FRANCO FEBRUARY - DAY 29! DIAMONDS OF KILIMANDJARO (1983) (MVD Classics Blu-ray Review)

DIAMONDS OF KILIMANDJARO (1983) 

Label: MVD Visual/MVD Classics 
Duration: 83 Minutes
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English LPCM 2.0
Director: Jesús Franco 
Cast: Katja Bienert, Aline Mess, Antonio Mayans, Daniel Katz, Lina Romay, Olivier Mathot

While I do love me some Jess Franco directed Euro-cult I must confess his 80's jungle films are usually awful endeavors of flesh and cannibal trash badness, anyone whom has watched Devil Hunter (1980) will attest tio that. Well, this doesn't have the gore of Devil Hunter, but it does have plenty of young women traipsing nude through the jungle, but there's no cannibalism to speak of, so right away it loses some love from me. The film opens with a rather poorly assembled edit of a plane crashing into the jungle, young and lovely Diana (Katja Bienert, German Angst) and her step dad (Daniel White, Barbed Wire Dolls) survive the crash. Having fallen from the sky the local tribe believe them to be white gods of sorts, going so far as to promote her Scottish step-father to tribal chief status! Diana becomes something of a female version of Tarzan, a defender of white people who become lost in the jungle, sort of treading on where  Amazonia - The Catherina Miles Story (1985) would follow, but nowhere near as fun, good or interesting.

Meanwhile back in the land of the civilized we find her ailing mother, played by Franco muse Lina Romay (The Hot Nights of Linda) in a decidedly un-sexy role) on her deathbed, made up in some godawful old-age make-up. A pair of adventurers report to her that they think they have spotted her daughter in the African jungles, so she sends them, along with Diana's Uncle Mathieu (Oliver Mathot, Cannibal Terror) and his unscrupulous sexpot wife (Ana Stern, Night of a Thousand Desires), back to the jungles to find her daughter and return her.

Uncle Mathieu however has little interest in returning the young woman to her family, if she never returns he stands to inherit the family fortune, so they plot to make sure she never returns, but in the process run afoul of the tribe, lead by the blood thirsty and wild-haired Noba (Aline Mess, Devil Hunter) who is far and away the best part of the film, wicked and wild, just the way we like our warrior ladies! 

As Jess Franco films go this is on the way-lower end of the spectrum, a Eurocine film clearly designed to cash-in on the jungle/cannibal cycle of films happening at the time, but it's a Franco for hire production, you can see his heart was not into it in way whatsoever, lacking his signature style and sexiness. There is some effort to sex this film up but it's just not working in anyway, it's a nearly incoherent dud of a jungle adventure film.

Audio/Video: Diamonds of Kilimandjaro (1983) arrives on Blu-ray from MVD imprint MVD Classics in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen, The source looks to be a fair-looking print, there are scratches and nicks throughout, softness can be an issue but the quality varies from scene to scenes. There's a lot of stock footage of wildlife thrown, often appearing much grainier and hazier than the main film. Some scenes showcase some nice depth and clarity, but it comes and goes throughout. There's a lot of nude lady flesh in the film, oftentimes it looks quite nice with natural looking skin tones. 

Audio comes by way of English-dubbed PCM Mono 2.0, fidelity is not a strong suit, not helped by the atrocious editing and bad-dubbing. Speaking of bad dubbing, there's an crocodile attack scene that is repeated, the first time around we get a music track and no dialogue, as soon as it ends it starts up again with dialogue. I am assuming this is a padded-for-run time sort of thing. 

The only extras on the disc are a trailers for the film and some other MVD titles including Golden Temple Amazons, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, and The Violence Movie. The single-disc release comes housed in a clear Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, the artwork is repeated on the slipcover that accompanies it. The artwork is rather good, I love the illustration and the font of the logo, it promised much more than the film can actually deliver. 

Diamonds of Kilimandjaro (1983) is really only going to appeal to die-hard fans of the director, or jungle trash completest, I fall into the former category myself, so I was pretty excited just to have another slice of Franco in HD - even if it is ripe pile of trash. This is the sort of film that brings you more joy when you see the spine on your movie shelf than it does actually watching it, if that makes sense, and if you're a collector I am sure it does.  Franco's like-minded Golden Temple Amazons (1986) is also available from MVD Classics on Blu-ray, and the two films can be found together on an MVD Classics double-feature DVD that will be released in March 2019. 

FRANCO FEBRUARY - DAY 29! SINFONIA EROTICA (1980) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

SINFONIA EROTICA (1980)

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-FREE
Duration: 84 Minutes
Rating: Unrated
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: Spanish DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles 
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Lina Romay, Susan Hemingway, Armando Borges, Georges Santos, Aida Gouveia,, Candice Coster, Armando Sallent 

The same year that the prolific euro-cult purveyor turned out the reprehensible cannibal film Devil Hunter (1980) he also returned to the the more baroque carnal pleasures of the Marquis de Sade with Sinfonia Erotica (1980). The film stars his long-time muse Lina Romay (The Hot Nights of Linda) as wealthy estate owner Martine de Bressac who returns to her palatial mansion in the countryside after a stay at the asylum following a nervous breakdown. Soon after arriving she is informed by her sympathetic housekeeper Wanda (Aida Gouveia, Women in Cell Block 9) that while she has been away convalescing her mind her philandering 

husband Armand de Bressac (Armando Borges) has taken up with a young male lover named Flor (Mel Rodrigo, Slave of Crime) who now lives at the mansion, and that furthermore the young lover has has been a corruptive influence on her already morally challenged husband, a man who even prior to her stay at the hospital was cold and dismissive towards his wife. Despite this Martine makes an effort to win back the attention of her husband, who continues to be more drawn in by the charms of Flor's rear-end than his voluptuous wife. The discovery of a wayward nun named Norma (Susan Hemingway, Women in Cellblock 9) who is found unconscious and bloody on the property also proves to be a further distraction for the husband, with Armand and Flor having quite a bit of fun corrupting her into their sexual plaything.

During a visit to the home Martine's physician Dr. Louys (Albino Grazian, Oasis of the Zombies) informs Armand that his wife is physically frail and the slightest strain on her mind or body could prove fatal, thus a scheme is hatched to poison her and invoke a shock that will send her over the edge and into the chasm of death, a plot that the naughty nun Norma is to be complicit in. 

The film is nicely lurid but is not one of Franco's more erotic and sex-filled outings, though there's plenty of sex, including some a surprising man on man love and a not-so-surprising graphic lesbian love scene with the voluptuous Lina Romay and Susan Hemingway. This time around Romay is a blonde which is not my preference, but her role is interesting, playing a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, helpless to not love her awful man, her expressive eyes telling a lot of the story as her character narrates flashbacks and inner monologues. This was has a seriously delicious and delirious final leg with so many wonderful twists and turns and wrapping up quite nicely with a wholly satisfying psych-sexual finish with a surprising amount of murder, proving to be one of my favorite Franco entries of this era with it's sensual mix of sex, arthouse atmosphere and lurid twists.

The film set in a grand Victorian era mansion on a sprawling 

countryside estate with gorgeous gardens and mazes, the baroque setting has a whimsical dreamy quality highlighted by some artful soft-focus cinematography that brought to mind the lurid arthouse films of Walerian Borowczyk (Immoral Tales), it definitely feels like an older early 70's Franco film, not one from '80, a credit to Franco's savvy eye for the period setting, realizing it with minimalism and not grand overkill.

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Audio/Video: Sinfonia Erotica (1980) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin with a new 4K scan of the only known decent film element, a 35mm print, framed in 1.66:1 widescreen, which is similar to the Sadist of Notre Dame Blu-ray, but this print is in significantly better shape than Sadist, it's got some natural wear and tear, but nothing egregiously awful. The grain can heavy in some of the oddly lit scenes but physical damage is mostly relegated to minor white speckling and some occasional scratches. The diffused light and soft focus cinematography looks great but doesn't offer a lot of fine detail, more atmospheric than crisp, that said the colors look accurate and but tend to fluctuate a tiny bit, all things considered, given the scarcity of any other elements this is a very pleasing presentation. Audio comes by way of a Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 mono track with optional English subtitles, the track is dubbed and has a lot of reverb laid on it, with the lush score coming through nicely.   

Extras include a 7-min interview with the late Franco who discusses his first wife Nicole Guettard - it seems slightly skewed in regard to facts and timeline but it's touching, he also discusses his relationship with Soledad Miranda and Lina Romay. There's also a 22-min interview with Franco-authority/author Stephen Thrower, author of 'Murderous Passions - The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco'. Thrower is always a welcome addition to any Franco reissue, a vast well of euro-cult knowledge never failing to stun and entertain, going into the works of Franco with direct or indirect De Sade influence, speaking about the locations and visual style, and that damn anachronistic earring worn by Flor, plus Franco's ability to make a sumptuous meal with only a few small potatoes. 
  

The single-disc Blu-ray release comes housed in a cool looking black Blu-ray case with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, a painting of a blond Lina Romay in a lustful way,  the disc itself featuring an excerpt of the same artwork. This is obviously from the same artist that did the illustration for the Sadist of Notre Dame Blu-ray for Severin, so they look great on the shelf right next to each other with Romay on one spine of one and Franco on the other, so you might as well buy both!

Special Features:
- Jess Franco on First Wife Nicole Guettard - Interview with Director Jess Franco (7 min) HD 
-  Stephen Thrower on Sinfonia Erotica - Interview with the author of "Murderous Passions - The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco." (22 min) HD

Sinfonia Erotica (1980) is a lush, erotic and deliciously twisted psycho-sexual thriller from Jess Franco, the new Blu-ray from Severin looks as good as it can, all things considered. I wasn't expecting to discover an all-time Franco favorite with this first time viewing, but this is right up there with She Killed In Ecstasy (1970), making this a top five Franco film for me. 

FRANCO FEBRUARY DAY 28! THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF (1973) (Intervision DVD Review)

Day 28 of Franco-February takes us back to 

The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff (1973), a tasty slice of 70's Spanish psycho-sleaze featuring a mesmerizing performance from William Berger as the evil hypnotist.

THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF (1973)

Label: Intervision Picture Corp.
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 76 Minutes
Audio: Spanish Dolby Digital Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Full Frame (1.33:1) 
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: William Berger, Mona Proust, Edmund Purdom, Lina Romay, Montserrat Prous 

In Jess Franco's The Sinister Eyes or. Orloff (1973) Melissa Comfort (Montserrat Prous, Diary of a Nymphomaniac) is a young woman who is without the use of her legs since childbirth. Nightly she is haunted by nightmares of her father's mysterious death years earlier. In the horrific recurring dream her father (played by Franco himself) stumbles to her and drips blood onto her nightgown, she awakens terrified and screaming. Melissa lives with her conniving step sister Martha (Loreta Tovar, The Night of the Sorcerers), her aunt Flora (Kali Hansa, Countess Perverse), a loyal butler Mathews (Jose Manuel Martin, Curse of the Devil). 

The family calls in a psychiatrist friend of the family, the titular and sinister Dr. Orloff, played by the steely eyed William Berger (from Mario Bava's Five Dolls for An August Moon). However, it turns out that Dr. Orloff and members of her family are conspiring against the wheelchair bound invalid, his diabolical plan involves using drugs and hypnosis to coerce Melissa to violently murder the other members of her family. In a weird twist Melissa is able to walk, but only under the post-hypnotic commands of Orloff. 

I think Berger is fantastic in the role as the evil master of hypnotism, this is definitely his show, he steals nearly every scene in the film in my opinion. A suspicious folk-singer neighbor alerts Inspector Crosby (Edmund Purdom, The Devil's Lover) that something just ain't right over at the Comfort house, but will it work in her favor? 

I remember watching this movie the first time, I had to double check and be sure this was a legit Jess Franco film as it was a nearly bloodless affair with only a hint of nudity, not what I'd come to expect from the master of Euro sleaze at that point. However, the film is pushed along by some good psychological horror elements and atmosphere which was enhanced by a haunting score composed by Franco himself. Spoilers, my favorite scenario in the film has the butler Matthews whisking Melissa away to safety in the trunk of a car after overhearing the conspiracy against her, only to be murdered by Melissa (under the hypnotic command of Dr. Orloff) on a misty road. 

I didn't love this one, it was my first disappointment from Franco when I first watched, but certainly not the last, they guy made over 200 films, and they vary in quality from film to film, era to era, ad from producer to producer. Orloff was a recurring character in Franco films, and sadly lovely Lina Romay (The Hot Nights of Linda) appears only briefly, which was a serious let down for me. The movie is slow paced, but it picks up towards the end, it has some decent visuals but largely lacks the visceral erotic flavorings I crave when watching a Franco film, this one is for the Franc0 lovers and completest only I think. 

Audio/Video: This was once considered a lost film that was probably never to be seen again, but the fine folk over at Intervision were able to unearth it from a film vault in Budapest - but what they found does not look great folks. The DVD comes in a white DVD keep case with some mighty fine original poster art. The film is presented in 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio with a mono soundtrack. The image is not stellar by any means, it's cropped from the original (1.66:1) framing, it's soft, smeary, and lacks detail. Honestly, it doesn't look much better than what you would find on a good looking public domain print but whataya want, this was a lost film, but hopefully a better source turns up at some point. The disc has only a Spanish Dolby Mono track with optional English subtitles. 

The only supplemental feature is an 18 minute interview with the late director Jess Franco conducted in English. His accent is a bit thick and some of the dialogue is hard to make out, but it is tolerable, I like that Franco is candid about the shortcomings of the film, it's a good watch.

Special Features:
- “The Sinister Origins of Dr. Orloff: Interview with Director Jess Franco” (18:25)

The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff (1973) is not the stuff of euro sleaze legend but it is a tasty slice of 70's Spanish psycho-sleaze featuring a mesmerizing performance from William Berger as the evil hypnotist. The mere fact that it exists and has been committed to DVD is fantastic news for Franco-philes, but this might be one for the hardcore fans only. I applaud Intervision for rescuing this obscure title from the long forgotten dusty vaults and making it available to the Jess Franco and euro sleaze connoisseurs of the world.

FRANCO FEBRUARY - DAY 27! COUNTESS PERVERSE (1973) (Mondo Macabro DVD Review)

Day 27 of Franco-February is a look back at our review of Countess Perverse, an erotic and twisted take on The Most Dangerous Game with all the sex and perversion one has come to expect from a Franco film with a side of rape, cruelty and cannibalism thrown in for good measure. 

COUNTESS PERVERSE (1973)

Label: Mondo Macabro
Region: Region-FREE NTSC
Duration: 78 Minutes
Rating: Unrated 

Audio: French Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Alice Arno, Howard Vernon Kali Hansa, Lina Romay, Tania Busselier, Robert Woods

Synopsis: In the Countess Perverse (aka La Comtesse Perverse (1973) a pair of decadent and debauched aristocrats turns their private island into a human hunting ground where they can stalk their naked prey. As each victim is murdered, their carcass is then cooked and fed to their guests; simply delicious! What the unsuspecting visitors don't realize is that they will soon become the next evening’s “meal, “ eventually fighting for their lives in a shocking and flesh-baring cat-and-mouse game.

The ever-prolific Jesus Franco is a true master of Euro-sleaze cinema with a stunning filmography that's 200+ strong. A title that I am particularly fond of is the erotic-revenger She Killed in Ecstasy (1970) starring the stunning 70's sexpot Soledad Miranda (Vampyros Lesbos) which I just cannot recommend enough for Euro-cult enthusiasts. It's problematic for me that it was my first entry into the Cult of Franco because I think it set the bar rather high for a director who's rather hit and/or miss depending on the ra and who was producing is flicks. 

This erotic take on the pre-code classic The Most Dangerous Game (1933) begins with a couple discovering a naked and unconscious woman on the beach. They take her back to their home where the gorgeous red-haired beauty (Kali Hansa, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff) spins a delirious tale of  traveling to the island of Count(Howard Vernon, Seven Women for Satan) and Countess Zaroff (Alice Arno, Justine De Sade) in search of her missing twin sister. We get an odd flashback as she is transported to the eerie island on top of which sits a fantastic home, it's a bizarre construction with engaging architectural features. It seemed so familiar to me and then it dawned on me that I had previously seen it in Franco's She Killed in Ecstasy. Unfortunately the couple who found her washed-up on the beach, Bob (Robert Woods, The Other Side of the Mirror) and his wife Moira (Tania Busselier, How To Seduce a Virgin), are in league with the Zaroff's and procure young beauties for their further diabolical games.

Turns out that randy Bob and Moira are a swinging couple who befriend young ladies, seduce them and take them to the island of the bizarre Count and Countess Zaroff who treat their guests to a succulent meal then tag-team rape them before releasing them onto the island, where they stalk their naked prey before eating them and serving them to the next guests, diabolical!

It's a delirious and fever-pitched slice of cinema that doesn't always make an awful lot sense but do not fret, Franco is a master of his lurid craft and before your brain can properly launch a protest your mind and libido are assaulted by a feast of nubile flesh. Franco may have his shortcomings as a filmmaker but his eye for exotic locations and stunning naked women are never in question.  The true find for me here was the super-vixen Silvia (Lina Romay, Shining Sex) as a Spanish tourist who befriends Bob and Moira and ends up in their bed and inevitably on the island where she is seduced by the pervy Countess only to later discover the duo in the process of beheading poor Kali. Silvia faints at the sight and awakens to find she has become new prey for Countess Zaroff in the film's finale. 

 The site of a nude Alice Arno stalking Lina Romay over the island with a bow and a quiver full of arrows is quite a sight and not one you'll soon want to forget, but the final scene featuring Robert Woods decked out in a rhinestone studded denim jacket and bell bottomed jeans wading into the ocean carrying the lifeless body of his beloved is a bit too dramatic and early 70's for me, totally laughed my ass off. There's some 70's cheese here but the cinematography and locations are quite striking as are the women. The story is pretty threadbare but it's entertaining and perverse with deviant elements that should delight any Euro-sleaze enthusiast.  

Audio/Video: Mondo Macabro's presentation of Jesus Franco's erotic-thriller Countess Perverse(1973) is presented in it's original 4:3 aspect ratio and not 16:9 as the DVD jacket would indicate. That said the transfer is sourced from a newly restored 35mm camera negative and is pretty fantastic with vibrant color and nice clarity and sharpness that's free of debris, artifact and blemishes. The French language Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio is clean and the post-dubbed dialogue and film score sound great, especially loved the sweet fuzzed-out guitar score alternated with some less than stellar organ-mashing. 

Onto the extras we get a video interview with actor Robert Woods whom discusses the uneasy transition from westerns into Countess Perverse and there's some discussion of the  other six films he went onto do with Franco. He speaks about the genius of the director and his less than enthusiastic opinions of the alternate XXX versions of the film. The second interview comes from author Stephen Thrower whom speaks about the film's origins as a take on The Most Dangerous Game (1933) with some Marquis De Sade elements, good stuff. 

We also get a 10-page text essay entitled "About the Film" which is pretty informative with plus we get "Cast and Crew Profiles" of Robert Woods, Alice Arno, Tania Busselier, Howard Vernon and Lisa Romay. There's a nice Mondo Macabro video preview of a ton of Mondo Macabro titles. I haven't seen a ton of MM's stuff and this got me excited to check out a few more really soon. The films on the preview reel are Snake Sisters, The Queen of Black Magic, Silip - Daughters of Eve, Mystics in Bali, The Blood Rose, Snake Dancer, The Devil's Sword, Lifespan,Don't Deliver Us from Evil, Satan's Blood, Virgins from Hell, For Your Height Only,French Sex Murders, The Deathless Devil, Living Doll, Satanico Pandemonium,Panic Beats, Clonus, The Killer Must Kill Again, The Mansion of Madness, Alucarda,The Diabolical Dr. Z, Aswang, The Living Corpse, Blood of the Virgins, Seven Women for Satan, Lady Terminator, Crazy Love, Mill of the Stone Women,Dangerous Seductress and More!

Special Features:

- Brand New Transfer from Original Negative 

- Cast and Crew Profiles of Robert Woods, Alice Arno, Tania Busselier, Howard Vernon and Lisa Romay

- Interview with actor Robert Woods (16 min) 

- Introduction by film critic Stephen Thrower (16 min) 

- Exclusive Profile of director Jess Franco 

- Mondo Macabro Previews (8 min)

I was completely turned-on by Countess Perverse, it's an erotic and twisted take on The Most Dangerous Game with all the sex and perversion one has come to expect from a Franco film with a nice side of rape, cruelty and cannibalism thrown in. After the erotic-revenger She Killed In Ecstasy (1971) this is one of my favorite Franco features, it definitely put me in the mood to further explore his prolific early 70's filmography, in 1973 alone Franco completed nearly a dozen films, truly a mad genius.

 http://www.mondomacabrodvd.com/

FRANCO FEBRUARY - DAY 26! SLAVES (1977) (Full Moon Features DVD Review)

SLAVES (1977) 

Label: Full Moon Features 
Region Code: 0 NTSC
Duration: 76 Minutes
Rating: Unrated
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 
Audio: German Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Lina Romay, Martine Stedil, Vitor Mendes, Esther Moset, Jess Franco

In Slaves (1977), also known as Die Sklavinnen and/or Swedish Nympho Slaves, we have a very trashy women-in-peril entry from none other than Eurotrash superstar Jess Franco. The film begins with a scantily clad woman named Marta (Esther Moser, Sexy Sisters) clumsily making her way through the thick green canopy of the jungle before arriving at a shack with the words "Federal Police" literally written in marker onto a sheet of paper, ha ha. Once inside she collapses, hen she comes through she spins a sordid tale of escaping the clutches of the dope peddling/woman whoring Madama Araminda, played by Franco's 70s sex-kitten and future wife, the lovely Lina Romay. Araminda is the proprietor of a local dope/whore house known as the Pagoda, and apparently that story Marta spun was a whopper, because in the very next scene Araminda has been imprisoned eat the Snake Island Prison, but as we catch up to het she is in the process of escaping with the help of a young woman named Ebenholz (Aida Vargas) and an unknown benefactor.

Ebenholz and Araminda arrive at a designated meeting point where they are intercepted by a menacing character played by director Jess Franco, an assistant/enforcer to a wealthy man named Amos Radeck (Vítor Mendes, Call of the Blonde Goddess), the mysterious benefactor, who wants answers from Araminda, like what happened to his daughter and where exactly the five million dollars in ransom he paid for her went... apparently the brothel owner was involved in a kidnap/ransom scheme involving the billionaires sexy daughter Martine (Martine Stedil, Die Marquise Von Sade). Radeck's enforcer strips off Araminda's shirt and begins burning her bare breasts with his lit cigarette, promising more torture is to come if she does not come forward with information about Radeck's daughter and the ransom money. While all this is happening fatso Radeck is looking bemusedly at a comic book.
  

From this point the story evolves into a series of flashbacks narrated by Araminda, we find out about her seedy drug/whore business, how she combed the beaches of her island community looking for fresh meat for her whorehouse, The Pagoda. How she seduced Martine with some sexy lesbian loving and then drugged her with psychotropic drugs that made her forget not only who she was, but also convincing her that she was a whore and that Araminda is a princess, damn, those are some good drugs!

As you may have surmised Araminda is not a nice lady to work for, she drugs her whores, beats them, and routinely has them raped by her horny goons when they step out of line, one of the rapes is pretty damn violent, but still not x-rated. She's not above killing them when they turn on her, as one of the whores named Vicky (Peggy Markoff, Barbed Wire Dolls) finds out, she's strangled by Araminda's own gown. It was nice to see the lovely Romay play someone villainous, usually she plays the victim being manipulated, so this was a nice turn of character for her, though she's still a charmer to me, even as cold as she plays it she's still smoldering 

Even by Franco standards of the era there's a lot of lady flesh on display here, gorgeous 70s women in various states of undress, usually baring it all, leaving very little to the imagination, subjected to various cruelties including water torture, rape, or serving as stripper eye candy for despicable men. The story is threadbare, even by the usually slim Franco standards, but it is a fun exploitation romp through the lens of Franco, attractively shot in location in Portugal with keen lensing by cinematographer Peter Baumgartner (Jack the Ripper) with a groovy and somewhat exotic jazzy score from Peter's brother Walter Baumgartner (Die Marquise von Sade), both of whom Franco worked with on many of the films he made with Swiss producer/financier Swiss producer Erwin C. Dietrich. Franco also handles some of the cinematography himself, clearly evident from his use and love of the numerous zoom-in shots. 

The movie ends with a wonderfully nasty twist that is superbly diabolical, while not one of my favorite Franco films the story is threadbare fun and delivers all the Franco goods in spades, loads of nudity, lots of sleaze and some atmospheric lensing. 

As for the extras, we get the same 40-min Franco, Bloody Franco audio interview that showed up on both Full Moon's Women in Cell Block 9 and Jack The Ripper releases. It's from 1976, conducted in French, with burned-in English subtitles, Franco touches on his version of Jack the Ripper, Roger Corman and his unflattering views on Spanish horror star Paul Naschy. There's also a trailer for the film and a 7-min VHS trailer reel of Franco films.

Special Features:
- Franco, Bloody Franco: Audio Interview with Jess Franco (French with English subtitles)(40 min) 
- Vintage VHS Franco Trailer Reel (7 min)

I am loving these Jess Franco DVD releases from Full Moon, my only beef is that these are so nice looking that they deserve proper Blu-ray releases, I would love to see these get an HD bump in the near future.  This is part of Full Moon's 10-part Jess Franco Collection, each sold separately, and when placed together the spines form a portrait of Franco, which is pretty cool. 

FRANCO FEBRUARY - DAY 25! NIGHT OF OPEN SEX (1983) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

Day 25 of Franco-February is a look back at  Night Of Open Sex (1983), a fast-moving and sexually charged  slice of Franco-filth that is half a half-baked vicious crime thriller and half a goofy sex-comedy, with star Lina Romay stealing the whole shebang with her electrifying, writhing masturbation performances throughout the film. It's not as opulent as some of Franco's more prestige early 70's films like She Killed In Ecstasy (1970) or How To seduce a Virgin (1973), nor as dripping with sleaze as some of his later 70's stuff, but I would comfortably put it alongside something like Barbed Wire Dolls (1976), as being salaciously entertaining Franco film. When compared to the other trash he was making about this same time, say the unforgettably trashy Devil Hunter (1981) or the largely forgettable Diamonds of Kilimandjaro (1983), this is an 80's Franco masterpiece. 

NIGHT OF OPEN SEX (1983) 

Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-FREE 
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes
Audio: Spanish PCM Mono with Optional English Subtitle
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: Lina Romay, Antonio Mayans, Lorna Green, Albino Graziani, Juana de la Morena, Miguel Ángel, Aristu José Ferro, Jesús Franco, Antonio Rebollo

I am running way late on the Franco February reviews which we've been doing here for a few years now every February, it's not that I am running out of Franco films to discover, there are so dang many, the Spanish purveyor of depraved euro-cult was ridiculously prolific, and I can almost guarantee I will never see them all. What's been the hold-up? Well, let me give you a tiny peek behind the curtains, I have been unemployed for a bit over a month now, so the cash-flow is ebbing, and I'm barely able to cover the bills, so buying movies outside of what we've been sent to review has been put on indefinite hold until I am in a more stable place financially - which will hopefully be soon, fingers crossed! Luckily for me though Franco February was thrown a life-line when the wonderful Severin Films sent over a pair of films Franco made for Golden Films International in the early 80's, so I know we're gonna have at least one more Franco review up very soon! 

Aah, the delirious and erotic cinema of Jess Franco, each film is always a treat, often strange, sometimes awful, but always entertaining! Franco February 2020 begins - so days into the month - with Night of Open Sex (1982), a formerly obscure erotic crime-thriller wherein his usual sex-pot muse Lina Romay (The Hot Nights of Linda) plays Moira, a nightclub sex-performer who at the start of the film is performing an arousing masturbation fantasy on stage using a red convertible sports car as a prop, think of an x-rated version of 80's hair-rockers Whitesnake's "Here I Go again" video. Mere minutes later she and her criminal-element boyfriend are torturing a woman in her apartment seeking information, graphically shoving a hot electric curling iron into the poor woman's vagina, which eventually killing her. This scene is a shocker, by far the most graphic and depraved bit of violence I've seen in a Franco film yet. Before she dies the victim manages to give up the location of planned meeting with her estranged uncle, whom she called the General (Albino Graziani, Diamonds of Kilimandjaro). Moira and her boyfriend don't seem too sure about what the meeting is about but he enlists Romay to disguises herself as the niece, since they bare a passing resemblance, and she meets him. It turns out that he's dying, looking as if he's been shot in the chest. His dying words lead her to a book containing coded messages that will lead to some sort of not-as-yet-identified treasure.

After this Moira is kidnapped from the sex-club by a generic Magnum P.I. looking guy (Antonio Mayans, Devil Hunter) in a loud Hawaiian print shirt and macho-stache. He ties her up in bed and presses her for more information about the hidden treasure, when she doesn't seem to know anything he forces himself on her. As can only happen one of Jess Franco's amoral fever-dream films her raping is so satisfying that she decides to partner up with, tracking down the untold treasure, which  - spoiler alert - turns out to be Nazi gold! When the gold is finally revealed it looks like books wrapped in gold foil, not unlike a Wonka Bar to be honest, it's quite schlocky looking.   

The film begins like a Franco fever dream with Romay's character  writhing around the floor is graphic sexual ecstasy, then veers sharply into a vulgar crime film, but then slips into sex-comedy mode, with lots more of Romay sexually writhing around of the floor. These masturbation fantasy performances are the best-looking shots in the film, Franco's camera swirling around Romay as she lays on a carpet of dirty magazines pleasuring herself while she licks the sexual images feverishly, it's definitely some pant-swelling eye-candy. The more comedic sex stuff comes by way of her relationship with Antonio Mayans, seemingly always after him sexually, pleasuring him and moaning wildly "My Tarzan! My Tarzan!". oh brother. 

Towards the end their trying to crack the code in the book to solve the mystery of the whereabouts of the treasure, leading them to a cool-looking villa in the jungle where they find the Nazi gold. Of course the this discovery celebrate by fucking, like they've been doing about every eight minutes so far, only to have their coitus ending with a strangely amiable way and a bit more fornication. The tone Night of Open Sex is all over the dang place but somehow it all comes together wrapped in the delirious 
fantasy of Franco's fevered sex-dreams. 

Audio/Video: Night of Open Sex (1983) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Severin Films, presented in 1080p HD in 2.35:1 widescreen, and sourced from  minty 4K scan of the original camera negative. It's a gorgeous looking transfer that beautifully resolves Franco's cinematography with lush color and texture. The fine detail in the close-ups are wonderful to behold, with some of Romay's pubic hair being so finely resolved I thought I could feel a strand or two stuck between by teeth! Audio comes by way of Spanish PCM 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles, everything is crisp and well-balanced. The score for this one is fantastic, performed by director Jess Franco under his Pablo Villa pseudonym, one of the best of this era that I can recall off the top of my head.  

Extras begin with author Stephen Thrower taking us on a 15-min tour of the locations used in various Franco films in the Cascais/Sintra region of Portugal, locations from Justin and the Whip, Die Sklavinnen, Cecilia, Necronomicon, Voodoo Passions and the trashy Devil Hunter. Thrower adds context to each location, pointing out several that were used in multiple Franco films. It's a gorgeous looking tour, I was surprised how little these locations and their surrounding have changed in forty years.  

We also get an archival interview with Jess Franco and Lina Romay from 1993 filmed by filmmakers Donald Framer (Scream Dream), Franco address the budget of his film, the fast turnaround of his films and his personal philosophy of making film in three to five weeks. He also address the many director pseudonyms credited on his films, making sure to point out those he gave himself and those that distributors just slapped onto films.   

 

The last extras is a 21-min appreciation of the film from Stephen Thrower who puts the film in context of the era of Franco's career, with Franco having returned to making films in Spain, at a time when he was only making six films a years, which was considered a low yield year for him, as he was usually churning out a film a week, three weeks if you counted post-production! He notes that Franco was the sole cameraman on the film, noting how good these Golden Films International produced string of cheapies actually look on the surface, cutting corners in other areas by having limited casts and creatively shooting scenes, pointing out that the sex club facade used in the film is actually a restaurant. I also appreciated his discussion of Franco's unfettered sexual fantasy cinema, largely being fluid in it's morality, like the fact that Moira in this film is a main character, but ten minutes into the film she's torturing someone's naught buts with a curling iron, which doesn't seem to phase Franco in the least.   

Special Features:
-In The Land Of Franco Part 2: Stephen Thrower Tours Multiple Franco Locations in Portugal (15 min) HD 
-When Donald Met Jess and Lina Part 2: Filmmaker Donald Farmer Interviews the Power Couple in 1993 (10 min) 
-The Night of Open Jess: Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of ‘Murderous Passions & Flowers of Perversion – The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco’

Franco's Night Of Open Sex (1983) is a fast-moving and sexually charged  slice of Franco-filth that is half a half-baked vicious crime thriller and half a goofy sex-comedy, with star Lina Romay stealing the whole shebang with her electrifying, writhing masturbation performances throughout the film. It's not as opulent as some of Franco's more prestige early 70's films like She Killed In Ecstasy (1970) or How To seduce a Virgin (1973), nor as dripping with sleaze as some of his later 70's stuff, but I would comfortably put it alongside something like Barbed Wire Dolls (1976), as being salaciously entertaining Franco film. When compared to the other trash he was making about this same time, say the unforgettably trashy Devil Hunter (1981) or the largely forgettable Diamonds of Kilimandjaro (1983), this is an 80's Franco masterpiece. Severin Films presentation offers a gorgeous organic looking transfer with a set of extras that is sure to please the Franco-fanatics, I know that anytime I see Stephen Thrower all over the extras of a Franco film it's a must-own. 

More screenshots from the Blu-ray.