Belated Birthday Greetings to Alice Arno

Yikes! What a grisly image for a belated birthday note. Guess how old Marie-France Broquet was yesterday....

She was featured in four Jess Franco masterworks all made in the busy year of 1973: AL OTRO LADO DEL ESPEJO, PLAISIR A TROIS, LA COMTESSE PERVERSE and FEMALE VAMPIRE. She proved to be a terrific actress in all four and swung a mean whip in three of them.

Alice also appeared in five other Jess Franco directed titles in the same year!

Have one for Alice this evening...

(C) Robert Monell, 2007

New Spanish Jess Franco DVD's released

Thanks to M. Kino's wonderful Japanese Jess Franco site for this information and these images.

The noted release date was June 27. 2007. These mid 1980s films were MANACOA productions along with the third DVD release, the Edgar Wallace adaptation VIAJE A BANGKOK, ATAUD INCLUIDO (featuring Howard Vernon). I'll be putting that cover up in a Edgar Wallace related blog soon. This is all the information I have on these new discs at this point.

They are being distributed by FILMAX. If anyone has any further information on video quality, specs, extras, etc please comment below or email me.

JUEGO SUCIO... is especially worth seeing. It's a very moody, stylish neo noir featuring one of the late William Berger's best performances.

Visit M. Kino's essential Jess Franco site:http://hmkino.ld.infoseek.co.jp/franco-home.htm
　

　

　

Soledad Miranda film at 2007 Venice Film Fest

SUGAR COLT, Franco Giraldi's 1966 Spaghetti Western will be shown as one of 40 films in a sidebar tribute to that once popular genre; some of the films have been restored and will be projected in 35mm, at the 2007 Venice Film Festival. Soledad Miranda, the smoldering Jess Franco object of attraction in EL CONDE DRACULA, EUGENIE DE SADE and VAMPYROS LESBOS, is second billed with US actor Hunt Powers. She appeared in several mid 1960s shot-in-Spain westerns. I haven't seen this one. Any comments?



Another Jess Franco actress, Emma Cohen, can also be seen at the festival's big screen projection of CUT THROATS NINE, a 1972 ultra violent Spanish western directed by former Jess Franco colleague Joaquin Romero Marchent (1955's EL COYOTE was co written and co directed by JF, along with its follow up). In 1973 Cohen gave an award winning, haunting performance as a woman lost AL OTRO LADO DEL ESPEJO, Franco's essential 1973 occult thriller. Numerous other actors seen in JF films of that era also appear in CUT THROATS NINE, including Alberto Dalbes and Jose Manuel Martin. Marchent was Spain's most prolific and vital Eurowestern specialist. It's a very powerful film and highly recommended.



Jess Franco admirer Quentin Tarantino will be on hand to introduce some of the Eurowesterns.


(C) Robert Monell, 2007

Jean Pierre Bouyxou Online!

I've always been a great admirer of the pioneering French film historian, critic, filmmaker and sometimes Jess Franco actor, Jean Pierre Bouyxou. I was watching him closely in FEMALE VAMPIRE [LA COMTESSE NOIRE] last night as the blind Dr. Orlof and was struck by how much elan his mysterious, imposing presence added to the film.

He can be seen and heard online in these videos discussing his career:

bouyxouexpérimentalgodingloupierundergroundDebordrollinfrancoravacholanarchismemoliniercinemabiskennethanger
artsfilm & tv
Duration: 09:24Taken: 13 April 2007Location: Paris, France
Jean-Pierre nous parle des années 60 et du caractère sulfureux du cinéma fantastique, mais aussi de Guy Debord...

Check out his page where you find his bio, filmography and links:

http://www.cineastes.net/c/bouyxou.html

The Man Behind Jess Franco

Here's a picture of the very prolific and well known European producer who bankrolled a number of Jess Franco's most popular films. He also contributed to the scripts of several. Can you ID him and the Franco films he was involved with?

We'll be discussing his career and relationship to JF in the future.

Happy Birthday, Rosalba Neri!

The legendary Italian actress [aka Sara Bay] suffers her destiny in Silvio Amadio's ALLA RICERCA DEL PIACERE/AMUCK!/MANIAC MANSION/LEATHER AND WHIPS. Not a very nice Birthday picture, but she's very wicked in this memorably twisted giallo. Made in 1971, with Farley Granger and Barbara Bouchet in the lead roles, the plot, characters and even the quirky music score have recycled countless times (a certain Coen Bros. comedy uses a classic cue).

It's definitely Rosalba all the way.
Hard to believe that she's 68 today!


I think my favorite of her performances is as the pathetic nymphomaniac in Fernando Di Leo's SLAUGHTER HOTEL. And there are many other films of this era in which she dominates the proceedings even in minor roles, often stealing the film from the female lead. She's in full bloom in AMUCK!.

I loved you in EVERYTHING you were in, my dear Rosalba....

A graduate of Italy's prestigious C.S.C., she embodied so many favorite characters in European popular cinema from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s. Nearly 100 roles in films and TV.

She's terrific in her roles for Jess Franco [but she's always terrific, isn't she?]:

Yaka, the Albanian Police official in LUCKY THE INSCRUTABLE.

Lisa, the sullen enforcer dressed in a man's suit and Fez in THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU.

Zoe, #76 in 99 WOMEN.

The cultist in JUSTINE.


There's nobody remotely like her in contemporary cinema.



(C) Robert Monell, 2007

The Candelabrum

Aha! Just noticed the famous candelabrum which plays multiple roles in such 1972 JF productions as LES DEMONS (Lord Jeffries office), DRACULA CONTRA FRANKENSTEIN (Anne Libert's death chamber), THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN (Cagliostro's drawing room) is seen in the b&w JUNGFRAUENREPORT film within a film (looks like Howard Vernon in there) watched by the delectable Andrea Rau in ROBINSON UND SEINE WILDEN SKLAVINNEN (also 1972).

JESS FRANCO VS MOTHRA VS GODZILLA

I was intrigued to hear on the excellent commentary track of Classic Media's MOTHRA VS GODZILLA that a Terry Vantell was mentioned as being a dubber for the some of the female voices, possibly the miniature twins, "The Peanuts." I know that Titan Productions also dubbed some of the Gamera films for AIP in that era. Does anyone know if this is the same Terry Vantell who directed the English version of NECRONOMICON aka SUCCUBUS? I didn't realize that Terry Vantell was a "she" and also directed the English version of Lucio Fulci's THE BRUTE AND THE BEAST aka MASSACRE TIME.

I can't find a Terry Vantell on the imbd or get any further information via a Google search. Does anyone have any more information or what became of this dubber/director? I always have wanted to speak to the person who created the English language version of NECRONOMICON on editing choices, voice casting, sound effects and what the original version they got in was like.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

(C) Robert Monell, 2007

25 Years Ago, Yesterday....

Rainer Werner Fassbinder was found dead from an overdose of sleeping pills and cocaine. He was 37 years old. More significantly, he had directed over 40 films in just in just over a decade of frenetic activity. From his Anti-theater days of the late 60s to his ascension to the status of enfant terrible, he left a legacy which earn him the place of the last great German director of the 20th Century. His seminal influence was Douglas Sirk (who made films for UFA before fleeing the Nazis), perhaps by way of Jean Luc Godard.

I remember hearing about his death in 1982 via a friend who informed me of the fact that RWF had died of an overdose as I was in the midst of acting out my own addiction at the time. I was 30: RWF was 37. He had made 40 plus films; I had made only a few shorts. I immediately recalled my impromptu meeting with RWF in New York City, circa 1975. Dressed in leathers, he seemed introverted, sensitive, "nice" but not particularly communicative. This was before he had become internationally famous and an infamous icon. He seemed uncertain of his physical self but sure of his art. He thanked me, weakly shaking my hand and smiling a smile that didn't seem like one. Later there would be stories.... But what counts is the magnificently heartfelt oeuvre.

