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Lo spettro (1963)
A Masterwork of Italian Gothic Horror
A lavishly appointed Gothic melodrama in which the wife of a twisted scientist and her lover, a corrupt doctor, conspire to murder the husband and collect his supposed large fortune. The plot is an old one, almost in the Edgar Wallace mode. But the visually detailed, sumptuous direction of Riccardo Freda, and the slowly boiling presence of Barbara Steele, who really lets loose in the final scenes, make this one of the more memorable Italian horror films of the early 1960s. The fact that there was a lot of competition, from the likes of Mario Bava (BLACK SUNDAY) and Antonio Margheriti (CASTLE OF BLOOD), both also featuring Steele, make it all the more impressive.
Freda really focuses and plays up on his favorite theme of the deceptive, seductive surfaces of beauty, which hide a corrupt interior. The performances of Elio Jotta and Steele are over-the-top and totally hypnotic. The film plays as both grand opera and grand guignol, a powerful, layered mystery-melodrama which is all the more powerful because the evil proceeds from human weakness rather than the supernatural. The events are displayed as sinister, gorgeous horror tableau which overwhelm the familiar plot elements. Freda conducts the hell out of it. The charming, Romantic music score is used as ironic commentary. This was to be director Freda's last great film and he was operating at his peak as visual artist.
In 80 Betten um die Welt (1976)
Beware. Not really a Jess Franco film!
This is an episodic erotic film mostly directed by Producer Erwin C. Dietrich. Jess Franco may have directed some brief footage, such as one scene which involves a sadistic cult and has some similarities to scenes in Franco's own EXORCISM (1974). A few of the episodes are the kind of crude, silly comedy familiar from 1960s and 70s German sex films. After a while it just gets rather tiresome. The film is very lightweight and lacks Franco's overall thematic vision and singular style.
The episodes are mostly played for comedy but they're not very amusing and not very erotic. This was shot in 1976-1977, a very busy year for Jess Franco in which he made several of his better films (JACK THE RIPPER, LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE NUN, DORIANA GRAY). It appears he just helped out producer Dietrich with a few scenes in this one. If you're a hardcore Jess Franco completest you might want to check it out, but I can't recommend it.
Showgirl (1998)
Joe D'Amato's last picture show...
Eva (Eva Henger) arrives in Las Vegas to work as an exotic dancer (right, stripper!) in a cavernous club. Most of the film is taken up with her erotic (hardcore) encounters with various customers, employees and men hanging out at the club. There are a few artful shots, reminding us that the director was once a superb, sought after cinematographer on many 1970s Italian genre films (WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE?, THE COUNSELOR, THE ANTICHRIST). There's also a music score which tries to sound funky, and an Italian dialogue track. In some versions there is overdubbed English language dialogue, mostly narration about Eva delivered by an actress in heavily accented English. Ms. Henger cuts an imposing figure but doesn't have the acting presence of such famous D'Amato performers as Valentine Demy or Laura Gemser.
This looks a bit more upscale and glossy than a lot of hardcore porn but there are no other generic elements, like sci-fi, horror or mystery elements which might make it more intriguing. One wonders if the director, who made over 20 films in the last year of his life, was tiring of the "erotic" genre. He certainly wasn't having any banking problems. I've seen a lot worse than this hardcore time killer. But anyone knowing of his past career as an ace DoP and his impressive directorial work on films like DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER (1973) will encounter, at this late juncture in his life, a busy commercial artist hard at work staging by-the-numbers hardcore action.
There is also an 82 minute softcore version of this title listed here. This review is based on the 90m hardcore version.l
Robert Monell-2018
El secreto del Dr. Orloff (1964)
An atmospherically composed mad scientist thriller from Jess Franco. Worth a look for fans of Spanish horror and Jess Franco
DR. ORLOFF'S MONSTER (Jess Franco, 1964) Redemption Films Blu-ray On screen title: LES MAITRESSES DU DR. JEKYLL/1964/B&W/84m/1920X1080p (1.66.1)
I noticed some details in this HD upgrade I hadn't noticed over the course of many viewings, in particular the rough textured, cracked, dry skin of Andros mentioned by Tim Lucas in the very informative commentary. The exotic-erotic dance performances in the special features folder are full strength Euro-trashy, more Eurocine than Jess Franco. It fails the Howard Hawks test of a good film--three good scenes, no bad scenes (some might term the Eurocine inserts as mediocre)-- but it's very much worth seeing as a progress report. The main problem I have with the film itself is the beefy Spanish actor who plays Dr. Fisherman/Jekyll, he's just a very bland performer and adds an unwelcome note of unintentional absurdity which breaks the somber mood. A horror film is as good as its villain and this has one of Franco's most uninteresting villains.
