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20 April, 2013

THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN: Blu-ray notes

I'm looking forward to the REDEMPTION Blu-ray release of this important, favorite Jess Franco title. It will be coming later this year. I have already spoken with their representatives and encouraged them to remaster the shorter "Director's Cut" rather than the longer, censored/covered Spanish version, made to comply with the tough censorship there in the early 1970s. REDEMPTION has assured me they have all the necessary elements in hand, including the stronger, more explicit version. I'm hoping it will be remastered with it's French track with English subtitles.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEx5CUcBbt0
Sep 17, 20
Jess himself told me he prefers the "erotic" version, which would run around 70m NTSC. The longer version features the late Lina Romay in her first appearance in a Jess Franco film. It's a rather unnecessary role in what I find rather off base filler, although the appearance of the white shrouded ghouls in the mist is effective. 
The shorter version would be the French Les Experiences Erotiques de Frankenstein. Rather confusingly, there's a 90m runtime listed in OBSESSION: THE FILMS OF JESS FRANCO for this version. A version this long has never surfaced.
The covered Spanish version is La Maldicion de Frankenstein [The Curse of Frankenstein], released by IMAGE DVD in 2005 as THE RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN [85m] with the original Spanish language track. My local public library actually has it in their collection!
I'll be following up on this in the near future, including as assessment of this outre, fumetti influenced Franco version of  the Universal classic, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN....

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