I just happened to put on his 1978 IN A YEAR OF 13 MOONS yesterday morning. I sat there becoming simultaneously enraptured and stricken by the cruel fate of Elvira (Volker Spengler), the exquisitely tormented transsexual who feels too much and is lost in a cold, calculating world. I only was reminded of Fassbinder's death anniversary today after reading dwhudson's June 10 blog on http://daily.greencine.com/ quoting this German reviewer's comments on the controversial DVD presentation (from the also controversial FASSBINDER FOUNDATION) of RWF's 15 hour TV broadcast BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ. The description of the imagery and methodology reminded me of Jess Franco's aesthetic in his early to mid 1970s films (ie AL OTRO LADO DEL ESPEJO, LORNA THE EXORCIST, LA COMTESSE NOIRE, etc)....

"A far more rewarding read on the DVD is Jürgen Kasten's in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. I'll translate just a bit:
'The radicalism of the direction of the figures, unfocused takes and the disturbingly dark lighting values led to a veritable television scandal when it was first broadcast... In Berlin Alexanderplatz, Fassbinder is concerned with the filmic representation of an inner world. The space in which Franz finds himself is abundant but skewed almost all over. A dusky semi-darkness lays over everything, smearing out the bodily contours. There doesn't seem to be any clear delineation between inside and outside, body and surroundings. The director had filters placed in front of the camera so that most of the shots would take on a delirious haziness. '"

Does "The radicalism of the direction of the figures, unfocused takes and...disturbing dark lighting....[culminating in a] ...delirious haziness..." sound familiar? It just about perfectly describes for me the visual style, tone and what drew me to Jess Franco's films in the first place. And, like JF, RWF was an artist fascinated by the mirror and all of its implications.

I had never seriously considered a link between RWF and JF, but there it is....

If he had lived I'm sure he would have caught up with JF's product count by this time.

And I still have to catch up with the epic length BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ, something I have put off for way too long.

Here's an update from DVDBEAVER.com re BERLIN...: "Finnish Digital-TV has broadcasted now 12 of the 15 parts of BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ. The new restoration made by Fassbinder Foundation. I must say that this is the biggest disappointment of the year, I do hope Criterion can do wonders, or postpone the release and make a new restoration. I actually get a headache if I even look at the image for more than two minutes - I'm gonna drop the viewing and wait for the Criterion. If someone have the old tapes, don't throw it away yet!..."

(C) Robert Monell, 2007.

What Franco Films Do You Want on R1 DVD?

Although there are over 100 DVD presentations out there of various titles, COUNT DRACULA has had two already this year, there are still numerous important Jess Franco films which have not had a R1 digital presentation including such personal favorites as LUCKY, THE INSCRUTABLE (1967), LORNA, THE EXORCIST (1974), PLAISIR A TROIS, THE PERVERSE COUNTESS, AL OTRO LADO DEL ESPEJO (all 1973). THE SADIST OF NOTRE DAME, SINFONIA EROTICA, EL SEXO ESTA LOCO are also candidates and have already appeared on Spanish DVD. GEMIDOS DE PLACER and EUGENIE 1980 have already been mentioned by me in previous blogs. All of these would be very welcome, especially in the HD formats.

I'll be asking for nominations on a regular basis to gather a consensus...

Women In Peril: JE BRULE DE PARTOUT

Happy Birthday to Brigitte Lahaie! I was lucky enough to score one of now OOP LE Blu-rays of Jess Franco's rarely seen crime drama, Je Brule de Partout ((1978). It sold out in record time from PULSE VIDEO, in partnership with Vinegar Syndrome. Queen of Euro-erotica Brigitte Lahaie emerges from a sea of welcome vintage grain in the opening disco scene. A welcome indicator in this 2k scan from 35mm elements. The plot in rudimentary: An agent investigates the abduction of Jenny Goldstone (Susan Hemingway) after she left a disco club. The daughter of an American diplomat in Lisbon, is then sold by the kidnappers to a group who run an exclusive seaside brothel . After swimming in the cultural cesspool of this film's depressing SexWorld, the agent comes up with results that punish the guilty and rescues the young woman.

This downmarket production exists on the edge of hardcore cinema without ever quite taking the plunge. It's a jazz filled, downbeat immersion into the director's familiar criminal netherworld of drugs, kidnapping, extortion, white slavery, sex, international intrigue and violence. There's also a dark current of father-daughter incest which provides a queasy conclusion, as it did in Franco's other 1978 Robert de Nesle production, COCKTAIL SPECIAL, a full hardcore adventure made on the same Portuguese locations. These two films would be the last productions of the prolific producer, who passed away the same year.

The rescuer of Hemingway turns out to be a repeated Jess Franco protagonist, the stealthy P.I., Al Periera. He also enforces rough justice on Hemingway's corrupt father for his sexual transgressions, giving the film an oddly (for Franco) moral conclusion.

Ms.Lahaie appears as a human trafficker who trolls the nightclubs of Europe for fresh meat. Hemingway's character becomes her victim here. She was also a villain as the murderous nurse, loyal to a criminal plastic surgeon, played by Helmut Berger in Franco's FACELESS (1988). She plays a more positive character in Franco's 1987 crime epic, DARK MISSION, starring Christopher Mitchum as an agent who breaks up a drug ring run by a crime lord played by Christopher Lee. I tend to prefer her as the victim of a nuclear radiation leak in Jean Rollin's LA NUIT DE TRAQUEES and as a violent avenger in his elegant female vampire fantasia, FASCINATION (1979). The Bluray also contains an interview with Ms Lahaie about her work with Franco, Jean Rollin and on other films. She also reveals that JE BRULE DE PARTOUT was shot in a week with a few days left over to make a hardcore film, presumably COCKTAIL SPECIAL, which Franco asked Ms. Lahaie to take part in. She quickly refused. (C) Robert Monell, 2023

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PAMELA STANFORD?!

[aka Monique Delaunay]

Just want to know... HAVE to know!

That woman was an ACTRESS! She's quite terrifying in LORNA, THE EXORCIST (1974) and quite charming in LES EMMERDEUSES (1974). But whatever became of her? Someone should start a fanclub!

She was quite sexy and could get down and very dirty or go for elegance and classs. She was by definition an all purpose erotic fantasy. She appeared in a number of Jess Franco films from 1973 to 1980. Her role as "Elizabeth Taylor" in MONDO CANNIBALE, where she gets eaten alive by the titular flesh eaters, was her last appearance in a Franco film. She did go on to make the even sleazier and grosser CANNIBAL TERROR! [Julio Perez Taberno 1981), a bottom feeding Eurocine effort which is just about unwatchable.

Whatever happened to Pamela Stanford?

DVD Review: LAURE

Here's the cover of the new Severin Films DVD presentation of the Franco-Italian Ovidio Assonitis (BEYOND THE DOOR) production, LAURE. Below is a picture of the writer-director of the film. Well, not really. It's the legendary Eurasian novelist-actress Emmanuelle Arsan. She didn't actually write or direct this nor did she even pen the first EMMANUELLE novel, which became the 1974 French film featuring Sylvia Kristel. Aka Marayat Andriane, EA can not only be seen in this film but also had roles in the Steve McQueen film THE SAND PEBBLES and the US TV western show, THE BIG VALLEY [!].

LAURE is Assonitis' exploitation of the EMMANUELLE subgenre. Andriane/Arsan appears in the film in a supporting role, dispensing 70s "free love" philosophy "What will you do with your newfound freedom?" Her acting talents are a toss-up and Annie Belle [Brilland] is pretty much the whole show, turning the deficiencies in the script to her favor. This is harmless erotica of the silliest kind, but may provide a blast of nostalgia for fans of that genre in that era.

Laure is a free spirited young woman, the daughter of a Manila based minister-anthropologist, who meets an equally free spirited young filmmaker (Al Cliver/Pierluigi Conti) on a local bus. She sits on his lap and the rest in anthropology. He likes to "watch" via his 16mm camera mounted with a telephoto lens. It's all very Freudian, I guess. Or it's meant to be. After roaming the more photogenic attractions of the city they of course end up in bed together. He's not really much of a performer and she desires further erotic adventures with men, women and remote tribe (the Mara are up to the task here). There are the requisite lovemaking sessions in swimming pools, helicopters, wherever and whenever. They finally end up on an expidition into Mara territory and I was hoping for the sudden appearance of a cannibal tribe! No such luck. Laure ends up getting down with as many tribe members who can fit into a viewfinder and getting painted silver (kinda recalling Alexandra Delli Colli 's antics in the last scenes of ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST, but still no cannibals appear, frustrating my admittedly unrealistic expectations).

