensual poetry. But ORLOF goes for the jugular in both regards, making it all the more daring considering it was made in a country still under a dictatorship which was once allied with Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Franco claims to have  picked the name Orlof from a Hollywood studio musician. I would go with Tim Lucas that the Bela Lugosi Orloff character in the 1939 British horror THE HUMAN MONSTER was a more likely source. Franco contends he wanted to make films like Antonioni's LA NOTTE but ended up forced into the horror ghetto, from which he would never really emerge.

There's also an 8 minute homage to the late director by Daniel Gouyette, "Jess! What are you doing now?" A photo gallery and original theatrical trailers are also included in this HD upgrade package which certainly presents this "museum piece" (as Franco referred to it in his later years) in an expanded, improved edition, with some room left for future improvement in the contrast and restoration departments. This version also runs almost 5 minutes longer than the 83 minute IMAGE DVD,  making it the way to go, if you want to upgrade, until a full restoration arrives.

We'll be looking at the Spanish version in more detail in a future blog post. Thanks to Mirek Lipinski for the caps from the Spanish version and thanks to Nzoog for his consultative support.

PS: In his excellent commentary on THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF Blu-ray Tim Lucas cites the influence of director John Brahm, especially THE LODGER, on the visual style and atmosphere of Jess Franco's first horror film. This prompted me to review some images from Brahm's career, especially his 1940s films. Here's an image from Brahm's 1946 Film Noir THE LOCKET, showing Robert Mitchum's face obscured by shadows. Note how it compares to the image of Howard Vernon as Dr. Orlof. The expressionist use of lighting illustrates inner darkness

Jess Franco had already mastered the B&W format.

NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT Blu-ray Review

 Cynthia and Anna in the hypnotic "Mirror Stage" matrix which defines their relationship and the film's plot.

The French psycho-analytic-theorist Jacques Lacan would probably appreciate the symbolic implications of this key image from Jess Franco's NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT in relation to his "Mirror Stage" theory of psychological development. And the film may be the director's most direct examination of psychological fantasy structures in the unconscious. A naive, almost child-like woman, who falls under the hypnotic spell of a manipulative adult, is used as a pawn in the final stage of  a crime. But this was, after all, an exploitation item designed for the adult film circuit which existed in Europe in the early 1970s, so we don't want to get too analytical, but Franco's obsession with mirror imagery goes all the way back to his earliest features (VAMPIRESAS 1930, GRITOS EN LA NOCHE) and the aberrant psyche of strange, seductive females is a recurring conceit in his massive filmography.

The women in the mirror are the submissive Anna (Diana Lorys) and the manipulative, sadistic Ice Queen Cynthia (Colette Giacobine), who in collaboration with Dr. Vicas (Paul Muller), involve Anna in a cover-up of an elaborate crime which they have committed. The cover-up involves the control of Anna's mind by Cynthia's hypnotic commands and drugs administered by Dr. Vicas, a conflicted psychiatrist who seems to sympathize with the hapless Anna. Cynthia seduces Anna, who will then be compelled to seduce and murder her and Vicas' partners in a jewel robbery, including Jack Taylor (SUCCUBUS), Soledad Miranda (VAMPYROS LESBOS) and Andre Montcall. Muller would play another conflicted father-figure who manipulates a similarly naive woman (Miranda) in Franco's subsequent film, EUGENIE DE SADE, also featuring Montcall. But NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT manages to come off as both conventional and Oneiric in a way only Jess Franco can manage.

The theme of mental domination by destructive forces of which the victim is not consciously aware, can be found in the director's  THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1962), MISS MUERTE aka THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z, SUCCUBUS [NECRONOMICON], to name a few predecessors. The victims in the latter two are also erotic entertainers, and Franco uses the performer-voyeur matrix which is virtually the mainstay of his universe since his very first feature, TENEMOS 18 ANOS (1959). 

Anna (played with exquisite elan by Diana Lorys [the heroines of GRITOS EN LA NOCHE, RESEDENCIA PARA ESPIAS and a memorable player in THE BLOODY JUDGE]) performs her number in an ultra sleazy Zagreb strip joint which is constructed basically with a stage flat, a ragged couch, a plaster statue and a few chairs. She faces the camera, the audience, as she does her slowed down tease. One thinks immediately of David Lynch's The Slow Club. She's going slowly to get the audience to buy more drinks and not just get up and leave. One night she notices the alluring, but somehow sinister, Cynthia eyeing her from a corner table. So begins the plot which will not unravel until the film's very last image. One of Franco's best acted films, Lorys, Giacobine and Paul Muller could not be better, or better cast, in their complex roles. Franco uses mirror imagery to introduce each and to elaborate the plot and relationship arc. Captive birds flutter around the villa Cynthia like indicators of Anna's flights of fantasy. The sensuous, poetic narration of Josiane Gibert is highly evocative and pretty much guides the film to its conclusion.

