SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY -- Blu-ray+CD Review by Porfle

  Originally posted on 5/14/2015

 

Jess Franco's immediate follow-up to his relatively well-made VAMPYROS LESBOS is another dark, death-shrouded vehicle for the lovely and exotic Soledad Miranda (again billed as "Susann Korda") featuring some of the same castmembers including Paul Müller, Ewa Strömberg, and Franco himself.

The result, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY (1971), is a slasher/revenge thriller which stands with his previous effort as one of my two favorite Franco films so far.

The storyline this time is lean and simple--genetic research scientist Dr. Johnson (Fred Williams) commits suicide after his maverick work with human embryos is viciously derided as inhumane by his peers, who suggest he be not only imprisoned but even executed for such atrocious ideas.

Devastated, his devoted wife (Soledad Miranda, known only as "Mrs. Johnson" throughout the film) vows revenge against the four scientists she holds responsible for her husband's death. These are Prof. Jonathan Walker (Howard Vernon), Dr. Franklin Houston (Paul Müller), Dr. Crawford (Ewa Strömberg), and, last but not least, Jesús Franco as the understandably nervous Dr. Donen.

Even before the murders begin, we get an idea of how casually perverse SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY is when we learn that Mrs. Johnson is keeping her husband's death a secret in order to have necrophilic relations with his corpse. While this may sound romantic on paper, it comes off as a bit strange in practice.

Soledad Miranda handles these scenes as she does all her others, with a smoldering intensity that is always enhanced by her dark, exquisite physical beauty. When she becomes a seductive femme fatale, donning various guises to stalk her male and female prey before brutally killing them, her presence always fascinates.

As Franco's muse for all-too-short a time, she seems to inspire him to do some of his best work. For example, the death of Dr. Crawford (Strömberg, who played Countess Carody's lover in VAMPYROS LESBOS) is artfully choreographed and shot, with the added visual flair of having the hapless woman suffocated with a clear plastic pillow through which we can still see her anguished face.

The murders of the male victims are more brutal and violent, although much of this is suggested rather than graphically depicted. Still, it's shocking enough to see Mrs. Johnson going through the motions of castration and aggravated genital mutilation (Franco's unfortunate shlub of a character gets special attention) on a level usually reserved for the most agregious rape-revenge plots.

This emphasizes just how deranged she is and to what extent she must sadistically torture and degrade the objects of her wrath as punishment for driving her husband to suicide. These scenes are heavily sado-masochistic as well.

A limited collector's edition, the handsome 2-disc Blu-ray+CD set from Severin Films is in 16 x 9 widescreen with 2.0 sound. The soundtrack is German with English subtitles. Extras consist of a 20-minute Franco interview, an interview with Soledad Miranda historian Amy Brown (the same one found in Severin's VAMPYROS LESBOS set), an interview with "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco" author Stephen Thrower, a brief interview with actor Paul Müller, and the original German trailer.

Disc two is actually a music CD entitled "3 Films by Jess Franco" containing tracks from VAMPYROS LESBOS, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY, and THE DEVIL CAME FROM AKASAVA. These 24 musical tracks by Manfred Hübler and Siegfried Schwab are offbeat and enjoyable--much more so, in fact, when isolated in this way than when heard as backing for scenes which, in my opinion, they're often wildly inappropriate. I found much of this music to be terrifically listenable.

Although still displaying that unpolished quality characteristic of Franco's work, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY is more crisply wrought and thematically unfettered than his other films I've seen. And as a companion piece to VAMPYROS LESBOS, it stands as a fitting testament to the talent and appeal of Soledad Miranda, whose promising career was so tragically cut short by a fatal car accident soon after filming was completed.


(Stills shown are not taken from the Blu-ray.)

Other Jess Franco reviews from HK and Cult Film News:

THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA
VAMPYROS LESBOS
THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF
BLOODY MOON
PAULA-PAULA

SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY -- Blu-ray+CD Review by Porfle

VAMPYROS LESBOS -- Blu-ray+DVD Review by Porfle

  Originally posted on 5/14/2015

 

So far, I've seen five films by cult director Jesús "Jess" Franco, including THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA, THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF, BLOODY MOON, and PAULA-PAULA. Not enough to call myself an expert on the prolific filmmaker, but enough to conclude that I'll probably never become a devoted Francophile since I find little of his work particularly compelling unto itself.