LAURE was actually known as EMMANUELLE FOREVER in some cases and it's basically a superior entry in that series under a different name. I certainly prefer it to EMMANUELLE, which I found boring when I saw it and reviewed it way back in 1974. It's a very glossy, well appointed production and has a classy look throughout.

Annie Belle was a talented actress who faced down David Hess in Ruggero Deodato's THE HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK and brought a sense of mystery to her early role as the female vampire in Jean Rollin's excellent LEVRES DES SANG (1974). I didn't find her particularly compelling here and her short cropped white [?!] hair is more distracting than appealing. It's a kinder, gentler softcore fantasy adventure with style to spare. It could have been a lost worse and is probably the best film I can think of which was directed by a French diplomat!

In the David Gregory directed EMMANULLE REVEALED producer Assonitis amusingly reveals that the film was actually written and directed by Louis-Jacques Rollet-Andriane, a French diplomat who was married to Emmanuelle Arsan. He penned the original Emmanuelle novels and credited them and this film to his wife to avoid a scandal. Given his occupation that was probably a wise move and an outstanding business decision. Ossonitis also talks about how he had to fire his original choice for role of Laure, Linda Lovelace, because of her drug habit and unprofessional behavior. That may have been a wise move at the time.

Cliver and Belle (in an audio only interview) talk about their offscreen love affair in LAURE-A LOVE STORY, ported from another presentation. Belle speaks frankly of her drinking during the production and terms herself an alcoholic, regretting that her character wasn't written with more depth. Belle did appear in BLACK EMMANUELLE, WHITE EMMANUELLE (which also included Cliver in the cast), and I must admit that the Italian Black Emanuelle series remains a preference in that universe because they tend to have an edgier, grittier texture, incorporate horror and although the dreamy Micalizzi cues for LAURE are perfectably acceptable I was waiting for the show to be suddenly energized by an infusion from a quirkier, ruder Nico Fidenco.

Nonetheless, it's another very fastidious transfer from Severin Films. The print [taken from vividly colorful French elements] and soundtrack are spotless.

R0-NTSC

1.78:1/16:9 widescreen transfer

Audio: Mono DD; English language only, no subtitles.

Extras: EMMANUELLE REVEALED--Interview with Producer Ovidio Assonitis[15m]

LAURE--A Love Story: Interviews with Al Cliver [video] and Annie Belle {audio only} [15m]

Not Rated.

I can report I did enjoy this presentation (along with the twisting backstories on the extras menu). The film itself is an oddity from my favorite decade and collectors of all things related to the "Emmanuelle" mythos are probably going to want to a look.

Street date is June 12th.

*My favorite film featuring Annie Belle and Al Cliver is Joe D'Amato's THE ALCOVE (1984), in which they both are excellent, arguably their best. Also featured is Laura BLACK EMANUELLE Gemser. It's a softcore melodrama with a superior script and really deserves a deluxe R1 DVD presentation with Italian and English language options [hopefully Severin is listening].

BLACK EMANUELLE BOXSET Vol. 2 News

From Severin Films:

"We're also diligently working on the second volume of Black Emanuelle's Box which will feature D'Amato's rarest entry EMANUELLE & THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE,BLACK EMMANUELLE/WHITE EMMANUELLE aka VELLUTO NERO (the Alien Vs. Predatorof erotica starring both Laura Gemser AND Annie Belle) and BLACK EMANUELLE No. 2, Bitto Albertini's rarely seen follow-up to his classic EMANUELLE NERA. A second soundtrack compilation featuring the Nico Fidenco scores fromEMANUELLE IN AMERICA, EMANUELLE & THE LAST CANNIBALS and EMANUELLE & THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE will also be included along with a whole host of excitingnew extras."

Sounds tantalizing! I'm especially fond of EMANUELLE & THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE, a particularly wacky wonderment from the late, great Joe D'Amato. And another Nico Fidenco soundtrack compilation is always good news.

More Info on German COUNT DRACULA SE

Here's the cover and some more information from Ewe Huber on Kinowelt's 2 Disc SE of Jess Franco's COUNT DRACULA. The language options are English and German. No English subtitles are available for the German language option.

-Extras on the first disc:

-Audio commentary with Fred Williams (in German, no subs)

- Beloved Count (the featurette from the Dark Sky disc)

- Interview with Jack Taylor (English, with German subs)

-Stills galleries (German Lobby Set etc.)

- several text pages (in German)

Thanks again to Ewe.

New German COUNT DRACULA DVD

Thanks to Magnus for these screengrabs from the new German DVD of Jess Franco's COUNT DRACULA issued by Kinowelt.

Top: the atmospheric opening image of the forest near Dracula's castle. This image is missing from the 2007 R1 Dark Sky COUNT DRACULA DVD, which begins a number of seconds later. The scene of the gypsy woman pleading for her child to be returned (MIA from the DS DVD) is also present on this disc.

Here is a list of the extras:

Interview with Jess Franco (audio only, in English with german subs).

Christopher Lee reads Bram Stoker's Dracula (english audio only, with stills)

Nachts Wenn Dracula Erwacht Super 8-print (german audio only, approx. 33 mins*) Super 8 cover artwork + info (german only). *[This is a shortened version of the film].

Trailers: Das Rätsel des silbernen DreiecksDracula - Nächte des EntsetzensSchulmädchen Report - Teil 2: Was Eltern den Schlaf raubt

Magnus also reports that the color is noticeably washed out and the blue tinting seen in some of the night scenes in the Dark Sky presentation is missing. Although I haven't yet decided if I will acquire this I'm grateful that it is more complete than the DS print, although I did appreciate the rich colors and High Definition quality of that presentation. The Super 8mm version also makes this an attractive purchase for me.

Thanks again to Magnus for the images and information.

(C) Robert Monell, 2007

Bruno Mattei: 1931-2007

aka Michael Cardoso / Norman Dawn / Vincent Dawn / David Graham / David Hunt / Bob Hunter / Frank Klox / Werner Knox / Pierre Le Blanc / Jimmy B. Matheus / Jimmy Matheus / B. Mattei / J.B. Matthews / Jordan B. Matthews / J. Metheus / Martin Miller / Erik Montgomery / Herik Montgomery / Stefan Oblowsky / Gilbert Roussel / George Smith / William Snyder

Before getting to the Jess Franco connections I would like to salute the late Bruno Mattei for his work ethic if nothing else. The fact that he continued to work while ill before his tumor caused him to go into a coma is indicative of someone for whom life was work and vice versa, not unlike JF. He wasn't as prolific as Franco, of course, but he had been in the Italian film industry for 5 decades and was very productive.

He worked an editor and then a director in many popular genres. An early example of his work as Sound Effects editor can be seen in Guido Malatesta's action packed peplum adventure, MACISTE CONTRO I MOSTRI/FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES (1962). I ran that last night along with a typical example of his later work as a director, ROBOWAR (1988), made in the Philippines when Mattei and his writing partner Claudio Fragasso were busy working on a series of low budget horror-sci fi projects lensed there, including their salvage job on Lucio Fulci's dire ZOMBIE 3.

ROBOWAR is a highly entertaining mixture of such mid 1980s Hollywood hits as PREDATOR and ROBOCOP. It's probably as well crafted as both. Given the fact that it was probably produced on a fraction of the budget and shooting schedules of those A-list features perhaps make it more impressive. It's certainly less pretentious and as fast paced. It's wall to wall firefights, explosions and macho posturing by Reb Brown backed by a supporting cast of Italian action regulars such as Romano Puppo and "Alex McBride." Antonio Margheriti mascot is listed in the credits but I couldn't find him in the film. The tropical locations are well rendered and the frenetic pacing is evidence of Mattei's roots as a skilled editor.