The Blu-ray presents a rather rough looking, incomplete print, with noticeable scratches and marks throughout, but the enhanced detail, commentary, corrected framing and additional footage make it a worthwhile purchase. Print/transfer/video & audio: C+, Bonus material: C+; Film: B minus. The fact that it is missing an erotic insert in which the director appears as a piano player and, along with a bathing female companion, is attacked by the monster, is the big minus and collectors may want to hold onto the IMAGE DVD release of this title which does contain that footage.*
Directed by Jess Franco (Jess Franck) Produced by Marius Lesoeru (Eurocine, Paris; Spain) Cast: Agnes Spaak, Marcelo Arriota- Jauregui, Hugo Blanco, Pastor Serrador, Perla Cristal, Pepe Rubio, Magda Moldonado, Miguel Madrid France/Spain 1964 B&W 84 Min. 1920x1080p (1.66:1) A French soundtrack with optional English subtitles English language soundtrack Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas Eleven minutes of alternate, erotic footage. French, Italian theatrical trailers
There is an alternate scene, included in the French version featuring a different actress as the first victim of Andros, who is also portrayed by a body double. This scene is not in EL SECRETO DEL DOCTOR ORLOFF, the Spanish version, where the fully clothed victim is strangled as she sits at a bar in a jazz club and it is not present in the English language export version, DR. ORLOFFS MONSTER, which was distributed as a television version and released on VHS by Something Weird Video. Obviously, this was inserted at the behest of French co-producer Eurocine and likely filmed by Jess Franco himself. An example of spicing up a film for a specific market. Image may contain: one or more people and indoor
* It should be noted that there are at least four separate versions of this title, including the Spanish language EL SECRETO DEL DR. ORLOFF which contains footage exclusive to this edit, including an alternate opening credits sequence, with Spanish titles, under which Dr. Fisherman is shown entering and walking through the house of Dr. Orloff as he prepares for their meeting. This footage is not in any other released version. DOCTOR ORLOFF'S MONSTER, the US television cut, opens with a still shot of a footbridge outside of the Orloff mansion over which the credits role (Directed by "John Frank"). It also does not include two "nudie-roughie" style murder sequences added for the French release.
The French version just presents the opening credits in French over a graphic background. There are two inserted scenes, shot later by Franco at the request of Eurocine, which feature alternate murder footage not seen in the Spanish or US versions. One of these additional sequences is not included on the Blu-ray, either as part of the film or in the eleven minutes of alternate, more sexually explicit, footage.
Some versions, including the one broadcast in Australia by SBS and the IMAGE DVD, have another complete murder sequence where Jess Franco appears playing a piano just before Andros (an obvious double) conducts another home-invasion murder of a woman taking a bath. Why this isn't included on the Blu-ray is anyone's guess, but it may not have been provided by the right's holder. It may be a technical issue. This insert was obviously filmed by Franco since he appears in the scene, he also appears as a different nightclub piano player in another unrelated scene.
This HD release is also more accurately framed at 1.66:1 than the IMAGE DVD, which appears to be window-boxed, losing image on all four sides. Reviewed by Robert Monell, 2018
Revenge of the Alligator Ladies (2013)
Jess Franco's final film project is a sly, self reflexive comedy.
Jess Franco plays himself in this sly comedy in which he is engaged in directing another erotic film while the subject of his previous film, private detective Al Pereira, attempts to relate to the eccentric film making process of Jess Franco. Pereira also has difficult relationships with his son and women in general, illustrated in various amusing vignettes. He travels to Germany where he becomes accidentally involved in a sort of international espionage affair due to his presence at a Communist gathering.
Back in Spain director Franco continues to film his alligator ladies, Carmen Montes, Irene Verdu and Paula Davis, in extended erotic interludes. Much of the Franco-directed footage is shot through mirrors showing both the erotic action and Franco directing it. These self reflexive images are a carry-over from Franco's previous Al Pereira adventure, AL PEREIRA VS THE ALLIGATOR LADIES and his 1980 surrealist science fiction parody, EL SEXO ESTA LOCO. The scenes involving Pereria and his family, friends and associates, along with the scenes filmed in Germany were directed by longtime Franco actor-associate Antonio Mayans after Franco's death in April, 2013. Pereira is gamely played by Mayans as a long-suffering victim of everyone's ridicule, especially the director and the alligator ladies, who have the last word. The irreverent tone and sharp edged dialogue sometimes evoke the droll repartee of the W.S. Van Dyke's 1934 mystery-comedy THE THIN MAN.