This is a tragedy wrapped in a caper nestled within a sterling example of low budget late 1960s European erotica. The fact that the legendary Soledad Miranda is on hand as a criminal cohort who lounges around bare-assed in some inserts, which seem to have been shot around the time of EUGENIE DE SADE {note that Andres Monales [Montcall] also plays her lover in that film and is her partner here in the sleazy room with LIFE IS ALL SHIT emblazoned on the wall, has been the selling point of this title on past home video incarnations. Life is Shit may indeed be Jess Franco's message here and in much of his long, twisting filmography, there's even a song with that refrain heard in several of his later flms, written by his sometime collaborator, MANACOA FILES author and film historian Alain Petit.

As pointed out by Lucas Balbo in OBSESSION: THE FILMS OF JESS FRANCO this story was to be later remade as the inferior LOS OJOS SINIESTROS DEL DR. ORLOFF (1973). Yet another remake is  the rather extraordinary MIL SEXOS TIENE LA NOCHE (1981).

The thumping, eerie, sometimes rocking, sometimes abstract, jazzy, noirish Bruno Nicolai score is one of his best, and most experimental. The abrupt opening credits (credited to Nadia), made up of still images from the remainder of the film, is also highly effective.

Yet another must-have Blu-ray from REDEMPTION. Once again I must call attention to the excellent Tim Lucas commentary. I've heard many, many commentaries. They tend to be litanies of factoids and oft-told behind-the-scenes tales. Tim does something really refreshing, taking you by the hand and escorting you into the film, its style, tone and substance. He follows individual shots, appreciating Franco's oft-criticized zooms/pans/rack-focused explorations for what they are, a fearless filmmaker's personal hand writing on the spatial-temporal continuum which is a Jess Franco film. It's revealing and actually allowed me to upgrade and re examine the film from different perspectives. And yet another superb documentary from Daniel Gouyette, EUGENIE'S NIGHTMARE OF A SEX CHARADE, during which experts Alain Petit, Lucas Balbo and Jess Franco himself are allowed to expand on the context and import of this breakaway thriller. It also includes some fascinating info on Franco's lost experiment, SEX CHARADE. 

One of the most fascinating and appreciated features is a verbal-visual essay by producer Bret Wood detailing the cleaning up and reformatting of the disc after it was discovered that certain scenes were shot in different aspect ratios. It all looks very good on Blu-ray with focus and detail not seen on the previous DVD versions. Although the new detail sometimes reveal the inadequacies of the original lighting and camera work. But it's a terrific film and this is a very welcome Blu-ray upgrade. All this and more, much more. Kudos to REDEMPTION for putting Diana Lorys on the cover instead of Soledad Miranda. It's really HER film and she soars in it. Highly recommended!

(C) ROBERT MONELL 2013 

John Brahm, Jess Franco andTHE AWFUL DR. ORLOF

In his excellent commentary on THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF Blu-ray Tim Lucas cites the influence of director John Brahm, especially THE LODGER, on the visual style and atmosphere of Jess Franco's first horror film. This prompted me to review some images from Brahm's career, especially his 1940s films. Here's an image from Brahm's 1946 Film Noir THE LOCKET, showing Robert Mitchum's face obscured by shadows. Note how it compares to the image of Howard Vernon as Dr. Orlof. The expressionist use of lighting illustrates inner darkness..

The Doctor Orlof saga continues....

The new feature version of our web series now in production under the direction of Alex Bakshaev...

• Video update on the making of the feature film version of our 2010 web series from director Alex Bakshaev. This was shot today in Voronezh.

  

  
  

  bloodsucking nazi zombies making of 1

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Jess Franco's first Dr. Orlof film.... now on Blu-ray!

I would like to cite the excellent documentary "The Young Dr. Orlof Chronicles" directed by Daniel Gouyette, featuring a wealth of fascinating information and insights into the making of this Jess Franco horror classic by film historians Alain Petit, Lucas Balbo, Jean-Pierre Bouyxou and Eurocine Exec Daniel Lesoeur. It alone is worth the price of admission to the new Blu-ray presentation of THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF from REDEMPTION FILMS.

NOW ON BLU-RAY & DVD with Jess Franco's AL PEREIRA VS. THE ALLIGATOR LADIES!

