"Black Moon" is a Dadaist dream about a young girl who is fleeing a war between men & women. She seeks solace in a dreary country farm occupied by an old woman who knows everything about her and an incestuous mute brother & sister. The film is full of abstract episodes that are probably clever statements on female sexual maturity a'la Alice in Wonderland, but I didn't recognize them. Overall, the experience is rather grating. Its studiously composed but the film feels pretentious with its abundance of cruelty to animal actors, boring metaphors and faux-educational exploitation of its extremely young actress' sexuality. Its worth a watch because it is so unique and its frequently entertaining, but its no lost gem. My impression of director Louis Malle is a wannabe Godard/Bunuel without much originality or talent.
Walerian Borowczyk is much more impressive with his loose adaptation of a classic horror novel. He brings so much voyeuristic intensity and expressive technique to what has to be a minuscule period piece production. The film is a rare accomplishment in balancing erotic and horror tension so well. This is truly one of the most sensual and glossy films of its period (or any period) but it has a grisly urgency. It walks that fine line between art and exploitation beautifully. Seek this movie out.
Messiah of Evil is a film by the couple who wrote Temple of Doom & Howard the Duck for George Lucas. Its a post-hippie horror "feature" about a young woman in a spooky seaside town of zombies. Its freakishly similar to Franco's Virgin Among the Living Dead but they were released the same year (but, Virgin was shot in '71). Its a decent snapshot of a time and generation but its not effective on scares or mood beyond some stylish lighting and minimalist staging. It feels like an arty cash-in on drive-in films without any respect for its audience. Its determined to show off its own intelligence, but there isn't much. To its credit, the film features production design by Jack Fisk, husband of Sissy Spacek and lifelong friend of David Lynch. There is actually a HUGE impression of Twin Peaks in the setting of this story, so its memorable and important for that.
Bloodsucking Freaks could be the best film Troma ever released, alongside The Toxic Avenger and maybe The Last Horror Film. Like those movies, it is a lurid portrait of NY independent filmmaking from a bygone era of sleaze, art and political dissidence. This is the most extreme of its kind, a satire about white slavery full of cannibalism, torture, murder and brainwashing. A decade ago, this film made me queasy to watch. Now I appreciate the immense intelligence and bravery in pulling off such a disturbing but complex little exploitation. A film like this is looking to make a statement more than a profit.
I finally watched Ken Russell's The Devils. Besides maybe a snippet of Tommy, this is my first film by popular British cult director. Wow. What a brilliant technical director and stylist he is. His camera is so alive and magnetized by every action on the screen. There isn't one lazy performance or dull scene or false moment in this classic story of religious persecution and moral corruption. The story itself is a great and bold attack on Catholicism, but it avoids tempting melodrama or bland tragedy by setting us up with so many laughs and spectacles. Russell's film has a broad irony that had to be a game-changer then. He really reflects the Mod sensibility of his generation and marries it with the most classic but unsuspecting narrative tropes. And its more than just a bunch of clever tricks. It moves you and haunts you.
Showing posts with label 1976. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1976. Show all posts
Friday, March 2, 2018
Sunday, February 18, 2018
The Bloody Judge 1969 / The Demons 1973 / Doriana Grey 1976 / Lorna the Exorcist 1974 / Sexy Sisters 1977 / Sinner - Diary of a Nyphomaniac 1973
I'm really in the last string of major Franco titles to review. These are particularly darker and more trying films from his more depressive and destitute days. I don't enjoy them as much, but they fit my current mood and reveal more of Franco's character and inner battles.
The Bloody Judge is some prime Franco. It could be the best work but maybe not the best film from his soaring commercial career in the late 1960s. Its just as disturbing yet alternately beautiful. Its smart and not at all exploitative. It feels sincere to its historical influences and you can measure it favorably to Hollywood of the period or this current age. Its plot-themes are very pressing: a psychotic conservative authoritarian and probable secret society member who is persecuting the impoverished population he presides over. Scary stuff. This and the other Franco roles are Christopher Lee at his most effective as an actor and a scary "horror movie" presence. Highly recommended!
The Demons follows the same vein but its made for a much sleazier producer with cheaper resources and questionable tastes. Robert de Nestle replaces Harry Allan Towers, which is not a totally skewed trade-off. Its so tawdry and lurid, you can't help but admire it. And a stoned Franco does a great job on damage control. I think this is probably the most tightly plotted and classically shot of de Nestle's time with Franco. It could be the most polished overall and its one of the most erotic and aren't Franco's film supposed to be erotic primarily? The film has some surreal, absurd, camp and kitsch treats as usual. Jess was really in a free-form mood with some impressive resources to bounce off of.