He began working in film the same year as Jess Franco, 1952. Besides editing the Italian versions of 99 WOMEN and EL CONDE DRACULA (both 1969), Mattei is listed by the imbd as the director of the hardcore scenes in the French version of 99 WOMEN. One wonders if Mattei was responsible for the cuts seen on the recent DARK SKY print of EL CONDE ... which some speculated was from an Italian source. Of course, the imbd is often incorrect concerning the career details of obscure Euro B filmmakers like Mattei. I assume this is the hard version out on the Blue Underground DVD. Can anyone confirm or deny this credit? Also, the Italian runtime of 99 WOMEN is listed in OBSESSION: THE FILMS OF JESS FRANCO and other sources as 108m. Is this spurios? This is presumably the Mattei edited version. If anyone has seen this and wishes to comment please do so below. I've never seen but sure would like to...

(C) Robert Monell, 2007

Jess Franco Cannibal Collection: LA COMTESSE PERVERSE

One title I always include on my ever-changing JF 10 Best list is his LA COMTESEE PERVERSE/THE PERVERSE COUNTESS. Actually, I have never seen the film under that title in its original 1973 incarnation. Alain Petit recently wrote to me that he fears Franco's original version may be lost since it altered was rereleased in 1974 under the alternate title: LES CROQUEUSES (THE MUNCHERS[!]).

Produced the prolific French exploitation magnate Robert de Nesle, LA COMTESSE PERVERSE is Jess Franco's predictably iconoclastic take on Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" which has been the basis for a number of Hollywood versions since it was first filmed in 1932. Franco performer Michel Lemoine (SUCCUBUS/NECRONOMICON) also adapted anddirected his own elegant version in 1974, LES WEEKEND MALEFIQUES DU COMTE ZAROFF (SEVEN WOMEN FOR SATAN), with himself in the role Howard Vernon plays in the Franco version (Vernon also appears in SEVEN WOMEN...).

Producer de Nesle was distressed when Franco turned in the first French cannibal/gore/exploitation film and ordered it to be lightened up by adding "comedy" scenes featuring Lina Romay and Caroline Riviere (only Romay was a participant in the original shoot). These turned out to be mood shattering inserts wherein the actresses joke about going out to the island of the Zaroff's. This version even has a "happy ending" of sorts. The original had an "optical" allusion to the first shot after restaging the grim climax of Val Lewton's I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE. Sometime later more inserts were added of the hardcore sex variety featuring Lina Romay performing oral sex on Pierre Taylou. According to Alain Petit, this scene was filmed in Paris, whereas the original footage was lensed mostly in Spain. This much altered version was then released in 1975 on the French "X" circuit. LES CROQUEUSES has since surfaced on French video and subsequently on bootlegs (sometimes subtitled in English) distributed by several North American companies. It's an outrageous curiosity and something of a blunted sword.

The original began with Robert Woods (featured in numerous Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s) scanning the beach for a victim to deliver to the cannibalistic Zaroff's. What follows is a deadpan, jet black comedy of manners. Kali Hansa and then Lina Romay are subjected to an extended "woman hunt" after which they are dissected, cooked and consumed at dinners presided over by Rader Zaroff's world weary charm.

The unhinged, delirious cinematography of the perilous landscapes, presided over by the Bofill structure XANADU, the frenetic prog-rock/avant garde guitar, organ and percussion improvisations of Jean-Bernard Raiteux and Olivier Bernard (some of these outre cues can be heard on the soundtracks of the 1972 JF titles THE DEMONS and THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and really need to be released on a newly remastered CD), excellent peformances by Woods (who recently told me all he remembers about the film is that Jess was constantly trying to get him to do hardcore), Romay, Vernon and especially Alice Arno whose extraordinary appearance, nude with bow and arrow, during the climactic woman hunt, is unforgettable, all merge into a heady synthesis which looks, plays and feels unlike any other JF film or any other film version of this story. There's also a hardcore Italian version SEXY NATURE, which includes other extremely ugly hardcore inserts not filmed by Jess Franco, and should be avoided at all costs!

Will Franco's original version ever be discovered? Will there ever be a decent R1 DVD in OAR with proper English language subtitles? Actually, if one could just remove the "comedy" and hardcore inserts one could reconstruct Jess' original version. But rights and access to the materials would have to be secured as a first step.

With a promised Blue Underground DVD of Franco's very inferior MONDO CANNIBALE/CANNIBALS (1980) and the wretched Video Asia "Terror Tales" disc of the equally bad THE DEVIL HUNTER one wishes that at least one version of Jess Franco's one really great cannibal film could finally surface in a high definition format(the 1998 remake TENDER FLESH is already out on a nice "Collector's Edition" DVD).

Let's have THE PERVERSE COUNTESS!

(C) Robert Monell, 2007

Jess Franco's Torture Clinic

Jess Franco uses "enhanced interrogation" techniques to persuade Princess Arminda (Lina Romay) to reveal her involvement in a plot to extort ransom from his criminal boss Amos Radeck (Victor Mendes) in the minimalist crime film, DIE SKLAVINNEN (1977).

Jess' favorite instrument of torture is a [what else?] cigarette!

The look of this film is fascinating: exteriors shot in Lisbon (including the white castle from SUCCUBUS) while the sleazy sex/drug/crime activities take place in filthy hotel rooms which suggest late 60s/early 70s Andy Warhol productions like TRASH.

Note the "Nighclub Scene" without a Nightclub--only a few chairs, a potted tropical plant, a lamp, a talkative parrot in a cage, all set off against bottomless black wallpaper. It's all cued to funky mid 70s dance music and is bascially harmless fun considering that there are powerful people in real life who think that torture is no problem.

In his mid 1970s Eurocrime universe Victor Mendes was Franco's Sydney Greenstreet and Martine Stedil his Catwoman. They provide solid support to Jess and his probing cigarette in this short, nasty and recommended little thriller.

(C)Robert Monell, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESS FRANCO!

At 77 years young he is still making [digital] films which sometimes continue to surprise and delight with his iconoclastic vision. I want to personally thank Jess Franco for the compelling oeuvre he has created over the last 50 years and hope he takes a well deserved rest on his 77th birthday [but I doubt that he will]. He still has numerous surprises and projects up his sleeve!

I'll be rotating some images of our favorite auteur and some adding brief thoughts about some of his films.

Can anyone guess which film the above image of Jess comes from?

Films I Want on DVD:

DEATH LAID AN EGG was released in 1968 and has been amazing those fortunate enough to stumble across it ever since. Was there ever a US theatrical release? There is a R2 DVD which can be ordered but I would like a R1 SE of this wild giallo, if you want to call it a giallo. Such an imaginatively directed films begs for a commentary by Guilio Questi who codirected and coscripted with the late Franco "Kim" Arcalli, known for his nonlinear editing style in Bertolucci's THE CONFORMIST and 1900. They previously co-created the equally iconoclastic Spaghetti Western known as DJANGO, KILL...If You Live, Shoot! (1967), released by BLUE UNDERGROUND as part of their 2002 THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN COLLECTIION and later as a single. That film was a violent allegory on fascism and greed which turned even the nihilistic Spaghetti Western formula upside down (literally, in some shots). DEATH LAID AN EGG is even more extreme...

It's rather like watching a series of Mondrians staccato edited into a science fiction tinged sex and murder mystery set in a futurist chicken plant. You'll never look at factory farming the same way again (if you've considered it at all) or perhaps never want to partake of what is produced there. It makes its point with absolutely no preaching and at breakneck speed. If you've never seen it you'll NEVER put it together upon a first viewing. It all seems lighter than air and it's a hair trigger pitched jet black comedy of bad manners in which everyone gets exactly what they deserve.

Bruno Maderna's score is akin to the sound of chalk screeching across a blackboard while Dario de Palma's images seem to speed toward us at breakneck speed. I was reminded of a long forgotten horror comic book I read as a child where giant chickens took over the world and got even. Some could be driven mad by this film! Watch it on a double bill with Godard's WEEKEND (also 1967) if you dare. Jean Louis Trintignant made all the right choices for the roles he choose during this period (THE GREAT SILENCE, Robbe Grillet's THE MAN WHO LIES, THE CONFORMIST).