Return of the Bloodsucking Nazi Zombies (2010)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2255929/

Directed by Alexander Bakshaev. With Nadine de Bejin, Adolf Hitler, Alexander Bakshaev. Dr. Mabuse, an evil mastermind, has created an android and armed him with a new powerful weapon which can turn humans into zombies. Mabuse's right-hand man, Dr. Orloff than transports the android to Earth on a mi…

NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT on BLU-RAY!

Yet another must-have Blu-ray from REDEMPTION. Once again I must call attention to the excellent Tim Lucas commentary. I've heard many, many commentaries. They tend to be litanies of factoids and oft-told behind-the-scenes tales. Tim does something really refreshing, taking you by the hand and escorting you into the film, its style, tone and substance. He follows individual shots, appreciating Franco's oft-criticized zooms/pans/rack-focused explorations for what they are, a fearless filmmaker's personal hand writing on the spatial-temporal continuum which is a Jess Franco film. It's revealing and actually allowed me to upgrade and re examine the film from different perspectives. And yet another superb documentary from Daniel Gouyette, EUGENIE'S NIGHTMARE OF A SEX CHARADE, during which experts Alain Petit, Lucas Balbo and Jess Franco himself are allowed to expand on the context and import of this breakaway thriller. It also includes some fascinating info on Franco's lost experiment, SEX CHARADE. All this and more, much more. Kudos to REDEMPTION for putting Diana Lorys on the cover instead of Soledad Miranda. It's really HER film and she soars in it. Highly recommended!

A more detailed review of this terrific Blu-ray presentation will be added soon...

NEXT CHAT @ CINEMADROME

This rarely seen but worthy title will be discussed on JESS FRANCO LIVE @ the CHAT ROOM on CINEMADROME on Aug 10 5PM ET.

PLAISIR A TROIS: more grabs from the Mondo Macabro DVD

 Martine takes a break from the action....

Martine at work...

HOW TO SEDUCE A VIRGIN/PLAISIR A TROIS: MONDO MACABRO DVD Screengrabs

This is looking Great! A mannequin in the basement sex room adjacent to the torture chamber of Martine De Bressac (Alice Arno). More to come. Thanks to Pete Tombs. This is going to be a must-have.

HOW TO SEDUCE A VIRGIN aka PLAISIR A TROIS on MONDO MACABRO DVD

Highly recommended! A jet black descent into madness, torture, seduction, betrayal, mind games, murder in the torture chamber of Alice Arno.... One of Jess Franco's best, and most unpredictable Sade adaptations.

How to Seduce a Virgin DVD (Mondo Macabro / Jess Franco) (NTSC All Region)

www.diabolikdvd.com

The beautiful Countess Martine de Bressac is released from the expensive asylum where she was incarcerated after castrating her former lover. She returns to her

THE MIRROR STAGE: 1

What does this film director and this French psychoanalyst  have in common? Find out in my upcoming series, THE MIRROR STAGE.

The Mirror Stage [French: stade du miroir] is a term probably largely unknown outside of the the theory, practice and history of psychoanalyis.

TOP: Jess Franco as the voyeur-Russian spy in UNA RAJITA PARA DOS (1982) 

BOTTOM: Jacques Lacan lecturing. 

This series will consider some interesting possible parallel's between Jacques Lacan's theoretical psychological concept of THE MIRROR STAGE and Jess Franco's long running deployment of mirror imagery in his films.

Lacan first made public his theory as a paper presented at
the International Psychoanalytic Congress in Marienbad. LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, the 1961 French Art Film classic, a labyrinth of hypnotic mise en scene written by Alain-Robbe Grillet and directed by Alain Resnais, comes immediately to mind.... right?

Beyond the joke there is something to be said concerning the relation of the theory and the central placement of the mirror as both a symbolic object and a stylistic signfiier in the cinema of Jess Franco. To name another film, AL OTRO LADO DEL ESPEJO, a key title in the prolific auteur's filmo from 1973, a year in which he made, or partially made, up to 12 feature films.

I actually had the chance to talk with the director in some detail about the film and his evaluation, intentions and practice during an [unpublished] interview I conducted with him by telephone in 2004.
But first, in the next blog post on this topic, we'll attempt to outline Lacan's theory, at least to the best of my ability, given my limited understanding of psychoanalytic theory and Lacan's dense texts on the topic.

(C) Robert Monell 2013

 

LA VENGANZA DEL DR. MABUSE on HORROR RISES FROM SPAIN

I just recorded my review of this weird, ultra-stylized Jess Franco thriller, a virtual comic book on film. You can listen to it on the new edition of HORROR RISES FROM SPAIN.