Doriana Grey fits the 70s definition of a porno. You can't quite interpret it the same as the traditional commercial narrative film or even the arthouse experiments or even the sleaziest softcore movies. But it can have the same value. Doriana Gray has the loosest of loose stories about twin Linda Romay's who are soul mates and need to make lesbian love... and maybe its all a dream. Its some heavy, artful, technically brilliant stuff to prop up a lot of graphic sex scenes. And it works. I wasn't thrilled by plot or character because thrills weren't the goal. I find the sex scenes alluring in concept and cathartic and beautifully staged. Pornographic cinema has always had its place and been an influential genre steeped in important cultural art. Franco channels something ancient in these erotic period pieces of the 1970s. I favor this to some more narrative but less erotic films.
Lorna the Exorcist came out earlier (another de Nestle film). Again, the plot is small and lifted essentially from merging Eugenie with other shit, Rumpelstiltskin perhaps (Faust is mentioned). This film sets the stage for following explicit sex films by Jesus Franco: hotels, long takes of scenery, extended love scenes and very obtuse but effective dialogue and minor action. Actually, Franco's Other Side of the Mirror led to this mini-genre in its X-rated cut. Lorna has a wonderfull psychedelic rock/electric jazz score and otherworldly photography and the performances are sharp. Its plot is more strange than anything that precedes it, but maybe more easy-to-follow than what follows it. This is not for everyone but Francophiles will rank it highly.
Sexy Sisters is one of many films where blonde actress Karine Gambier is masochistically tied up and abused mentally and physically by a brunette. I very much enjoy the film Franco made for producer Erwin Dietrich but apparently he stunted Franco's experimental camerawork. Their collaborations are always minimalist, polished and focused on erotica over statements or creativity. Thats fine. Sexy Sisters is one of the weaker of their films but it has decent dramatic plot, performances and great design on a dime.
Sinner is probably the biggest slam dunk out of this batch of reviews. It integrates an original story structure, haunting music, nightclub atmosphere, feminist romance and melodramatic tragedy. And it remains classy by rejecting the hardcore sex or sadism you might expect. This is more of a personal statement or responsible professional job. And it has that rare kind of Franco ending that is so open-ended that it drives you mad and forces you to meditate on the story's reality and its metaphors. I like when Franco's films are personal and still can easily convince the mainstream of his genius. I hope this film was a grindhouse smash because its one of the purest examples of drive-in aesthetics you can find. It might have been too sexy and unadulterated for most suburban drive-in's though.
The Bloody Judge is some prime Franco. It could be the best work but maybe not the best film from his soaring commercial career in the late 1960s. Its just as disturbing yet alternately beautiful. Its smart and not at all exploitative. It feels sincere to its historical influences and you can measure it favorably to Hollywood of the period or this current age. Its plot-themes are very pressing: a psychotic conservative authoritarian and probable secret society member who is persecuting the impoverished population he presides over. Scary stuff. This and the other Franco roles are Christopher Lee at his most effective as an actor and a scary "horror movie" presence. Highly recommended!
The Demons follows the same vein but its made for a much sleazier producer with cheaper resources and questionable tastes. Robert de Nestle replaces Harry Allan Towers, which is not a totally skewed trade-off. Its so tawdry and lurid, you can't help but admire it. And a stoned Franco does a great job on damage control. I think this is probably the most tightly plotted and classically shot of de Nestle's time with Franco. It could be the most polished overall and its one of the most erotic and aren't Franco's film supposed to be erotic primarily? The film has some surreal, absurd, camp and kitsch treats as usual. Jess was really in a free-form mood with some impressive resources to bounce off of.
Doriana Grey fits the 70s definition of a porno. You can't quite interpret it the same as the traditional commercial narrative film or even the arthouse experiments or even the sleaziest softcore movies. But it can have the same value. Doriana Gray has the loosest of loose stories about twin Linda Romay's who are soul mates and need to make lesbian love... and maybe its all a dream. Its some heavy, artful, technically brilliant stuff to prop up a lot of graphic sex scenes. And it works. I wasn't thrilled by plot or character because thrills weren't the goal. I find the sex scenes alluring in concept and cathartic and beautifully staged. Pornographic cinema has always had its place and been an influential genre steeped in important cultural art. Franco channels something ancient in these erotic period pieces of the 1970s. I favor this to some more narrative but less erotic films.