This is the last in a long running series of Jess Franco directed films about troubled investigator Al Pereira, the first being ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS/CARTAS BOCA ARRIBA (1966), in which Pereira was played by American singer-actor Eddie Constantine. A shorter, incomplete version of REVENGE OF THE ALLIGATOR LADIES, directed by Franco himself, is more focused on the director shooting erotic scenes with Montes and co.. Other recommended Franco Al Pereira titles include LES EBRANLEES (1972), with Howard Vernon in the role, DOWNTOWN (1975), which features Franco himself as the detective, BOTAS NEGRAS, LATIGO DE CUERO (1982) and CAMINO SOLITARIO (1983), in which Mayans finally took over the role.
REVENGE OF THE ALLIGATOR LADIES will be of interest to Jess Franco enthusiasts, cult film historians and collectors as the ultimate illustration of Jess Franco's obsession with the process of personal creation while continuing to throw himself into his work right up until his passing.
Robert Monell, 2017
Mania (1974)
A mad scientist returns from the dead to torment his unfaithful wife. Or is it all in her mind?
Lisa, the beautiful blonde wife of Professor Brecht (Brad Euston), is psychologically tormented by visions of her late husband, a deranged scientist who died in a laboratory fire. The scientist was conducting some kind of revivification experiments involving electric waves. This remains unclear due to the fact that I have only seen a poor quality Italian language print, which was also missing over 5 minutes of footage. A hyper kinetic mind-games thriller with a typical twist at the end is made unique by director Polselli's artfully frenzied style involving rapid fire editing of dizzying camera angles, close up of actors screaming dialogue and just plain screaming and cross cutting violent scenes to considerable effect. This is very similar to Polselli's 1972, DELIRIO CALDO, and it was partially shot at the same elaborate villa complete with basement torture chambers, secret laboratories and a labyrinth of tunnels. The soundtrack features some 70s acid rock, Gothic style organ music and barking dogs. This has never been on VHS, DVD or had any significant theatrical release. (Written by Robert Monell, 2016)
The Devil of Kreuzberg (2015)
A love story, a crime thriller and a tale of the supernatural.
A tragic love story set in modern Berlin, this short feature is a fascinating, immersing experience. A young man who is marginally involved with criminal activity is in love with a beautiful, disturbed young woman, Linda Karnstein. But he has dreams, intuitions which suggest she is not what she appears to be. She may be insane or under some kind of inherited curse, a kind of Medusa. He asks a friend, a professional killer, to murder her, but the process of elimination is complicated by many factors. Ambiguity rules in this beautifully appointed occult noir which recalls certain works of Jean Rollin (KILLING CAR) and Mario Bava (VENUS OF ILLE). It's at least as credible and rather amazing to behold what director Alex Bakshaev has achieved on an obviously very limited budget. Highly recommended genre mix which compels one to think about it afterward and return for repeat viewings.
Reviewed by Robert Monell
Road to Nowhere (2010)
A mind bending Film Noir about the elusive nature of reality
ROAD TO NOWHERE is Monte Hellman's first feature film in over two decades and it proves to be worth the wait. An instant classic of the Movie-Movie genre, along with Jean-Luc Godard's CONTEMPT and Truffaut's DAY FOR NIGHT, with strong links to Hitchcock's VERTIGO, LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, RASHOMON and Jacques Rivette's L'AMOUR FOU, it's a feast for the mind, eyes and all movie lovers. And, make no mistake, ROAD TO NOWHERE is every bit as original and artistically courageous as those time tested classics.
Hellman's on-again, off-again career, from Roger Corman produced horror projects like BEAST FROM THE HAUNTED CAVE, THE CREATURE FROM THE HAUNTED SEA and THE TERROR to the mind-bending, low budget western THE SHOOTING (the first psychedelic western and a possible template for EL TOPO) to the the celebrated 1971 TWO LANE BLACKTOP, which defined the mood of its era, and its road movie twin, COCKFIGHTER, has proved as iconoclastic as his vision and his films have not had an easy time with mainstream critics of their time. But they have lasted. ROAD TO NOWHERE is his most daring, experimental and uncompromising film yet, and it will also last. It has the twists and turns of Hellman's own career story built in but it also has a universal validity in its overriding concern with the nature of Art and the role of the Artist. The nonlinear, mind teasing structure is both a challenge and a gift for those who want to engage with a film on a creative level. It tells either multiple stories or presents multiple takes on one story: the fallout from a film being made about a shady politician, a femme fatale, murder, suicide and possible resurrection. The director becomes obsessed with his leading actress in the manner of a New Hollywood predator on a sophisticated prowl, but there's a supremely nasty surprise in store for him and for our conventional expectations as consumers of the genre. The mind can play funny tricks when sex, money and artistic ambition are in the brew.