That said, I do find most of it fun to watch even if it's often in a "so bad it's good" kind of way. My fifth Franco film, VAMPYROS LESBOS (1971), is the best one I've seen so far and definitely worth watching, although I wouldn't call it a must-see unless you're already a fan.

This sun-blanched, 70s-tacky vampire yarn is like a distaff version of "Dracula", with Ewa Stroemberg (SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY) as Linda and Soledad Miranda (here billed as "Susann Korda") as Countess Nadine Carody filling in for Jonathan Harker and Count Dracula. Linda arrives at the Countess' sunny island in Istanbul to help expedite a legal matter--namely, the inheritance by Nadine of the late Count Dracula's estate--and ends up mired in a nightmarish lesbian affair with the undead beauty in which she unwillingly supplies both emotional and physical sustenance, i.e. blood.

Linda has already been having dreams about Nadine before meeting her, so the attraction is mutual. After some skinny-dipping and nude sunbathing, Nadine drugs Linda's drink (this vampire DOES drink wine) and has her "vampyros lesbos" way with her, giving Franco the first of several chances to enhance his film with some "Cinemax After Dark"-style softcore sex before the lady vamp goes for the jugular.

After waking up with confused memories of the encounter, Linda and her boyfriend Omar (Viktor Feldmann) seek the help of Dr. Seward (Dennis Price, VENUS IN FURS), a specialist in the supernatural whose sanitarium is home to a madwoman named Agra (Heidrun Kussin), also a victim of Countess Carody. Of course, the troubled inmate in the thrall of the vampire, the occult-savvy Dr. Seward, and the sanitarium setting itself are all further references to the original Dracula story.

The plot proceeds at a snail's pace most of the way and not a whole lot exciting happens with the exception of a few key scenes such as the showdown between the Countess and Dr. Seward and Linda's capture and near-murder by a demented hotel employee played by Franco himself. Things come to a rather sedate climax that builds little suspense and goes more for tragedy than horror as the Countess spins her web of forbidden desire for the hapless Linda.

Visually, VAMPYROS LESBOS often resembles a Doris Wishman film with its rough-hewn production values and garish, often kitschy design, all in distinctive Eastmancolor. As expected, the camerawork is clumsy at times but Franco shows some style as well as his usual inborn zest for filmmaking. A strangely inappropriate score by Manfred Hubler, Siegfried Schwab, and Jess Franco is a mish-mash of noodly jazz, twangy sitar notes, and what sounds like someone mumbling robotically through a distorted speaker.

Performances are mostly wooden save for Heidrun Kussin's frantic portrayal of Agra, while Soledad Miranda's dark beauty and charisma as the Countess (she reminds me of Victoria Vetri) lend the film much of its appeal. Also appearing are Paul Muller (NIGHTMARE CASTLE) and J. Martinez Blanco as the Countess' loyal servant Morpho.

A limited collector's edition, the attractively packaged 2-disc Blu-ray+DVD set from Severin Films is in 16 x 9 widescreen with 2.0 sound. The soundtrack is German with English subtitles. Extras consist of a 20-minute Franco interview, an interview with Soledad Miranda historian Amy Brown, an interview with "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco" author Stephen Thrower, a brief clip in which Franco explains how he was the inspiration for the "Star Wars" character Yoda, trailers, and the alternate German opening titles sequence.

While disc one contains the German-language HD-remastered Blu-ray version of the film, disc two is the "bootleg" Spanish-dubbed DVD version. The print has that "grindhouse" look (which I like because of the nostalgia value) and is a shorter edit with several trims and all of the nudity deleted. (This includes two lengthy sequences in which Soledad Miranda's character does an erotic dance in a local nightclub.) Another big difference is an alternate organ-based musical score which sounds much more like a traditional creepy score for a horror movie.

Slow-moving and dry, VAMPYROS LESBOS nevertheless has that indefinable Jess Franco quality that should appeal to his fans. For others, this very sunny and not all that horrific vampire tale will either be a bore or a pleasant diversion.



(Photos shown are not stills from the Blu-ray.)

