Franco Friday 63: My Top 20 Favorite Jess Franco Films

It has been far too long since I've had a Franco Friday on this blog and I was trying to think of a way to get back into it and get inspired to dig into more of the unseen-by-me work of Jess Franco. Even though the man's giant-sized career can be pretty perilous, I really miss exploring the unknown with Captain Jess at the helm. And so here I am with some list-making! Everyone loves to make lists of lists and this list should fill your listy heart. 

The following pile of film titles is in the order in which I thought of them and not a best to least or most leastest to mostest best order or anything like that. These have been human hand-selected by me from the 55 or so Jess Franco films that I have seen. My main goal is to make hardcore Francophiles mad at me, which is very easy to do, so mission already accomplished. Let's go!

Eugenie De Sade (1973) 

Of course, I thought of this one first. This is still my favorite Jess Franco film even with its wildly uncomfortable subject matter. It's just so jam packed with ennui and cold beauty that I just adore it. This is one of the achingly beautiful Soledad Miranda's best roles. And yes, Paul Muller is achingly beautiful too. Heart breaking and cruel in the most endearing way.

Oasis of the Zombies (1981)

And yes, this was the second film I thought of when I think of my Franco favorites. That's probably weird, right? I champion this languid crap, but I don't expect anybody out there to try and high five me when they read this. Perhaps Oasis of the Zombies is just for me. It sucks but in a uniquely Franconian way.

The Silence of the Tomb (1972/1976)

Jess Franco made a giallo? Heck yeah he did! He made a couple. This is a very, very low budget production with a solid cast and quite a mean streak. I'd watch just about anything with Montserrat Prous. Several of Franco's regulars (Kali Hansa!) are in this, and it just makes me happy. Plus, that title! Very charming, nihilistic, and listless (in a good way).

The Devil Came from Akasava (1971)

This silly spy thriller with sci-fi and fantasy overtones is just a hoot. The fact that it has thirteen cast and crew members in common with She Killed in Ecstasy (1971) is just mind-boggling to me. I like to think of this fluffy nonsense as the wacky B side to that film's brooding A side.

The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff (1973)

Do you like your William Berger with lettuce, tomato, and onions? Too bad, because this one is covered with cheese! Sinister Eyes is quite the strange little Orloff movie (a character that Jess Franco would return to many, many times). It's dreamy, weird, sad, and goofy. I love it.

Les ebranlées AKA Dolls For Sale (1972)

Now here is a film that I wish would get a Blu-ray. Howard Vernon playing a womanizing private eye must be seen to be believed. The whole film is kinda kooky, very trashy, and delivered through what feels like a drug-fueled haze.

Erotikill (1973) 

It's safe to assume that most fully licensed Jess Franco fans (let's just call them "Jess FANcos") will make fun of me for preferring the thrashed/neutered VHS version of Female Vampire, but I friggin' LOVE this version. The dubbing is straight up gold and the cruddy, washed out look makes this one ever so beautiful and claustrophobic. Lina Romay is diabolically sexy in this one.

Blue Rita (1977)

Speaking of films that are almost too weird to exist. If inflatable furniture and gooey alien sex slime are what you're craving, then Blue Rita is for you. You don't just watch this brightly colorful oddball gem, you insert it into your eyeholes. Hyper-stylized to a nearly impossible degree, Blue Rita is one that I highly doubt you will ever forget.

Dr. Orloff's Monster (1964)

This one gets under my skin in a way that is just lovely. It's perfectly filmed in stark black and while the pretty malaise is set to maximum power. The jazzy score combined with the gothic setting, taboo breaking eroticism, and somnambulitic plotting make Dr. Orloff's Monster a fine example of Franco's early work that show the promise of things to come.

A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)

I can't even put this one into words other than to say that THIS is 100% essential Jess Franco. You need to see this one yesterday or sooner. The Queen of the Night is waiting...