HRFS 2.16: Jeremiah Kipp and more

horrorrisesfromspain.wordpress.com

In this episode of Horror Rises from Spain you will find an interview to the director and writer Jeremiah Kipp (http://kippfilms.com/main.html) and Robet Monell’s review of the Jess Franco movie L...

Jess Franco's Final Film Now Available on DVD/Blu-ray

http://www.amazon.es/Pereira-Vs-The-Alligator-Ladies/dp/B00DCNMNCA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374452331&sr=8-1&keywords=AL+PEREIRA
http://www.amazon.es/Pereira-Vs-Alligator-Ladies-Blu-ray/dp/B00DCNMNAM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374452331&sr=8-2&keywords=AL+PEREIRA


Also, one of the numerous special features on this presentation is the complete Jess Franco inspired web series RETURN OF THE BLOODSUCKING NAZI ZOMBIES, which I wrote and co-produced with director Alex Bakshaev.

TODAY: LIVE CHAT ON CINEMADROME!

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JESS FRANCO LIVE! On Saturday, July 20 @ 5PM ET we continue our live chat on CINEMADROME, discussing the director's 1980s output, the decade when he returned to Spain and let all Hell break loose. First up is the notorious Women in Prison epic, SADOMANIA, starring the late, great Ajita Wilson. Be there! Scroll down to the CHATROOM @ http://www.cinemadrome.yuku.com/

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TODAY: Live Jess Franco Chat on CINEMADROME!

JESS FRANCO LIVE CHAT: THE 1980s Films. Saturday, July 13, at 5PM ET we'll be discussing Jess Franco's 1980's films as the topic. We'll be working our way through ALL of them, one by one, starting later today.... Be there. On CINEMADROME CHAT. http://www.cinemadrome.yuku.com/

Picture of Macumba Sexual

www.listal.com

Picture of Macumba Sexual

Films discussed today will include NAKED SUPER WITCHES OF THE RIO AMORE, BLOODY MOON, SADOMANIA and DEVIL HUNTER!

SOLEDAD MIRANDA LIVES!

Soledad Miranda in EL CONDE DRACULA [Top] and EUGENIE DE SADE [Bottom]

Soledad Rendón Bueno (9 July 1943 – 18 August 1970), the Spanish actress-singer who is best known as Soledad Miranda, would have celebrated her 70th birthday today if not for a cruel twist of fate which occurred on the Costa Del Sol highway near Lisbon on August 18, 1970. But Soledad Miranda survives as an international icon of Cinema. The tragic car accident which took her life at the age of 27 happened at the height of her career, just as she was about to sign a multi-year contract with German producer Artur Brauner.
But this event also allowed her to enter the realm of legend, propelled by the seven films she managed to complete the last year of her life. These films, directed by Jess Franco (the final three co-produced by Brauner), illustrated her protean abilities as a performer. The theatrical success of the iconic VAMPYROS LESBOS in Germany at the time and the subsequent establishment of such films as EUGUENIE DE SADE and SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY as cult classics on VHS and DVD have given her a kind of immortality. Her image is all around us. On DVDs, posters, album covers, screenshots, Youtube videos, vintage adverts. She certainly qualifies as one of the Queens of the Internet. Just Google her name.

By 1970 she had already appeared in supporting roles in both Spanish and international co productions such as PYRO, THE SOUND OF HORROR, SUGAR COLT and 100 RIFLES, sometimes playing opposite of American stars like Barry Sullivan and Burt Reynolds. She was a well known personality in Spain even before the final Franco films. But she moved into a different dimension in 1969, starting with her haunting and haunted performance as Lucy in Franco's EL CONDE DRACULA. Even the normally aloof Christopher Lee was took notice of her special magnetism. A few months later, appearing under the name Susann Korda, she was equally haunting, but also vulnerable, dangerous and ultimately touching as the title character in EUGENIE DE SADE, one of Jess Franco's unquestionable masterworks. The unfinished JULIETTE and the (MIA) SEX CHARADE followed. But it is with her show stopping presence as the sensuous, mysterious vampire Nadine Korody that she seems to break through yet another boundary, leaving no doubt that we are in the presence of an arresting talent able to make her heart and soul visible onscreen. She developed this sexual/existential ambiguity even further as the vengeful widow who seduces and kills her victims in SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY. She seems to freeze her victims in place before melting them down.

Who know what would have eventually happened if she had been able to continue to act during the next four decades? Superstar status on an international scale? A flame out? Or a slow fade away?  What's important now is her legacy, now preserved on countless DVDs, photographs, albums and in books, articles and discussion of a certain type of Cinema. So, while mourning her loss let's also celebrate her life on her 70th birthday. Soledad Miranda Lives!