Lorna the Exorcist came out earlier (another de Nestle film). Again, the plot is small and lifted essentially from merging Eugenie with other shit, Rumpelstiltskin perhaps (Faust is mentioned). This film sets the stage for following explicit sex films by Jesus Franco: hotels, long takes of scenery, extended love scenes and very obtuse but effective dialogue and minor action. Actually, Franco's Other Side of the Mirror led to this mini-genre in its X-rated cut. Lorna has a wonderfull psychedelic rock/electric jazz score and otherworldly photography and the performances are sharp. Its plot is more strange than anything that precedes it, but maybe more easy-to-follow than what follows it. This is not for everyone but Francophiles will rank it highly.
Sexy Sisters is one of many films where blonde actress Karine Gambier is masochistically tied up and abused mentally and physically by a brunette. I very much enjoy the film Franco made for producer Erwin Dietrich but apparently he stunted Franco's experimental camerawork. Their collaborations are always minimalist, polished and focused on erotica over statements or creativity. Thats fine. Sexy Sisters is one of the weaker of their films but it has decent dramatic plot, performances and great design on a dime.
Sinner is probably the biggest slam dunk out of this batch of reviews. It integrates an original story structure, haunting music, nightclub atmosphere, feminist romance and melodramatic tragedy. And it remains classy by rejecting the hardcore sex or sadism you might expect. This is more of a personal statement or responsible professional job. And it has that rare kind of Franco ending that is so open-ended that it drives you mad and forces you to meditate on the story's reality and its metaphors. I like when Franco's films are personal and still can easily convince the mainstream of his genius. I hope this film was a grindhouse smash because its one of the purest examples of drive-in aesthetics you can find. It might have been too sexy and unadulterated for most suburban drive-in's though.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Jack the Ripper 1976 / The Perverse Countess 1974
The Jess Franco train ride continues...
I'm back to reviewing that wonderful cult director who was the king of a few subtly influential genres. This time its a horror period piece and an S&M sexploitation piece.
There are Jess Franco films that are beautiful works of surrealist extravagance and moral radicalism. These two fit that effort. Jack the Ripper finds a lyrical tragedy and masochistic love of "grotesque monstrosity". Ofcourse its done in a camp heir of social satire and historical mirror that is tasteful and actually a blissful thrill. He codified a type of poetic means to producing proud, intelligent thought through the most raw excommunicated self-evolution on the bottom of the economic totem pole. He relates through his jazz and his cinema the pain of indigenous cultures that are colonized, reprogrammed and treated as self-hating cattle. Franco has grown to be one of my favorite humanistic directors and storytellers. I think his philosophy is mostly his own so I can't classify him neatly as anything but a Marxist. And he doesn't use his art for lucrative commerce or egomanicial statements (because he's far too shy and feeling to compete or hurt others). Franco is one of the pure souls in filmmaking who seems scary, craven or mad, but he was simply a genius who was so ghettoized that he looks insane to those who only sip the mainstream.
Whew! Thats all in these films but - ideology ignored - the technical aesthetics are fabulous. Some of the most emotionally directed films I've ever watched but it may lose viewers with his paper-thin plot details, totally faked "dream logic" and lack of fear for "the extreme". Franco revels in the fact that he is not castrated or forced to be timid. He makes his films his way and only the pure hearted such as him can hope to make art. Its commerce or propaganda without a soul's voice fighting to remain independent but unify the world. I think Franco identified as communist but that doesn't fully explain his brilliant viewpoint which seems shaped by a Napoleonic complex of stifled popularity and lust for respect. But he also grew up under the Nationalist leader Generalissimo Franco so he had no chance of reaching leadership or uncensored journalism, so he rejected Franco and adopted a stylized synthesis of both his namesakes - "Jesus Franco". He explores the dichonomy of Self, of man, of a Spaniard, or a beatnik, of a jazz musician, of a person of color. He purges the psyche of the world in each film for each moment of time during production and release, but most importantly prep.
His films always feel worked on in a blustery drug-assisted creative upheaval in his soul or vomit from his eyes... or Third Eye as he often acknowledged beliefs of Eastern mysticism. Often he highlights the creative properties of tribal music, jazz, classical music, African, Renaissance & Baroque painters. Like Picasso, he grew up in a Latin Europe that was still honest and not yet so colonialized, programmed or commercialized. He's a big art class whiz kid who suffers having to work to sell his art. Its the classic case. His work is evidence that it pays off. Imagine how his Earth would've lost such a pure voice of human honesty if he sold out for any master or group. He's a true independent, a true socialist and a true leader that influenced all of cinema from absolute obscurity. The rock band The Residents has a theory that this is the only way true world-changing art is made. Franco is one of those who creates his own story to change the world's story. There are similar and comparable artists but, at least in cinema, Jess Franco is my favorite.