Vampyros Lesbos (1971) 

My first Franco will always be a favorite. Could I have chosen a more perfect title as my first? I certainly don't think so! Is the THE BEST Jess Franco film? Definitely not, but timing is everything, especially when you're a burgeoning Euro-horror freako. Also, it has the whole bag of Franco's tricks in one colorful and dreamy package. Get it!

Daughter of Dracula (1972)

I love this one even though it's decidedly lower tier Franco. But it's lower tier Franco from my favorite period of his work, so it's pretty great. As usual, Anne Libert steals the movie even when she's just sitting on a wall looking intense. Walk or crawl but definitely don't run to watch this beautiful failure.

Rites of Frankenstein (1973) 

Wait a minute! Isn't this supposed to be called The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein? I don't have that version. I have the sex free Image Entertainment DVD, which is an English dub of the (probably Spanish) censored version. I did not seek out this version on purpose, I swear. It just happened. This is a great example of the power of good old Jess. Even though this film has been chopped up to hell, it still captured my imagination. It's wonderful.

Faceless (1988)

Here's another one of Franco's attempts to change with the times and bring the gore to a story he'd made over and over again. This remake of Eyes Without a Face (1960) is a well that Jess would nearly run dry, but damn, this one is very unique. Tacky 80s bullshit to make your pores leak blood while you cackle at the ecstatic stupidity. Brigitte Lahaie, Caroline Munro, Florence Guérin, and Lina Romay in the same movie?! Need I say any more?

Kiss Me Monster (1969)

Could Jess Franco do comedy? Of course he could! He could do anything. Don't let anyone tell you this isn't a party movie. They don't know how to party. This is one of my absolute favorites and a fine example of the power of cinema to make you feel good for no reason. Heartily and sillily -how is "sillily" not a real word?- recommended.

Bloody Moon (1981)

If not for the actual onscreen murder of a snake, this would be a perfect Euro-slasher. This film's bloody and trashy excesses are only matched by how ridiculous its story and English dubbing are. I strongly recommend Bloody Moon, but as soon as you see that snake, hide your eyes. And that's not a euphemism!

Venus in Furs (1969)

Sing it with me folks: VENUS IN FURS WILL BE SMILIN'! Another absolute banger from the master. I am almost comically overdue for a rewatch of this film. I've only seen it once(!), but it has stayed with me for years now. This plot is uh... familiar if you've ever seen a Jess Franco film, but whatever, it's great. Get ready to get buried under a mountain of jazzy style.

Night of the Skull (1974)

Another bargain basement Franco giallo and a period piece to boot! This may be cheap, but it fits the mold of the thrillers of the time perfectly. The killer's mask will embarrass you. It embarrasses everyone. You're gonna love it. Carlo Savina's music is probably the most expensive thing this movie has going for it. Worth a look because I genuinely dig this film, but maybe watch this before you get to some of the other classics. I wouldn't save this one for later.

The Other Side of the Mirror (1973)

I'm putting this one on here to remind myself to watch it again. Cheers to my pal David Ladd for getting me the non-porn version finally. The only copy I had for years was the terrible French (I think) version with unrelated genitals cut in to make a spicier cut. That version truly did this masterfully depressing, artful, and nuanced melodrama a disservice. Emma Cohen and Alice Arno? Need I say more?

She Killed in Ecstasy (1971) 

Going out on a high note here, folks. This is one of those movies that sits proudly on my shelves, but every time I see it sitting there, I get too excited to watch it. Soledad Mirana fucking owns this one and this film just makes me angry that she died so damn young. What a nightmare. Life sucks. Oops, sorry. Anyway, this languid, melancholic, and kinky masterpiece is an excellent example of why film is an awesome medium. Strongly recommended.

THE INVASIAN: House of Terrors (1965)

 

Yoshie (Yûko Kusunoki) receives news that her husband has died under mysterious circumstances. Then she finds out that he had a mistress AND even had a creepy old villa out in the middle of nowhere that she’s inherited. You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both and then you have… the [Japanese] facts of life. A major selling point of this real estate Yoshie has been death-gifted is that it comes with a hunchbacked servant (Akira Nishimura), whose name may or may not be Igor. She’s in her new/old creepy ass domicile for about 5 minutes before the spooky sounds and weird visions and unexplained deaths begin.