I've only seen it via the pretty wretched Venezuelan DVD. So an OAR SE with the original Italian soundtrack would be nice along with the aforementioned Questi commentary. Questi went on to make the totally inscrutable ARCANA...

I had heard that BU was thinking of releasing this in the future. I hope that's still in the works and that the original Italian language track is included with English subtitles.

I'll be adding some more gialli I'd like to see on R1 DVD in the future.

(c) Robert Monell 2007

VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES DVD

Three faces of Paul Naschy...

It may be unintentional, involuntary or unconscious but veteran director Leon Klimovsky achieved a kind of surrealism in the midst of the quotidian of stock footage, tacky black magic rites and low tech gore effects which is VEGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES (1972).

Taking a break from his Waldemar Daninsky roles Paul Naschy plays the yogi Krishna, his tormented and tormenting evil twin Kantaka, and Satan. This was made for next to nothing and really looks like it. But I find it a delightfully delirious programmer. A true Guilty Pleasure. And bring on that jaw dropping Juan Carlos Calderon score. It's addictive!

All the positives I pointed out about THE NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF DVD also apply to this presentation, which is a nonanamorphic 4:3 fullscreen transfer. The colors are spectacular and the razor sharp image reveals an unimaginable amount of detail for someone like myself who has only expereinced this movie through the 1980s ALL SEASONS VHS. The Great Man's introduction brought a smile to my face and there are three audio options to choose from: the vintage English Mono track; the original Castilian track (which sounds the cleanest and sharpest to me) and an English track in 5.1 which is annoyingly out of synch.

Uncut, mastered in HD from the original vault negative, this movie is a world of fun and I'll be revisiting this definitive presentation whenever I need to turn my mind off and get a strong dose of female zombie madness...



Thanks to Eric Cotenas for the images.

THE NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF DVD

Thanks to Eric Cotenas for the screenshots from the BCI SE DVD
* * * *

I must admit that watching EL RETORNO DEL HOMBRE LOBO (1980) via the excellent new transfer from BCI, mastered in High Definiton from the original negative, adjusted my long standing opinion of the film. I especially found the Castilian language track gave the film a dignity and gravity which the rather hollow English dub lacks. Of course I'm talking about THE CRAVING, the US version, which played here theatrically and later surfaced as a murky looking and sounding VHS.

Rather than just deliver a conventional DVD review here (there are plenty to be found in various corners of cyberspace) I'll phase in and out giving my own impressions of this presentation and reflecting on my own history with this film. I'll also rotate some images from the disc and box artwork. Given my fondness for the films and vision of Paul Naschy I want to give my own perspective in a prismatic format which will be unbound from a normal review structure.

This is Paul Naschy's deluxe remake of Leon Klimovksy's LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS (1970) and a testament to his emotional investment in the role and his epic four decade werewolf cycle. It commands respectful attention. It certainly gets it with this DVD.

I had some difficulty getting my hands on this (along with the new BCI disc of Leon Klimovsky's 1972 programmer VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES). I do hope they will both soon be widely and easily available to Naschy's fanbase and horror/fantasy collectors everywhere who have already discovered or perhaps will be initiated into Naschy's intricately detailed universe.

The official release date is May 8. Some online distributors have already sold out their stock and the set is popping up in scattered Best Buys nationwide. If anyone has any corrections and/or further information on wider release and availablity please feel free to comment below.


I must admit that when I first saw this, as THE CRAVING via the US VHS, I was thrown off by the rather risible English language voice casting. The dubbing of Julia Saly's Countess Bathory seemed especially annoying. It was like somebody in a high school play trying too hard to act the wicked witch. Heard in Castilian Spanish (although the action is set in Hungary) she is far more menacing and the entire film loses any air it had of schlock.

Naschy really worked hard on its viusal style, collaborating with the great DP Alejandro Ulloa (COMPANEROS; MISS MUERTE) to emphasize, as he writes in his autobiography, "...Gothic imagery, blended with both real historical detail and unbridled flight of fancy." They fully succeeded and a true measure of the film is fully available on this DVD. Designed in varying shades of gold and crimson it's a somber looking production with strong undertows of sexual anxiety and looming violence. Naschy looks terrific in black clothing and bearded while his performance is more layered than earlier appearances as Waldemar. He has grown as an actor.

By 1980 Naschy had already directed two masterworks, EL HUERTO DEL FRANCES (1977) and EL CAMINANTE (1979), after his acceptable if uneven directorial debut, INQUISITION (1976).

EL RETORNO DEL HOMBRE LOBO builds on his strengths as a visual storyteller with a highly sophisticated sense of atmosphere and composition. I only hope that EL HUERTO... and EL CAMINANTE can someday find a way to quality DVD presentations like this one. These works move away from the exploitation arena into the realm of poetic fantasy similar to best of Kurosawa and Bunuel. What the film lacks in pace and script originality it compensates with a kind of visionary elaboration. For instance, the deaths of Saly and Aguilar are staged like extended arias in a bloody opera whereas Leon Klimovsky's handling of the climax in the 1970 template LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS seems rather perfunctory in comparison. Unlike so many of today's one dimensional, dumbed down, CGI packed gorefests Naschy's film never seems rushed, obvious or intelligence insulting.

Some of the shots evoke Rembrandt, Goya and Bosch with the metaphysical horrors often thrusting themselves out of bottomless blacks. One script improvement over LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS is that this time the beloved of Waldemar doesn't get to walk away from the carnage. She suffers her own grim fate before a last embrace. It's a powerful image which evokes the ending of Leon Klimovsky's DR JEKYLL AND THE WOLFMAN (1971). This was a very personal project for Naschy and the first time he had directed a Waldemar Dananisky saga. It's a densely referential combination of the best of the Universal Classics, Fisher's CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, the Italian Golden Age (a cue from the Rustichelli score of Bava's KILL, BABY, KILL! is used again and again at pivotal moments), his aforementioned earlier werewolf films and is as impressively lit as Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON while ending up as nihilistically downbeat as Fulci's THE BEYOND, which was made the same year.

The anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer allows all these elements to be seen and heard as if for the first time with the added advantage of restoring footage missing from the previous US video release, THE CRAVING. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch it in English language again but it's really nice to have both that and the superior Castilian Spanish tracks available. A passionate introduction by the Great Man himself, deleted scenes, the US theatrical trailer, the Spanish credits sequence (which finally explains the clueless US opening credits), packed photo and still galleries make this as fully loaded as I wanted considering that it's going for well under twenty dollars along with its companion release, VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES.

Mirek Lipinski's excellent liner notes introduce the film for the Naschy newcomer, perceptively evaluate the film itself, place it in a historical perspective and detail the careers of key cast and crew members. I've debated this particular film with him before and know that he combines the passion of a fan with the skills of a film historian, translator, author and webmaster of his essential site, THE MARK OF NASCHY. The fact that he takes time to speculate on the mysterious fate of Julia Saly and the tragic one of Azucena Hernandez is very much appreciated and proof that his interest in the film is much deeper than in just rattling off a list of facts. I was also very taken with the rather witty and appropriate menu design in which we are thrust toward a Necronomicon style book which blows open to reveal the menu options in Gothic lettering.


(C) Robert Monell, 2007

GOODBYE TO GORDON SCOTT

Gordon Scott and his 19 inch biceps from Riccardo Freda's stylish SAMSON AND THE SEVEN MIRACLES OF THE WORLD (1961)*, in which he actually played Maciste before it was dubbed, retitled and imported to the US by AIP.