JESS FRANCO LIVE[S]!

http://www.cinemadrome.yuku.comI'm planning a new CHAT to be called JESS FRANCO LIVE[S] regarding the career and filmography of Jess Franco which will feature news and special topic discussions on my CINEMADROME site @ http://www.cinemadrome.yuku.com/  Just go to the site, register and scroll down to the CHAT FORUM and click on.
This first CHAT will be this Saturday, July 6 at 5PM ET. The subject will be THE LEGACY OF JESS FRANCO AND LINA ROMAY. Hope to see you there.

RESTORED.... Finally!

Read this important preview by Tim Lucas about the restoration of one of Jess Franco's key films.

Tim Lucas Video WatchBlog: Franco's AL OTRO LADO DEL ESPEJO Restored!

videowatchdog.blogspot.com

Additional scene added to upcoming Blu-ray

d.

Timeline Photos

The queen is not happy. Her scenes have been removed from CHRISTINA, PRINCESS OF EROTICISM (because they did not originally belong there). We explained to her that they will be viewable as a separate entity, in their entirety, on the Blu-ray of A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD. But she is still not pleased.

by: Redemption Films

I'm very pleased Redemption is releasing this on Blu-ray in the original director's cut and with a lot of Special Features, including the later "zombie" version with inserts shot by Jean Rollin. This was the first version I saw on grey market from VSOM, a composite of all the footage, including this amusing, sexy-surreal insert of Alice Arno as a "queen" presiding over an orgy on the lawn of a villa. Franco regulars Pierre Taylou (Exorcism) and Wal Davis (THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR, YUKA) can also be seen in this scene. This will be presented as a separate element. Also included is a commentary by Tim Lucas. Look for it in August!

New DEVIL HUNTER DVD

Here's the link to David's review on TOMB IT MAY CONCERN
http://david-z.blogspot.com/2013/06/manhunter-jess-franco-savage-unleashed.htmlhttp://david-z.blogspot.com/2013/06/manhunter-jess-franco-savage-unleashed.html

Jess Franco's Final Film coming on Blu-ray!

Producer Ferranz Herranz sent the specs and cover for the coming BD and DVD of Jess Franco's final film.

I'm listing here the specs of the "Al Pereira" BD and DVD
July 10th - Cameo Media
"AL PEREIRA VS. THE ALLIGATOR LADIES"
1080 24p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: Spanish stereo DTS-HD
Subtitles (film): English, Italian, German
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
TRAILERS:
Theatrical Trailer (2’)
Trailer of the documentary “A ritmo de Jess” (3’)
THE SHOOTING:
Behind the scenes (24’)
The Wrath of Jesus (documentary short) (3’)
Camera tests (1’)
Interviews: Jess Franco and Antonio Mayans (questions by Álex Mendíbil and Francesco Cesari) (19’)
THE PREMIERE:
Pies de Gato TV: Chronicle of the Barcelona premiere (13’)
Estreno en el Maldad (documentary short) (10’)
La Nuit des Alligator Ladies (documentary short) (15’)
Malaga Film Festival premiere (4’)
WEBSERIES:
Return of the Bloodsucking Nazi Zombies, by Alex Bakshaev and Robert Monell (24’)
BUFF! SHORT FILMS (Bizarre & Underground Film Festival):
Arrozzorra, by Naxo Fiol, starring Irene Verdú (12’)
Coños y barro, by Naxo Fiol, starring Irene Verdú (4’)
Horrormania, by Juan Carlos Gallardo (12’)
Jenny, by Julio Cerrillo (5’)

LOS BLUES DE LA CALLE POP (aventuras de Felipe Marlboro, volumen 8 (1983)

2. 1:59

   Jess Franco introduced in LOS BLUES DE LA CALLE POP

    

   One of my favorites, but in need of a proper OAR DVD. A colorful, satirical neo-noir, this would be perfect for Blu-ray, which takes place in "Shit City" where Jess Franco is the piano man, Antonio Mayans is the corrupt PI and Bogart looks down from the CASABLANCA poster on the wall. 

   A terrific score by Fernando Garcia Morcillo, in the jazz-blues vein, illuminated by blinding lens flares, it looks like a Punk graphic novel on film.

   Most amusing of all is that all the main characters are named after cigarette brands. Mayans is Felipe Marlboro, Jess Franco plays Sam Chesterfield! A hoot and one to search out.

   Only Jess Franco could have made this delightful film, iconoclastic, experimental and packed with cryptic jokes, secret codes and outrageous hairstyles.