Much like another black and white Japanese horror film I absolutely love called The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch (1968), House of Terrors (1965) reminds of reading horror manga from the likes of Kazuo Umezu. Director Hajime Satô would go on to direct another bizarre horror masterpiece called Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968). But with this film, he’s firing on all cylinders bringing the eerie and naughty screenplay by Hajime Takaiwa to life. Takaiwa was a very prolific screenwriter that wrote in pretty much every genre you can think of. Based on this little gem, I wish he’d done more horror!

There’s not enough Japanese horror on disc and we need to cherish every one one of these classics as they come out. House of Terrors is an essential work of Japanese horror cinema with its joyously convoluted plot, over-the-top madness (and horniness) of the characters, and deliciously filmed gothic setpieces. There’s almost as many cobwebs as there are constant screams from the characters! I bet you all of my wealth that House of Terrors pairs beautifully with Hiroki Matsuno’s The Living Skeleton (1968). Do you dare to find out for yourself? Are you prone to the heebie jeebies? Don’t you want a chance to win my fortune (which is actually just a creepy old house and an Igor)? Some restrictions apply.

The Invasian 3: Review Roundup

I’m sure a lot of you out there are feeling like the spring and summer of 2020 have been going supernaturally slow. And then all of a sudden, it’s the end of September! I am relieved that October is just around the corner but I’m also very irritated with myself for not having planned this Asian horror month better. I watched a huge number of movies but didn’t give myself enough time to write the damn reviews! Bad blogger! I let other projects get in the way all summer and then as soon as September hit, my wife and I started bingeing Halloween specials. I swear, you’d think that blogging was a dying medium.

So instead of being smart, I’m sitting here tonight blasting through quick reviews like an idiot. The most encouraging part of The Invasian series so far is that there is always another month’s worth of movies I could’ve watched and written about. And then another month and another, etc. So, I hope it goes without saying that I will return to this subject again, my friends. I’m like the moth in this song. Just like that. Thanks for hanging out with me and I hope to see you around these parts again soon. 

The Drifting Classroom (1987)

Directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi

Country of Origin: Japan

On a seemingly normal school day, disaster strikes when a school building disappears. The students and teachers inside are transported to another place and time, perhaps even another dimension. This is easily one of the most outrageous films I’ve ever seen. Horror fans will know director Ôbayashi for his cult favorite Hausu (1977) and this film does not disappoint in the utter weirdness department. Based on the manga by Kazuo Umezu, Ôbayashi revels in the outlandish plot of the source material. Adding to the chaos is that much of the cast is made up of non-professional (or just plain awful) American actors and the Japanese cast primarily speaks English. The Drifting Classroom feels like if Wes Anderson was kidnapped as a young man in the 1980s, force fed hallucinogenic drugs, and then directed a film at gunpoint without being allowed to see the script. It’s loud, it’s outrageous, and it’s several varieties of wacko. I’ve truly never seen anything like The Drifting Classroom.

Nightmare Detective (2006)

Directed by Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Country of Origin: Japan

A series of unsolvable murders inspires a desperate detective (Hitomi) to call in a man known as Kyoichi Kagenuma (Ryûhei Matsuda), the nightmare detective. His ability to tap into other people’s nightmares will come in handy on the case but I don’t dare say anything more because I don’t want to spoil it for you. This hyper-bizarre abstract horror film from Tsukamoto, one of the strangest directors to come out of Japan, takes a great premise and delivers it completely sideways. You like your existential dread injected with a very unusual sense of humor? Then this is a film for you. My only gripe about Nightmare Detective is that its madcap energy flags near the end but its worth hanging with it to the end. Tsukamoto followed up this with a sequel in 2008 which, if I recall correctly, is equally weird to the original.

