The ultra bizarre music for LES POSSEDEES DU DIABLE was composed by Jazz Bach guitarist Andre Benichou. It really gets under your skin. Once you hear you won't forget it...
Rare advert for English language version....
The results of our most recent reader's poll, asking which Jess Franco films were the most wanted on DVD, and LES POSSEDEES DU DIABLE (LORNA, THE EXORCIST) wins by a landslide with 64% of the vote. That doesn't really surprise me since it's one of the director's most sought after films, especially in its elusive complete form. This 1974 Robert de Nesle production has never surfaced complete on any video format as far as I know.
Video Distributors: C.V.D.; VIP; MPM Production [Here are some French distributors whom may figure in the right's chain, according to one site]
The last I heard was that a rights holder had been located in Europe and that a DVD company was in negotiations. That was last year. If quality, complete elements are discovered we could all be in for the most important discovery since EUGENIE...HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION and NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT surfaced several years ago. They had been MIA for decades, so anything is possible. This hypnotic, transgressive (see the still on p. 110 of OBSESSION: THE FILMS OF JESS FRANCO) Faustian tale certainly deserves the deluxe treatment. It always makes my often changing Jess Franco 10 Best list.
Thanks to everyone who voted!
POLL RESULTS:
LORNA, THE EXORCIST: 61 votes
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR;-34 votes: The Spanish version of this Robert de Nesle/Spanish coproduction. The French version is THE OBSCENE MIRROR, which has a different soundtrack by Andre Benichou. It also has more explicit sexual inserts acted out by Lina Romay and Ramon Ardid among others. It's much less interesting than the Spanish version which was released by Q video.
PLAISIR A TROIS-32 votes: Yet another version of PHILOSOPHY IN THE BEDROOM which is envlined by Alain Petit's sharp dialogue, a bizarre music score and a cubist mise en scene. Some hardcore moments may make this a difficult DVD release.
GEMIDOS DE PLACER-26 votes: A 1980s remake of PLAISIR A TROIS filmed in long plan- sequences. One of Franco's most structurally interesting films. Write to Severin Films if you want this on DVD. They have already released several other Golden Films Internacional titles.
THE SADIST OF NOTRE DAME-25 votes: A composite of 1974's EXORCISM with 1979 footage. A Spanish-Eurocine coproduction. A key Franco title.
THE SINISTER DR ORLOFF-22 votes: Jess Franco's fourth Dr. Orloff feature and my favorite of the series. Very sadistic and visually interesting Golden Films production.
THE MIDNIGHT PARTY-17 votes: A minor, amusing sexy spy-comedy with Jess Franco as a torture specialist.
We'll have a follow up poll soon in which a number of other Jess Franco titles will be presented as DVD candidates.
(C) Robert Monell, 2008
17 comments:
"In your sleep the meaning of my words will penetrate the most secret corners of your mind!"
Lorna (is it Green og Grimm?) in Les Possédées du diable (Lorna, l'exorciste)
Hey, Fidani's (Miles Deem/Lucky Dickinson/Slim Alone/Dick Spitfire) birthday is coming up! (8/2/08?), I like your metaphysics on him, anti-matter and all : D
Hi, Robert!
In any actress who played Lorna in Jess's films, Pamaela is best.
You wrote that a rights holder had been located in Europe and that a DVD company was in negotiations.
It is wonderful information.
If it is achieved, I will recommend distributing to some of Japanese DVD companys.
Thank you for wonderful information.
Sorry for my poor English.
I cannot write long English.
Best
from Masayuki Kino in Japan
Truly amazing film to watch - it's just a shame Franco didn't use his real name on the directors credit.Especially considering so many awful movies of his come with real name entact.
Hope a proper DVD of this comes soon..
Of all the Franco films from this period, LORNA L'EXORCISTE has been at the top of my DVD wish list for some time. I hope that the claim that a rights holder had been located in Europe is true, since the Franco films produced by Robert De Nesle have been the hardest to get a hold of. Ideally, if a DVD release of LORNA L'EXORCISTE does come to pass, Jess and Lina MUST do an audio commentary, even if it needs to be subtitled. Lina considers this one of her best works and it should be treated with the respect it deserves.
In closing, thanks for the kind words regarding my Lina Romay paintings, Robert.
DADA for now.....
Svartglimmer: Welcome to the blog. It's Lorna Green, you must have seen the Luminous DVDR in which the English subs incorrectly identify her has Lorna Grimm. Yes, I plan to do a blog on Fidani again. I find his films very entertaining and interesting.
Masayuki: I agree, she's the perfect actress for this role. I had only heard that right's holder had been found but don't know which DVD company was in negotiations or how they turned out.
Scott, I think Franco used the name Clifford Brown on LORNA because of quota restrictions.
Mick: Yes, it would be terrific to have a Jess-Lina commentary on this. She's excellent in the role of Linda. Thanks for sending your paintings.
Cheers for the welcome Robert
Fidani and Franco are two of my favorite filmmakers, among Andy Milligan, SF Brownrigg, Polselli, early "minimal" Pete Walker etc
Svartglimmer: Your comments are always welcoma and we encourage discussion here. I'll be starting a new discussion board soon as an offshoot. Fidani is really unique in that his films have a kind a special atmosphere. Negative space, minimalism, or whatever. And Polselli was a magnificent Eurotrash experimenter. And there will be more blogs on Milligan coming up soon.
hey, do you have the Benichou songs from 'lorna' by chance? my guess is that these songs also appeared on his albums and Franco used them with permission instead of being written specifically for the film? I could be wrong but the small budgets it seems kind of hard to believe otherwise.
No, are they on an album? I know some of Benichou's music used in JF films can be found on albums. I'm not sure about LORNA> It fits the film so perfectly. I can't imagine listening to it without the film. But it may have been used after the fact as you suggest. The score is co credited to Robert de Nesle so he might have purchased the rights. Some Benichou cues found in other Franco films is not credited to the composer.
Any more info on the English language version?
Adverts were obviously prepared but I'm not sure if it was ever dubbed. It might have had a Canadian or UK theatrical playoff, but I'm not aware of any US theatrical release. And and English version has never materialized.
For those interested, the Benichou album "Jazz Guitar Bach" is avaiable as a digital purchase at the iTunes store.
That's for that information, anonymous. I would really like to get a CD of his music which was used for Jess Franco films. Does anyone know if one is available? Thanks.
You can hear excerpts from the his album at this adress :
http://www.linternaute.com/musique/albums/artiste/andre-benichou/62475/jazz-guitar-bach/155075/
Post a Comment