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