Noroi: The Curse (2005)

Directed by Kôji Shiraishi

Country of Origin: Japan

Masafumi Kobayashi (Jin Muraki) is a documentary filmmaker obsessed with capturing proof of the supernatural on camera. He gets more than he bargained for when one of the urban legends he set out to capture turns out to be very real and very deadly. Over the years, I’ve grown extremely weary of found footage films and a big part of why I avoided Noroi for so long was its nearly two-hour running time. But this epic found footage film is something of a masterpiece. It’s creepy from damn near the very beginning and is never boring. Highly recommended. While not nearly as frightening as this, check out director Shiraishi’s 2007 horror film, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman.

One Cut of the Dead (2017)

Directed by Shin'ichirô Ueda

Country of Origin: Japan

A film crew making a zombie film runs into some problems. Yep, that’s all you should know about this film before going into it. Just be patient with it, my friends. After being buried under 3 or 4 tons of hype for this film, I finally sat down and watched One Cut of the Dead. I have to say, it exceeded and defied my expectations. I'm sure that tons of folks who are way better writers than me will have a lot to say about this film. I'll just say this, when all was said and done, I had tears in my eyes. If you still haven't seen this, do it. Don't look into the details and/or try to forget what you've already heard when you give it a go. This one really is that good.

Phone (2002)

Directed by Byeong-ki Ahn

Country of Origin: South Korea

After exposing a child prostitution scandal, a reporter (Ji-Won Ha) begins to receive creepy and threatening phone calls on her cell phone. She tries fleeing the city to stay at her friend’s house, but the spooky incidents follow her. Phone takes a generic ghost plot, a hilariously overwrought thriller story, random Christmas sequences, “Moonlight Sonata”, and one of the creepiest little kids ever, and squishes them into a huge hit for director Ahn. I like Phone but it doesn’t hold a candle to Takashi Miike’s One Missed Call (released the following year), which is impossible not to think about when you’re watching this movie. I like Phone well enough but it’s unfortunately a bit disposable. I remember enjoying this director follow-up ghost movie Ouija Board AKA Witch Board (2004) much more.

Premonition (2004)

Directed by Norio Tsuruta

Country of Origin: Japan

Just seconds before a road accident claims the life of his child, Hideki (Hiroshi Mikami) finds a newspaper clipping predicting the incident. Afterwards, he and his wife Ayaka (Noriko Sakai) become obsessed with tragedies where witnesses reported seeing a mysterious newspaper that foretold the calamities before they occurred. I remembered this film being just okay but revisiting it really made me appreciate it so much more. It has truly great performances from Mikami and Sakai, plus it gets really creepy (and depressing).  A big part of Premonition’s success comes from its composer, the venerable Kenji Kawai of Ringu (1998) and so many other amazing scores. 

Satan's Slave (1982)

Directed by Sisworo Gautama Putra

Country of Origin: Indonesia

After their mother dies, a family must cope with their grief and simultaneously fight off a bevy of ghosts and zombies. When you’re looking for something truly different for your western eyes, give the horror films of Indonesia a look. The influence of American films is strong with Satan’s Slave. The son character is just a wee bit inspired by Mike of Phantasm (1979), but this goes on some wild tangents that feel wholly original. The film runs a little long at 96 minutes, but I can let that slide, especially if it might means cutting that sweet outdoor discotheque sequence. I’ve heard good things about the 2017 remake of Satan’s Slave, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch (1968)

Directed by Noriaki Yuasa

Country of Origin: Japan

An orphan named Sayuri Nanjo gets adopted by a family with a dark secret, or two. The selfless and kind Sayuri just can’t seem to make her new sister Tamami happy no matter what she does. It doesn’t help that Tamami is insane (among other things). As if that wasn’t bad enough, at night, Sayuri is constantly threatened by a freaky witch with long fangs! Released the same year as The Living Skeleton (one of my all-time favorite Japanese horror movies), this black and white kids’ horror movie confection is the biggest surprise I had while watching Asian horror this month. Every bit of this film plays out like a creaky old horror manga by someone like Kazuo Umezu. Oh, this was based on one of his stories? Color me not surprised at all! 

The Visitor in the Eye (1977)

Directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi

Country of Origin: Japan

After a tennis accident, Chiaki (Nagisa Katahira), a student at an all girl’s school, needs a cornea transplant, but due to the risky nature of the surgery, no doctor will take her case. Enter renegade surgeon Black Jack (Jô Shishido)! He agrees to perform the surgery but through an unfortunate mix-up, Chiaki begins to see the ghostly figure of a debonair man beckoning to her. How in the actual frick did Nobuhiko Ôbayashi direct this film AND Hausu in the same year?! I literally can’t process it. Now don’t get me wrong, this adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s hit manga Black Jack doesn’t have the power to resonate with me like Hausu does. But The Visitor in the Eye is such an achingly beautiful film that it’s difficult for me not to be smitten with it, at least visually. From the disco fresh tangents of the soundtrack to the bittersweet melodrama to the painterly cinematography, this is a prime slice of Ôbayashi.

Warning: Do Not Play AKA Amjeon (2019)

Directed by Kim Jin-won

Country of Origin: South Korea

A filmmaker named Mi-Jung (Ye-ji Seo) has a serious case of writer’s block. She wants to make a horror film and is trying to desperately to find something that both inspires and scares her. Mi-Jung thinks she’s found the perfect subject: a student film that is supposedly so terrifying that it can kill you. But once she finds out that the hype is real, it’s already too late for her. I was really surprised by Warning: Do Not Play. On the outset, it doesn’t seem like much, but it explores some deep territory like dealing with depression, the healing power of horror movies, and exorcising trauma through the creative process. It also has an excellent movie within a movie within a movie crisscrossing storyline going for it as the walls of what’s real and what’s imaginary collapse in on themselves.

100 Monsters AKA Yôkai hyaku monogatari (1968)

Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda

Country of Origin: Japan

When an evil landowner uses his influence to throw out the poor inhabitants of a small village, a rather large group of helpful monsters invade to scare off the baddies. 100 Monsters is colorful and just a delight to behold. There’s a lot of time spent with the human characters but fear not, the yokai goodness is just around the corner. Director Yasuda made over fifty films in his lifetime and a few of his horror films are real gems. Daimajin (1966), his contribution to the kaiju genre, is fantastic and inspired two sequels the same year of its release. He also made two of the three Yokai films released between 1968 and 1969. If you like monsters, and I’m willing to be that you do, then seek out this fantastic -and quite insane- period piece.

Guest Blog: Two Unbalanced Tales

“Two Unbalanced Tales”: Two essential episodes of Ultra Q
by Tyler Miller

2020 has been a wild year. It's been the year of COVID and pure madness. But while the world is filled with despair and the dread of the unknown, the arts have been a welcomed escape. One of the brightest lights of hope has been movie communities and the friendships formed from them. When I heard Richard was planning a third Asian horror-themed month, I knew I had to get in on the action. So dear reader, follow me on a journey to an “outside the box” entry in Japanese horror.

 

Released in 1966, Ultra Q was a massive hit for television and its influence is very much a part of J Horror’s history. The series was originally dreamed up (or maybe it was a nightmare) by writer Tetsuo Kinjio, who wanted to show strange tales of the supernatural. The original title was going to be “Unbalanced” to showcase the everyday reality being thrown into a loop. Special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya had just started his own production company, Tsuburaya Productions, and the show was a lovely fit for bringing monsters and sci-fi weirdness to the small screen.

Tsuburaya and his company would bring their iconic special effects to TV, giving viewers something like a mini-Godzilla movie every week. Shot in moody Black and white, Ultra Q has a cinematic look. The camerawork is inventive, the lighting is atmospheric, and many of Toho’s key actors and bit players would have regular roles in the series. The real star of the series would be all the bonkers monster designs. The first episode released, “Defeat Gomess!”, even features a reused and repainted Godzilla suit. The show’s success soon led to a spinoff show called Ultraman and monster history was born.