It was sad news that Gordon passed away on April 30th in a Baltimore hospital after lingering complications from heart surgery. Born Gordon W. Werschul in 1927 he lived nearly 80 years. From his days as an Army Drill Instructor and MP to his appearances in six Hollywood Tarzan films after being discovered working as a life guard in Las Vegas, to his 19 films made in Italy between 1961 to 1967, Gordon kept busy but lived a hard and long goodbye for the final 40 years of his life. Director Freda admired his strength but complained about his drinking. Stories like how he wrecked his sports car and just walked away leaving it in a Roman alleyway abounded. Given his alcoholism, a terminal disease, it seems a miracle he lasted as long as he did.

He doesn't have much dialogue in SAMSON AND THE SEVEN MIRACLES OF THE WORLD (and damned if I can count "7" miracles) but he has "presence" and his unique physique, not as pumped up as Steve Reeves (his costar in Sergio Corbucci's DUEL OF THE TITANS), and it's the kind of charismatic physical presence that extraordinary athletes and stuntpeople have (it looks like he actually performed many of the dangerous stunts in SAMSON... himself). He seems perfectly scuplted for Freda's near perfect peplum and you easily suspend belief at the climax when he breaks out of his tomb beneath the foundations of ancient Peking, toppling the city (a highpoint in both his and Freda's careers).

His final film was Gianfranco Baldanello's LE RAYON INFERNAL (DANGER!! DEATH RAY), a delightfully inconsequential Eurospy entry in which he plays an agent named Bart Fargo who must secure the return of a kidnapped scientist. He looks like he's having a good time walking around in a tuxedo and bow tie in various Spanish gambling casinos. Still trim and fit, he's no match for Sean Connery in the acting department but you kind of enjoy watching him enjoying himself. And there's an interesting supporting peformance by "Max Dean" (BLOOD AND BLACK LACE's Massimo Righi) as an inept enemy agent befriended by Scott. Other villains include Jess Franco regular Alberto Dalbes (TENDER AND PERVERSE EMANUELLE) and Sylvia Solar (NIGHT OF THE HOWLING BEAST). A terrific CAM jazz score is a value added extra. This is the kind of compelling obscurity which we may never see on US DVD. But who knows?

I certainly hope to someday see R1 HD transfers of such Gordon Scott classics as GOLIATH AND THE VAMPIRES, DUEL OF THE TITANS, and a correctly letterboxed SAMSON AND THE SEVEN MIRACLES (forget the cheap Alpha DVD!) from quality elements.

*MACISTE ALLA CORTE DELL GRAN KHAN

(C) Robert Monell

EUGENIE, HISTORIA DE UNA PERVERSION on Blu-Ray?

An external view of the Ricardo Bofill designed "El Xanadu" (1968) seen in Jess Franco's 1980 version of Sade's infamous story which he previously filmed in 1969 as EUGENIE HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION.* I much prefer this more dialogue free and visually surreal (Dali is directly referenced) version. JE Films was the company of Spanish producer-writer Julian Estaban, who also coproduced ZOMBIE LAKE and Franco's DEVIL HUNTER (both 1980) with Eurocine, Paris. El Xanadu is also a key set in Franco's SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY (1970), THE PERVERSE COUNTESS (1973). My fantasy release would be a Blu-ray disc (could it happen?) which would deluge one with the uncanny atmosphere, vivid colors and Bofill's architecture (more screenshots due later). HD pushes you into a slightly 3D world but I would rather drown in the Blu-ray rendered hallucinations of our delirious visionary. I spent the day being treated to a demonstration of Blu-ray vs HD. Blu-ray is the unquestionably superior technology in my view. The quality of the detail is just breathtaking. It's like being submerged in a tsunami of exquisite tinctures and glittering wonderments. It comes and gets you. But I'm not planning to acquire the Blu-ray system I want. Even if I could afford it virtually everything which is available is material I don't want to see once much less revisit often. That may change. We'll see. Or both HD and Blu-ray will cancel each other out and a new technology will emerge and become the standard. Or they will coexist as niche preferences. But I would go with Blu-ray without hesitation. I bet you thought it was going to happen for a minute... You never know. Now, can you name all the Jess Franco versions of this Marquis de Sade story? Thanks Alex Lindsay for first posting a link to this image on the Latarnia Forum's Franco Lounge. *Exterior: EL XANADU; this building is located in Calpe and houses a number of apartments. Did Bofill have CITIZEN KANE in mind when he named this structure? I'll be rotating more screengrabs and images of Bofill's architectural designs to provide those who haven't seen this or are fans of this film with an ongoing slideshow. (C) Robert Monell, 2007

DVD Review: THE INCONFESSABLE ORGIES OF EMMANUELLE

LAS ORGIAS INCONFESABLES DE EMMANUELLE 1982
A Golden Films Internacional Production
Cast: Vicky Adams [Muriel Montosse'], Robert Foster [Antonio Mayans], Ida Balin [Asuncion Calero], Carmen Carrion, Tony Skios [Antonio Rebello], Juan Soler, Angel Ordiales.
Music: Pablo Villa [Daniel J. White, Rebecca White, Alain Petit]
Directed by Clifford Brown [Jess Franco]

"Puta...golfa..." The Marquis de Altuna

During his daily constitutional with his dog Sultan, Antonio Jamie Morales Marquis de Altuna, "Tony" to his friends, reflects on his recent encounters with several sexual partners, including the vivacious, troubled Emmanuelle...

In my encounters with Jess Franco, over transatlantic cable when he was kind enough to take time out of his busy production schedule to share his enthusiasm for cinema with me, I found him to be bascially a very humble, gentle artist who looks at the dubious aspects of life with brutal honesty and a curious type of humor. And that pretty much sums up this bound to be misunderstood attempt to merge a near plotless softcore sex romp with a very thoughtful and serious contemplation of the cultural and sexual attitudes of a modern Spanish aristocrat (Catholic in the broadest sense of the term) who still harbors 19th Century mores and manners.

The structure of the film is nonlinear in that the runtime of the film is exactly the length of the Marquis' daily dog walk while vignettes from the recent past flash through his consciouness. It's a softcore sex film which is also a sly contemplation of its own genre and narrator.

In the view of such an anachronism, women are troublesome property, pets.

The women in the Marquis' life, his stripper girlfriend (Calero) and the always restless tourist Emmanuelle (Montosse') are "whores", "sluts", inferior even to his faithful dog and he states this belief as if it were Holy Writ in the film's final moments.

This is a thinking man's (and woman's) sex film. Jess Franco takes sex seriously and examines it without hypocrisy or judgement. As Jess notes in the David Gregory documentary interview he wanted to make a film about the choices women face in the real world where unrealistic expectations are placed upon them. He didn't want to make an "Emmanuelle" film, that title and the character's name was forced upon him in post production by the distributor. Don't even bother comparing it to the French or Italian series about that character, it's a different kind of animal (no, the Marquis' dog does NOT become a player here!). But in the final Spanish dubbing Emmanuelle is the character's name so we are engaged despite Franco's protests. A lot of lesbian action and a rape don't seem to have any effect on Emmanuelle but one has to note her choices seem limited to the "freedom" Franco speaks of and sexual servitude (or at least fidelity) in marriage. CECILIA (1981), with Montosse' and Mayans, also contrasts "straight" versus "open" marriage.

My favorite scene is a very hot striptease performed by the feral Balin/Calero at the Marquis' club. Emmanuelle ends up performing oral sex on the dancer while Alain Petit's outrageous song "Life is Shit" (first performed by the film historian/actor in Franco's 1975 THE MIDNIGHT PARTY) is covered by an offscreen jazz combo. The rest is very stylishy lensed melodrama set in Almeria (where Sergio Leone once directed Clint Eastwood in his first Spaghetti Westerns) and the windswept Belearic Islands. Juan Cozar's relentlessly tracking camera drinks in these locations and seems to acknowledge no vanishing point.

