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24 October, 2016

Goodbye to Video Watchdog (1990-2016)

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Goodbye to Video Watchdog (1990-2016): I vividly recall purchasing this very first edition at the now defunct Twilight Games and Video store a quarter century ago. Tim's article HOW TO READ A FRANCO FILM was a seminal influence on my own career as a film journalist in numerous zines and books from that date onward and a key inspiration for this long running Jess Franco blog.

This was a publication dedicated to the films I loved and collected. Today's announcement that no more print copies will be published marks the end of an era just as the demise of Craig Ledbetter's European Trash Cinema did in the 1990s. The white hot cauldron of the INTERNET has consumed yet another artifact of the print era. I will post any links if a digital version of the magazine is planned.


17 October, 2016

DAUGHTER OF DRACULA: Blu-ray Review

GUEST REVIEW by Scott Allen


Disc:
Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:22:07.500
Disc Size: 23,108,077,697 bytes
Feature Size: 20,974,374,912 bytes
Video Bitrate: 28.99 Mbps
Chapters: 9
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: October 4th, 2016
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
LPCM Audio French 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Commentary:
LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles:
English, None
Extras:
• Audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas
• Alternate safe footage (less sexually explicit) (3:19)
• Original theatrical trailer (4:38) 


Jess Franco's LA FILLE DE DRACULA was released on Blu-ray by Redemption earlier this month. It had been speculated for some time this release, especially after Redemption released a DVD version of it in PAL/Region 2 back in 2014. Redemption, a long champion of Jess' work has spent recent years reissuing old titles on Blu-ray and making announcements for films that never yet surfaced like on DVD or Blu-ray, "Les Chatouilleuses". Redemption's silence on the matter seemingly gave way to very impressive Blu-ray releases of "Erotic Rites of Frankenstein" and "The Demons". These releases  were staggeringly good especially after the misfire of the Blu-ray release of "A Virgin Among The Living Dead" that used a very bad print.
This particular film was one of the few from his early 70s films with a monster emphasis, including "Dracula Contra Frankenstein" (aka THE SCREAMING DEAD as it was known in U.S. on videotape)  and "The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein". Dracula Contra Frankenstein played it most safe in the trappings of horror only and didn't seem to push the limits of the erotic that Jess used so well in his films with Soledad Miranda. "The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein" Spanish variant played almost like a companion film with the Spanish version having a horror only focus. In 2015, Redemption unearthed the long delayed French variant and reportedly Jess's preferred film - complete with what seemed like longer takes than the Spanish version and more sexual content. Until seeing the French version, the Spanish one always felt disjointed and less coherent so it appeared like a revelation to be seeing this in a better form at last.LA FILLE DE DRACULA appears the slightest and fastest made of this bunch with beautiful Britt Nichols as the protagonist but like her role in THE DEMONS she doesn't get enough screen time.     
 The release of LA FILLE DE DRACULA seems to use a similar print that X-Rated Kult used for the German release in terms of visual quality. If you view the Redemption Blu-ray up close you do see more of the flaws of dirt and grain and at some points what looks like white dust. This mainly was noticeable when making screenshots with phone from the disc as I needed to be closer to the screen. Normally the print looks really good from a regular watching distance, perhaps not to the high levels of Erotic Rites of Frankenstein or The Demons; but still enjoyable enough. The film's draw is for Tio Jess' audience and to have more of Britt Nichols in HD. You can see Jess having a good time with a film that uses the Dracula backdrop in a very mild way to sell a film that could be more categorized as a thriller or lite-giallo.

There are a few instances where Jess visual poetry really shines through - particularly a scene where a stripper is killed by vampire bite and her body zoom leads to Nichols playing piano for a conversation scene with Anne Libert, it's these kind of scenes that have kept my interest in Jess cinema for years. The story itself seems a minor one, tossed off while Jess presumably worked on bigger projects and this was done in down time using the same Portugal castle as many films he made during that period. It falls firmly in not being his best nor his worst, but very much worthy of the personal upgrade in my collection. 

 The Blu-ray comes with a few extras include some alternate partially clothed seduction scene with Libert and Nichols and an informative commentary by Franco-authority Tim Lucas. Lucas shares some insight regarding locations and parallels of the characters in this and Jess earlier outing The Sadistic Baron von Klaus. His commentary, although consistently enjoyable, featured one small gaffe, he stated that Jess was engaged to actress Ana Castor, but he actually was engaged to Isana Medel. Both actresses appeared in his second feature film, LABIOS ROJOS (1960).

Overall, a very fine Blu-ray release from Redemption.... Bring on LES EBRANLEES already, dammit! :)     

(C) Scott Allen, 2016

11 October, 2016

Dorado Blu-ray JESS FRANCO'S FORGOTTEN FILMS Vol. 1: Special Features

 Here's a list of the Special Features which will be on the Ultimate Edition of Dorado's upcoming double feature Blu-ray JESS FRANCO'S FORGOTTEN FILMS Vol. 1. Dorado informs me the HD screencaps will be posted on Wednesday, along with HD video clips
1. Dual layered Blu-Ray containing two feature films:
    a)  THE SILENCE OF THE TOMB
    b)   THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF

2. BOOKLET     
    c)  THE MANACOA EXPERIENCE 
         by Francesco Cesari and Roberto Curti
         
This will be illustrated by us, with poster art of some of the films mentioned which are ours. 
        
      
         "Revenge of the Alligator Ladies"
          "Al Otro lado del Espacio" 
          "La Noche de los Asesinos"
          "Botas Negras Latigo"
          "Venus in Furs"
          "The Hot nights of Linda"
          "The Green Eyes of the Devil"
          "99 Women
          "Count Dracula"
          "LA Noche de los Asesinos"

3.  TRAILERS:
     Six or more

4. ROBERT WOODS  CHAT

5. FULL HD

6. NEWLY CREATED SUB-TITLES IN ENGLISH, SPANISH & ITALIAN

7. INTERVIEW WITH MONTSERRAT  PROUS

8. SPECIAL COVER WITH LIMITED NUMBERS


 

05 October, 2016

EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN: French Secam VHS images

Thanks to Midnight Video's BILL KNIGHT for posting this on FACEBOOK. I thought readers here would appreciate this vintage VHS box image. I have numerous vintage VHS copies of this, including the English langauge EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN, Dutch VHS versions, but I don't think I have this one. The image of the monster on the cover is really strange because it looks nothing like the silver skinned creature, played by Fernando Bilbao, seen in the film.

EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN
French Secam VHS on Budget Video
Uncut original French nude, Robert de Nesle version
1972 - Dir: Jess Franco
15 seconds longer than the Dutch Sunrise release

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