Some of the series fans would soon start working in the fields of film, television, and anime. The influence on the works of Hideaki Anno, Shusuke Kaneko, and Shinya Tsukamoto is crystal clear. Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) has some shots that would feel right at home within Tsuburaya and crew, especially if they wanted to get more bloodthirsty. Tetsuo even has a chilling opening that feels like one of the pre-credits scenes in “Baron Spider” or "Goro and Goroh”.

The show revolves around the adventures of ace pilot and amateur sci-fi novelist Jun Manjome (Kenji Sahara), his flight partner Ippei (Yasuhiko Saijou), and Daily News reporter Yuriko (Hiroko Sakurai), who discover a strange news story. Some of the episodes would focus on other characters, but the trio would become the key adventurers. The series is now available on a gorgeous Blu-ray boxset from Mill Creek after a decade’s long legal battle with Thai film company Chaiyo Productions and it’s owner Sompote Sands. Now the series can be rediscovered by monster kids and fans of J-horror. So with Halloween around the corner, here are two must-see episodes of this black and white spooky wonder.

“Mammoth Flower” is the fourth episode in the series. It begins with a sidewalk being destroyed by a strange looking weed. The next day Jun and Ippei discover that the printing shop there visiting has been wrecked by a mysterious earthquake. But Ippei questions how the quake would just affect the building and not all of Tokyo itself. The two men bump into Yuriko, who is working on the earthquake story. The three of them soon discover that something odd is also happening at the nearby water side. Once there they discover that the same giant plant is loose in the water, it isn’t long until the plant starts to grown and uproot a nearby building.

  

This episode is a bit of an oddity. It doesn’t feature a humanoid monster, but instead a giant vampire plant. Characters even jokingly call it a plant Dracula. The whole episode is packed with style and haunting images of the giant plant with its tentacle like vines. The imagery is also familiar to Godzilla fans. Godzilla vs Biollante (1989) borrows many ideas and shots from this episode. Biollante’s story came from longtime kaiju fan Shinichiro Kobayashi, who also wrote a treatment for a episode of The Return of Ultraman, and screenwriter/ director Kazuki Ohmori. Both men wanted to make a unique and bizarre Godzilla movie. The borrowing of the off balanced plants in “Mammoth Flower” brought some truly gruesome ideas to Toho’s titan franchise.

 

The ninth episode in the series is one that is sure to please haunted house fans. “Baron Spider” begins with a giant spider attacking workers in a lighthouse. Jun and company are on their way to the scene of the story when they are stopped in the fog. With them is three other people, all of which are poetic and obsessed with the supernatural. Ippei and one of their guests falls into a lake nearby and almost catch their death from the cold. The six make their way to a house near the lighthouse and hope for help. They discover that the house is empty and covered in spiderwebs. It turns out that the house was owned by a crazy baron who was obsessed by spiders. He also lost his wife to the deadly bite from a wild spider. So now the house is cursed and the spider is hungry for blood. 

 

 

"Baron Spider” is a visual tour de force. It’s my favorite episode of this iconic series and one that is sure to please horror fans. Feeling like a sister to Ishiro Honda’s Matango AKA Attack of the Mushroom People (1964), the whole episode is dripping with dread. Every shot is filled with smoke, spiderwebs, or moody shadows. The teleplay mixes elements from killer animal stories and ghost legends. It even turns into a slasher with the character being lost, coming into the mysterious house, drinking, and then being separated. Like Michael Myers in Halloween (1978), or Billy in Black Christmas (1974), The Baron spider creeps around and waits to strike. He is able to teleport and disappear from the scene. The spider’s design is simple but also chilling.

Ultra Q is one of the greatest horror/sci-fi Television series. While Ultraman is better known to Monster Kids, Ultra Q is a special first. Each episode is filled with wonder and life. Thanks to the wonders of DVD and Blu-ray this iconic series is now easier than ever to finally see. So pop some corn, turn off the lights, and let yourself be transported for 30 minutes into the unbalanced realm of dreams that is Ultra Q.