RTN starts out as a crime film, a 21st Century Film Noir in which an obsession with cinema determines the fate of the fall guy. Mitchell Haven, the director of the film within the film, appreciates THE SEVENTH SEAL and THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (clips of both are included in key scenes) as masterpieces in the manner of the real Monte Hellman, but Haven can't see what's unfolding right there in front of him, sometimes in his own bed. It questions our assumptions about the reality of everyday experience, the realities of the creative process and the reality we assign to the images we absorb from cinema. There is no set reality in RTN, this is a metaphysical thriller, which contains elements of the meta-fictions of Borges, atmospherically shot in North Carolina's ethereal Smoky Mountains. You won't be able to predict what's coming down in the next scene and, like Edgar G. Ulmer's noir classic DETOUR, only endless movement, existential anxiety and unpleasant change are certain.
If ROAD TO NOWHERE isn't a masterpiece, it's certainly the work of an American Master. It could be described as a haunted, haunting cautionary fable on what happens to people who watch too many movies. In our age of the Blogger and instant Internet searches it also evokes the irony of John Ford's THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, in which the editor concludes, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Each image in RTN has an uncanny, minatory quality, sometimes luminous, sometimes dark, which suck one into the netherworld. It's beautiful, spare, mysterious, tragic and often possessed of a jet black humor. It could be described as a Country and Western Art film, the evil twin of COCKFIGHTER, another Hellman internal/external trek. Monte Hellman dares to allow the viewer space for creative collaboration. This is, perhaps, his authorial signature.
ROAD TO NOWHERE won't reveal itself on one viewing, it immediately seduces you but insists you come back for revisits. Like any memorable work of art it respects your intelligence and rewards your patience in spades.
Naked Trip (2008)
An engaging, no-budget blend of Art-house and Grindhouse.
NAKED TRIP is an edgy excursion into the territories of crime/noir and European Trash Cinema with some visual quotes from Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 science fiction classic ALPHAVILLE. George Eastman is on the run from the UK mob, fleeing through various downscale locales in an economically blighted England that tourists never get to see, bumping into sex workers, gangsters and characters out of movie history. It's not where he's going that counts, or even if he gets there, it's the journey, the ride, the trip.
The seedy characters and locations are well observed by director Alex Bakshaev. It's unpredictable, a quality which I always rate highly. Clocking in at under an hour I wanted it to continue just as it ended. That's something that almost never happens when I view most contemporary films. There are a number of names and characters in this film which evoke the transgressive oeuvre of Italian exploitation kingpin Joe D'Amato. NAKED TRIP has an atmosphere, characters and plot which reminded me of one of my favorite D'Amato titles, PLEASURE SHOP ON 7TH AVENUE, which also dealt with horny lowlifes on the run from the mafia. An engaging, no-budget blend of Art-house and Grindhouse.
Refreshing and recommended!
La maldición de Frankenstein (1973)
Totally delirious take on BRIDE OF FRANKSTEIN: 100 Proof Jess Franco
Cagliostro (Howard Vernon) and his bird woman creation, Melissa (Anne Libert) work tirelessly to create a female mate for the silver skinned creature created by Dr. Frankenstein (Dennis Price).
A wild ride deep into Jess Franco terrain. This is an unhinged, no-budget attempt to redo the Universal horror motifs in the style of Italian Erotic Comics. It works, at least in the nude/uncovered version, simply because Franco and his cast immediately go way over the top and stay there: ratty set design, the silver skinned monster who looks like the confused survivor of a spray painting attack, the nude whipping scene, the mysterious sect led by the perverse, totalitarian Cagliostro, Melissa-the flesh eating human vulture who predicts pleasure and death, are typical "Jess Franco" elements, but this time he stages them with such Sadean glee that those who "get it" will be utterly transfixed while those who hate will cite it as another file in the case against the director. It's a long way from James Whale...
The version made for Spain contains additional scenes featuring Lina Romay as a gypsy and omits all of the outrageous nudity which is so essential to Franco's aesthetic (or anti-aesthetic). The score is an iconoclastic collection of sonic blasts, jarring cues and odd sounds.