I guess he saw himself a Jesus messiah to a Franconian satanism. In a sense, he sums up most perfectly the psychological "illness" of the modern Ego. He deconstructs and mythologizes The Bible while indulging in anti-pulpit politics and systemic exploitation, enslavement and monetary control. Researching his work in the first half of 2017 and then engaging in the learned ideologies helped me survive such a Hellish 2nd half of friends committing suicide, sinners repenting, injustices coming to light and balance violently taking control from fascist wars.
And as a cinephile I feel like I've come into my own finally finding a director I can unapologetically name as an influence. Thanks for inspiring me, Jess. I hope to spread more of your positive influence through filmmaking.
I'm back to reviewing that wonderful cult director who was the king of a few subtly influential genres. This time its a horror period piece and an S&M sexploitation piece.
There are Jess Franco films that are beautiful works of surrealist extravagance and moral radicalism. These two fit that effort. Jack the Ripper finds a lyrical tragedy and masochistic love of "grotesque monstrosity". Ofcourse its done in a camp heir of social satire and historical mirror that is tasteful and actually a blissful thrill. He codified a type of poetic means to producing proud, intelligent thought through the most raw excommunicated self-evolution on the bottom of the economic totem pole. He relates through his jazz and his cinema the pain of indigenous cultures that are colonized, reprogrammed and treated as self-hating cattle. Franco has grown to be one of my favorite humanistic directors and storytellers. I think his philosophy is mostly his own so I can't classify him neatly as anything but a Marxist. And he doesn't use his art for lucrative commerce or egomanicial statements (because he's far too shy and feeling to compete or hurt others). Franco is one of the pure souls in filmmaking who seems scary, craven or mad, but he was simply a genius who was so ghettoized that he looks insane to those who only sip the mainstream.
Whew! Thats all in these films but - ideology ignored - the technical aesthetics are fabulous. Some of the most emotionally directed films I've ever watched but it may lose viewers with his paper-thin plot details, totally faked "dream logic" and lack of fear for "the extreme". Franco revels in the fact that he is not castrated or forced to be timid. He makes his films his way and only the pure hearted such as him can hope to make art. Its commerce or propaganda without a soul's voice fighting to remain independent but unify the world. I think Franco identified as communist but that doesn't fully explain his brilliant viewpoint which seems shaped by a Napoleonic complex of stifled popularity and lust for respect. But he also grew up under the Nationalist leader Generalissimo Franco so he had no chance of reaching leadership or uncensored journalism, so he rejected Franco and adopted a stylized synthesis of both his namesakes - "Jesus Franco". He explores the dichonomy of Self, of man, of a Spaniard, or a beatnik, of a jazz musician, of a person of color. He purges the psyche of the world in each film for each moment of time during production and release, but most importantly prep.
His films always feel worked on in a blustery drug-assisted creative upheaval in his soul or vomit from his eyes... or Third Eye as he often acknowledged beliefs of Eastern mysticism. Often he highlights the creative properties of tribal music, jazz, classical music, African, Renaissance & Baroque painters. Like Picasso, he grew up in a Latin Europe that was still honest and not yet so colonialized, programmed or commercialized. He's a big art class whiz kid who suffers having to work to sell his art. Its the classic case. His work is evidence that it pays off. Imagine how his Earth would've lost such a pure voice of human honesty if he sold out for any master or group. He's a true independent, a true socialist and a true leader that influenced all of cinema from absolute obscurity. The rock band The Residents has a theory that this is the only way true world-changing art is made. Franco is one of those who creates his own story to change the world's story. There are similar and comparable artists but, at least in cinema, Jess Franco is my favorite.
I guess he saw himself a Jesus messiah to a Franconian satanism. In a sense, he sums up most perfectly the psychological "illness" of the modern Ego. He deconstructs and mythologizes The Bible while indulging in anti-pulpit politics and systemic exploitation, enslavement and monetary control. Researching his work in the first half of 2017 and then engaging in the learned ideologies helped me survive such a Hellish 2nd half of friends committing suicide, sinners repenting, injustices coming to light and balance violently taking control from fascist wars.
And as a cinephile I feel like I've come into my own finally finding a director I can unapologetically name as an influence. Thanks for inspiring me, Jess. I hope to spread more of your positive influence through filmmaking.
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