The entire film can be experienced as one grand 360 degree arc from the artfully sculpted sand hills in the palm desert to the Marquis' adobe hometown which seems built into the local rock strata and back again to those hills in the final image. If I dote on the visual style of the film, Severin's 2.35:1 transfer finally allows the multilayered texture to emerge from decades of pan and scan videos, from the 1980s era Spanish language MDV Caliente label to the cable version EMMANUELLE EXPOSED. This latter incarnation is the possible source for the perfectly dreadful English language track which not only wipes much of Daniel J. White's delightful flamenco guitar score but also Alain Petit's signature "La Vie Est Une Merde"! This is replaced with unlistenable muzak style cues, the kind you might have heard if you were trapped in an elevator throughout the 1980s. Horrendous voice casting and an omnipresent hissing adds to the irritation. But I'm grateful that Severin included this track, along with the original Spanish language one (optional English subtitles are available). One really can appreicate Franco's use of music as an ironic counterpoint and his use of dialogue to advance his theme of the sexist illusions of the Marquis. "I'm a Spanish gentlemen," he tells two of his women whom he catches in bed together. On the English track he is awkwardly dubbed as saying, "I'm a discreet gentleman." What the English soundtrack does is to destroy the film's uniquely SPANISH character. And we must remember, given his worldliness, Jess Franco is first and foremost a Spaniard.

Antonio Robello has a subtle charm as the self deluded Marquis. Robello became a familiar face in Franco's 80's films.Future French TV actress Montosse, praised by Franco in the interview, pretty much leaves me cold here and in several other Franco films she appeared in during this time period. But Robello and Asucion Calero more than make up.

There's some visible grain here and there but the sunsplashed colors of Southern Spain are well rendered and the image is generally razor sharp. You have to take this film as a kind of imitation of life (Douglas Sirk would have understood it very well). Franco himself signals this during the scene near the beginning set in the local wax museum where Bogart, Liz Taylor, Liza Minelli, John Wayne and King Kong seem to watch our passionate couple as they make love on the floor while Don Quijote (10 years before Franco would attempt to complete Welles' Quijote project) seems to lord it over his fellow wax figures. I find it a fascinating film which rewards multiple viewings and it's clear Franco put a lot of personal touches into what could have been a by-the-numbers operation. With telling subterfuge Franco signed the film with his "Clifford Brown" cover.

Franco fiddles with a pack of his favorite cigarettes while discussing such matters as the defects of Just Jaeckin, Sylvia Kristel and American sexual mores in the inteview THE INCONFESSABLE ORGIES OF JESS.

Another worthy Golden Films Internacional obscurity finds safe refuge on another high quality Severin Films DVD.

(C) Robert Monell, 2007

Severin's SEXUAL STORY OF O: DVD REVIEW

HISTORIA SEXUAL DE O (1981)


DIRECTED BY JESS FRANCO
Cast: ALICIA PRINCIPE, CARMEN CARRION, DANIEL KATZ, MAMIE KAPLAN [Mari Carmen Nieto], MAURO RIVERA
DP: Joan Almirall [Juan Soler] -Techniscope
 
NOTE: Plenty of SPOILERS ahead. You may want to wait and see the film first.
 
"I don't understand..." Odile in THE SEXUAL STORY OF O

First and foremost, this is Jess Franco's STORY OF O, NOT Pauline Reage's. A point that the director himself forcefully makes in the David Gregory directed interview segment, "Franco's O."

Odile (Alicia Principe), a beautiful but naive young woman vacationing in Spain, attracts the attentions of a voyeuristic couple who live across from her hotel. The couple spy on her as she lounges around naked, and when they invite her over for a session of group sex, Odile gives in immediately.

After spending days enjoying this menage a trois, the couple take Odile to the villa of the wealthy Princess Wanda Von Baky, where the sex continues. Wanda's perverted husband drugs Odile's drink and rapes her. When she awakens, Odile finds herself chained to a bed and that her captors have sado-erotic torture and murder in mind. One of her abductors has a sudden attack of remorse after finding her mutilated body, murders the Von Bakys, and is finally seen walking into the ocean carrying Odile's dead body. The appearance of Odile's tormentors in their formal S&M gear is a direct "quote" from EUGENIE...HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION (1970), but this film is even more extreme and doesn't cop out at the end with a DEAD OF NIGHT caveat. Franco seems to become more nihilistic as he ages.

HISTORIA SEXUAL DE O is superior to most of Franco's tedious sex-a-thons of the 1980s. The flowery, tropical locations and sensuous cinematography offers an aesthetic counterpoint to the downbeat melodrama. A melancholy female vocal sets a sombre tone throughout, which Franco maintains until the very last shot of the blazing sun beating down on the aftermath of violence and death. There are many effective visual and aural touches throughout, which amplify the theme of corrupted innocence. For instance, the victim is first seen wandering in an idyllic garden reading excepts from Norman Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead," foreshadowing her own fate as well as establishing the Costa del Sol locale as a kind of ironic Eden. It is also significant that her abductors use Beethoven's famous "Ode to Joy" from his Ninth Symphony to seduce her attention, underscoring the theme of Old World decadence preying on Odile's American gullibility. It's a theme which Henry James built his classic DAISY MILLER around.

As Odile, Alicia Principe  [Alicia Pedreira] offers sensuality and modernity with a tragic ignorance of the brutal ways of the world. The darkly torrid Carmen Carrion and the gaunt, sinister Daniel Katz (MIL SEXOS TIEND LA NOCHE) are well-cast as the wealthy tormentors, the employees refer to them as the "pervert couple."  Katz's impotent freak-out while raping Odile is especially blood-curdling. The degenerate Von Baky's are identified as German and reflect upon the racial impurity of the victims while asserting some kind of amoral superiority. As Franco notes in the interview, they are characters which could have been written by Sade and would be perfectly at home in Nazi Germany.

There is also a subtle sociological subtext similar to the situation in Franco's 1973 THE PERVERSE COUNTESS, wherein upper caste villains use a financially struggling middle-class couple to provide victims for their bloodlust. This inequity creates a scene in which a henchman turns on his vicious employers.

The scene in which the only survivor of the massacre carries Odile's body into the ocean is also lifted from the end of THE PERVERSE COUNTESS (which is turn is a lift from the 1940's Val Lewton classic I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE). The long, excruciating sequence detailing Odile's torture and death is painful to watch, as chains, whips, and studded medieval-style weapons are used to strip away her flesh. Franco encourages us to become emotionally engaged with Odile, which ratchets the level of intensity even higher. The camera angles here are an almost shot-by-shot replay of a similar scene (revealed to be a put-on) in EUGENIE...HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION. Franco and his expert DP, Juan Cozar film this appalling sequence through filters which create ironically gorgeous emerald, blue and orange light refractions. It almost as if the Mario Bava of THE WHIP AND THE BODY is being referenced.

A visually entrancing erotic nightmare, HISTORIA SEXUAL DE O is a very beautiful film about very ugly events. Odile's repeated "I don't understand" also is a tragic evocation of impossible to break cultural barriers.

Daniel White's lyrical score, highlighted by a melancholy female vocal line, was first deployed in the Paul Naschy crime-horror epic, CRIMSON (1973), a Franco-Spanish coproduction helmed by Juan Fortuny and featuring a number of Franco/Eurocine regulars (Olivier Mathot, Claude Boisson). It's much more appropriate and effecitive here. There are also familiar cues from LA COMTESSE NOIRE (1973). The score is credited to Pablo Villa.

Given the recycling of elements from LA COMTESSE PERVERSE and EUGENIE...HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION, HISTORIA is hardly original but what matters is the developement of earlier themes and the aesthetic sophistication with which they are transformed into something new. But Franco's developement is always cyclical, rather than linear.
 
John Ford once said something to the effect that good cinema is something that is short on talk and long on action. That is a perfect description of this almost dialogue free film, and although the action is violent and sexual the vision transcends it.
 
SEVERIN has given one of Jess Franco's most visually breathtaking films a near perfect 2.35:1 transfer. The camera frequently dotes upon the lush flora and fauna of the Costa del Sol and the tropical hues here are intoxicating. If the film is not a masterwork then Cozar's compositions show the care and skill of painter who continually fills the widescreen with bountiful servings of bursting floral arrangements, exotic fabrics, early morning ocean sprays and midnight blues. And when the blood starts spattering on the walls it's as if Paradise itself has been defiled.
 
