One of Jess Franco's most personal projects, because he plays the lead character and recycled 75% of another of his self starring vehicles EXORCISME (1974) into it, is EL SADICO DE NOTRE DAME (1979). A mad slasher melodrama shot in Paris, Portugal and Barcelona. The very first Jess Franco video which I rented out of a store in the mid 1980s was Wizard Video's DEMONIAC, a radically cut 79 m version of a film which ran 20 minutes longer! It made an impact much more profound than earlier viewings of Franco's COUNT DRACULA and THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU.
Self advert time, here. If anyone is interested in seeing this film on Blu-ray, check out the Severin release which features the crucial Jess Franco dubbing of his character on the Spanish soundtrack, making it the director's cut. It also restores the full run-time. I also had the opportunity to write and narrate a brief video essay on the film's key scenes. Another personal point of interest is that same video store I mentioned carried another European slasher film which was graced with the image of Jess Franco in THE SADIST OF NOTRE DAME on the cover and had stills of the film on its spine and back cover. The film itself, TORMENTOR, is a disappointingly dull Italian giallo which does Not feature Jess Franco or his inimitable sytle. .
Note the cover image features a likeness of Jess Franco in his 1979 auto-slasher THE SADIST OF NOTRE DAME. The back cover of this Wizard Big Box features a still from the end of that film.
TORMENTOR a.k.a. DEATH CARRIES A CANE was the US re titling of a 1972 Italian giallo starring Susan Scott (Below)!
Despite the always alluring Ms. Scott PASSI DI DANZA SU UNA LAMA DI RASOIO is pretty mediocre, if not downright dull, in comparison with Franco's personal fever dream. George Martin, as the police inspector, seems literally dead on his feet. It does have a nice voyeuristic murder scene but doesn't follow up on the idea.Instead, there's a lot of talking, instead of showing, various ex positional and logistical information. It is pretty sleazy, though. Maurizio Pradeaux reportedly graduated into directing after working as chauffeur for an influential producer. I doubt even a 4K Blu-ray would upgrade my approval of TORMENTOR. But, you never know.
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