VAMPYROS LESBOS -- Blu-ray+DVD Review by Porfle

COUNT DRACULA -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

(Originally posted 12/19/2015)

 

For prolific Spanish cult director Jesus "Jess" Franco, COUNT DRACULA (1970) was a welcome venture into classier territory than that found in his more exploitative efforts such as BLOODY MOON and THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA. 

Not only that, but it served as a vehicle for Christopher Lee to finally get to play the character of Dracula closer to the original Bram Stoker version, with more of the novel's dialogue (at least in the early scenes in Dracula's castle during which he tells Jonathan Harker of his family history) and a Dracula who more closely resembles the one described by Stoker. 

Shot in Spain, the film (now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Severin Films) benefits not only from some terrific found locations that add immeasurably to to its production values, but also from a top-notch cast headed by Lee and the equally venerable Herbert Lom as Professor Van Helsing, who now runs the clinic at which Dr. Seward (Paul Muller) works and where a grievously distraught Harker (Fred Williams) ends up after his ordeal at Castle Dracula.

How Dracula happens to move into the very estate that borders the clinic where Harker ends up after his escape is best left unpondered while we enjoy this dry and slow-moving, yet somehow involving retelling of the famous tale through Franco's restless lens.  As usual, his camerawork is largely fluid and informal, and rife with crude zooms that keep us up close and personal with the characters. 

In addition to American good guy Quincey Morris (Jack Taylor), we also meet his bride-to-be Lucy (exotic Soledad Miranda, later to star in Franco's VAMPIROS LESBOS and SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY) and her friend Mina (the beautiful Maria Rohm), who will both be targets for Dracula's nocturnal bloodlust while they stay at the clinic looking after Mina's ailing fiance' Jonathan.  (Franco himself plays a weaselly orderly). 

Of great interest to fans of eccentric actor Klaus Kinski, who would later sprout fangs himself as NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE (1979), is his presence here as Renfield, the celebrated "fly eater" played in the 1931 version by Dwight Frye.  Kinski is allowed to indulge himself in the role, resulting in a lot of "Look at me, I'm acting!" moments in which he improvs aimlessly and fiddles with his hair a lot. 

 

The two leading ladies acquit themselves well, especially Soledad Miranda whose Lucy is Dracula's main interest early on and is the victim of several nighttime attacks.  Lom is his usual solid, dependable presence as our main representative of good and resident vampire expert. 

As for Lee, it's of great interest to see the differences between this and his earlier star-making turn in Hammer's 1958 DRACULA (known in the USA as HORROR OF DRACULA).  He's less imposing here than the frightening, feral Count of twelve years before, and looks a bit awkward without the flowing cape, yet there's a greater depth to the character which makes him interesting. 

Franco's staging of several scenes (edited by fellow cult director Bruno Mattei of such films as ISLAND OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE JAIL: THE WOMEN'S HELL, ZOMBIES: THE BEGINNING, IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS, and MONDO CANNIBAL) is visceral and grotesque, especially the staking and beheading of the undead (including the Count's trio of not-so-bashful brides).  The ending is less frenetic than the confrontation between Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing's Van Helsing in the Hammer version, but is satisfying nonetheless and closer to that described by Stoker.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is full screen HD with Dolby 2.0 English soundtrack.  No subtitles.  A commentary track featuring actress Maria Rohm and film historian David Del Valle is both informative and at times rather charming.  Extras also include an avant-garde behind-the-scenes documentary entitled "Cuadecuc, Vampir" (75 min.), directed by Pere Portabella, which reinterprets Franco's film in grainy black-and-white images that are often more eerie and atmospheric than the original.

In addition to this are interviews with castmembers Fred Williams and Jack Taylor, and director Jess Franco himself.  French filmmaker Christophe Gans gives an appreciative assessment of the film and its director in the featurette "Stake Handlers", while Christopher Lee himself offers an emotional reading of the actual Bram Stoker novel.  Rounding out the bonus menu are alternate versions of the film's opening titles in various languages and a German trailer.

Somewhat staid and even a bit dull at times, COUNT DRACULA remains one of Jess Franco's most involving and visually compelling films (of the ones I've seen, anyway) and will definitely prove fascinating to his many ardent fans.  For anyone who appreciates the classic tale of Dracula in whatever form, this is an intriguing, invaluable interpretation which should be seen. 


Stills used are not taken from the Blu-ray

COUNT DRACULA -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle