The Girl From Rio 1968

This is a sequel to The Million Eyes Of Sumuru by Lindsay Shonteff, one of the directors who best cashed-in of James Bond-mania at its peak. Rio stands on its own but you should check the original out.

So Franco was hired by Harry Allan Towers to shoot a sequel to his oo7 knock-off based on Sax Rohmer's Sumuru pulp villainess. Sax Rohmer wrote the original Fu Mancu stories and Franco had worked on a Fu Manchu film and would work on another (and would use the template later for Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell). Rio is not very popular with online critics, but I think its far from a bad movie, a very good display of Jess Franco in his prime and very important film in his legacy.

Ok., somethings don't work. It doesn't have much on surprises. Its low on dialogue and music, so of course Franco's casual fans will find it "boring". And it would be reworked with much more control and gusto as Blue Rita.

But so much does work. The premise has great novelty as a feminist terrorist group plot to control the world and make men their slaves. This is an exploitation of Pussy Galore's all girl assassin group in Goldfinger, which explains the presence of Shirley Eaton (who is fantastic here!). Jean-Paul Belmundo starred in a 1964 international hit called The Man From Rio and Girl From Rio does a good job casting a lookalike actor. For me personally, the cast is made complete with Maria Rohm, the future star of Venus In Furs. She has the face of a doll, the body of a goddess and she gets to do so much more in this film.

By why you should really check it out is Jess Franco's directing. He is working with a much bigger scope and budget here. Costumes, locales, a big cast of gorgeous women and decent male actors, guns and props. He is starting to find his psychedelic style here with the vibrant colors (he was fresh from shooting B&W) and he is mastering his signature zooms, pans and lingering takes. Now either you find Franco's style tedious or gripping, idiotic or ironic, childish or adsurdist, crude or economical, awkward or surreal. Some films veer into the negative classing, but Rio is closer to art than it is to trash. Thankfully its a happy mix of high and low art. P.S. This is the rare Franco movie that has a Hollywood happy ending!

From the poster and title, I thought Rio would be my cup of tea and I was not disappointed. It exceeded my expectations with all the bad-mouthing its gotten. It might alienate some because its delightfully dated and its weirdness is not so extreme as other movies. It good middle-of-the-road Franco. I would recommend it to anyone who just likes good James Bond tribute.