Restored from original vault elements SEVERIN's typically impeccable transfer finally gives this very worthy film its long delayed due. When seen in 16:9 this is going to blow the lid off the stagnant theory that Franco is some kind of technical incompetent.
 
David Gregory tops off the feast by giving us another one of his excellent and unobtrusive interviews with the nearly 77 year old director. Finding Jess in an unusually self critical state of mind we learn that the production was more than modest, "two cents" rather than two dollars and that Franco was less than pleased with Principe (whom he terms "stupid") and Mauro Rivera. He saves his praise for Carmen Carrion and Daniel Katz, whom he says simply disappeared after acting in a few of his films. Jess also manages to diss Just Jaeckin's STORY OF O, suggesting the director is more of a high fashion photographer than a real director. More to the point he notes that Sade, rather than Reage, was his real influence here and encourages critics to actually "read" the oft condemned author rather than moralize about him. Even more fascinating is his discussion of his use of water symbolism as a kind of portal to another reality.
 
This is one of my favorite 1980s era Jess Franco films and I thank SEVERIN for this important release and continuing to examine his underestimated and underseen GOLDEN FILMS INTERNACIONAL output. Now let's have GEMIDOS DE PLACER!
 
I'll be looking at SEVERIN's new disc of Franco's THE INCONFESSABLE ORGIES OF EMMANUELLE next. Stay tuned...
 
(C) ROBERT MONELL, 2007

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The SQUID?

Help me out here. I appreciate this upcoming presentation of a personal favorite Kaiju. But are they going to include the giant squid in at least one of the versions? Very surreal scene, my favorite in the movie. I remember reading about Nick Adams' death(suicide?) in the local paper in the late 1960s. He would have made a great David Lynch actor if he had stuck around.

Now on Ebay: THE OBSCENE MIRROR

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130100162806

Thanks to Eric "ECC"

The rare French (SECAM) prerecord. It's already getting kind of pricey!

This is the altered version of AL OTRO LADO DEL ESPEJO (1973).

WHITE CANNIBAL QUEEN: "Substance" Abuse?

Thanks to John Charles for this telling screengrab from the Canadian DVD of Jess Franco's MONDO CANNIBALE/CANNIBALS/WHITE CANNIBAL QUEEN, his 1980 cannibal adventure featuring Sabrina Siani as the title character. As the main credit shows SUBSTANCE DVD Co. just slammed the old Video City VHS onto the disc without even an attempt to cover up the hijacking. According to John, SUBSTANCE is known as a "bootleg DVD" outfit. I still have the old prerecord which features a rather poor quality, English dubbed, fullframe presentation, which you can now see on this DVD. The US distributor is asking 25 dollars for that dubious pleasure.

It has been recently announced that BLUE UNDERGROUND is preparing a release of this film which is bound to be highly preferable. I do hope they release it with the French soundtrack as an option. I have a dub of the French language video. I find that it plays much better in that language.

GRINDHOUSE: MY TAKE...

The are many good things in GRINDHOUSE and just as many, maybe more, bad things. The worst thing of all are the appearances of Quentin Tarantino in both features. He's not an actor by any stretch, more of a highly distracting and annoying presence. His familiar visage threw me out of the High Concept, and to work GRINDHOUSE must fly high on that concept or crash and burn. He's there to wink at us and remind us that it's HIS show (I wonder how Rodriguez felt about his "acting"?). If he's not the world's worst actor, he's the same nuisance who shows up to mug and rant on those late night talk shows. You can only groan and want to bitch-slap him off the screen. He just seems like a lout who showed up on set and pushed his way on camera.


QT can be his own worst enemy. But he can also soar as a director, however briefly, before inevitably burning out. Case in point: The Accident. About halfway through DEATHPROOF motorpsycho Stuntman Mike snuffs four Texas hotties by crashing into their ride with his muscle car, taking off the top of the vehicle, their heads and other body parts. It's the bodies-in-pieces fantasy all over again, and, as the local sheriff explains, Stuntman Mike's way of getting off (the car crash as social/sexual metaphor was done first in Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 WEEKEND). The best car accident ever filmed may be the one at the climax of Argento's 1971 FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (Dario Argento is cited, along with Sam Peckinpah and Umberto Lenzi, in the end credits) where Mismy Farmer drives into the back of a truck, spectacularly decapitating herself (in slow motion) in the process. The Accident in DEATHPROOF is even more outrageously stylized, shown again and again from multiple viewpoints at varying speeds. It makes the remainder of the rather meandering feature worthwhile. As the hapless Stuntman Mike Kurt Russell has never been better and it seems as if he's been preparing for the role of Stuntman Mike his entire long, twisting career.

OK, so I've said some nice things about DEATHPROOF. The now infamous girltalk marathons didn't irritate me as much as other commenatators. It seems as if QT is staging a kind of tug of war between the aesthetics of the Parisian cafe talkfests of mid 1960s Godard (he named his production company after Godard's BAND OF OUTSIDERS) and the stunt epics of H.B. Halicki (Halicki's GONE IN 60 SECONDS (1974), along with VANISHING POINT (1971), are the oft stated templates here). The girls are sexy and charming as they talk about sex, sex and more sex. The give away is that a REEL MISSING card pops up interrupting Rose McGowan's hot sex scene in PLANET TERROR and Butterfly's much anticipated lap dance in DEATHPROOF. Denial hurts! Cut back to more violence. Our hotshot directors would probably say 'hey, it's post-post modernist feminist genre deconstruction!' I say... well, I don't want to say. Check it out for yourself.

If QT is just a big Tease, Robert shows way too much puss for my taste (I know, it's a bad pun, but look at what were dealing with here). It exhults in the self knowledge that it's a post Osama bin Laden zombie film and that's part of the problem. Romero's LAND OF THE DEAD, conceptually much more daring but more stylistically conservative didn't push its allegory. I know, it's supposed to be way-over-the-top. But both features are way too self conscious, self congratulatory, smug, self referential and over produced. They just ain't "Grindhouse." Andy Milligan is Grindhouse; Al Adamson is Grindhouse; you really don't want a 100 million dollar GRINDHOUSE. The production values ultimately undermine the High Concept. All the elaborate CGI scratches, film breaks and print damage can't make it live up to it's title.

For my money, the only element which truly captures the classic Grindhouse aesthetic, in terms of tone and texture, is the RR trailer for the Mexi-revenge-slasher-thriller, MACHETE. As a whole GRINDHOUSE is a fun game while it lasts but I would have still rather spent three hours watching David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE, which flew under conventional exhibition. Why? Because Lynch is a true American Original and I'll always take Originality over clever synthesis. At its best GRINDHOUSE is the highly amusing work of canny synthesizers. It doesn't want to be Art, and maybe it shouldn't be, it wants to be wink and nod Trash. It's a gift to fans of George A. Romero, Roger Corman and European Trash Cinema. But I got the uncomfortable feeling that they were laughing AT those films more than WITH them for too much of the runtime. And possibly laughing at fans like us for being gullible enough to be there.

There aren't many non-fans who are going to get the jokes, which probably explains the sparse attendance and walkouts. The theater I saw it in last night (Friday night, Movie Night) numbered no more than 40 to 50 and about a dozen walkouts happened during the second all-girl restaurant ramble in DEATHPROOF.

Did any of our blog readers appreciate the extended hommage to Jess Franco screenwriter Santiago Moncada (JUEGO SUCIO EN CASABLANCA, L'ESCLAVA BLANCA)? Tarantino may be more of a gourmand than a gourmet of Le Bad Cinema, but sometimes he does score. Will they have the nerve to release stand alone features of PLANET TERROR and DEATHPROOF? I wouldn't doubt it. Will I be there? That's another question. Will I buy the DVD[s]? That's where I think they'll show a profit, along with International venues.

I'll do what I'm sometimes criticized for doing and say what I wished it would have been. I wish they would have set the films in the 1970s rather than our present era of instant messaging, cellphones and IPODs. Then I wish they would have shot the whole thing down and dirty with next to nothing budgets. But I'm not Quentin or Robert or Bob or Harvey. I'm just a guy with a blog...

(c) Robert Monell, 2007