Whilst I enjoy cinema and film I'm by no means an expert in it, and there are major figures in the industry who's work I've been completely unaware of over the years, particularly those outside of the mainstream. As such, I'd never encountered the work of Jess Franco, a rather prolific writer, director, and composer across 173 films, until the release of She Killed in Ecstasy, and Vampyros Lesbos on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Severin Films. Always eager to discover new things, I grabbed a copy of both and tried to not only learn more about Franco, but their lead actress, Soledad Miranda.
She Killed in Ecstasy centres on Dr Johnson (Fred Williams) and his wife, played by Miranda, who is never given a name in the movie. Johnson has been experimenting with human embryos to try to leap forward in medical science, he's shunned by his peers, mocked, called an animal, and sent spiralling into a deep despair and mania. The result of this is that he eventually takes his life, with his Mrs Johnson finding his body in their home. Enraged that the man she loves most in the world was driven to suicide by the medical community, she swears to get revenge against those responsible, and launches into a murderous mission.
Jess Franko was well known for his horror work, and for his erotic cinema, and She Killed in Ecstasy has these two work hand in hand for him, as he has Soledad Miranda use sex and seduction in order to gain revenge for her husband. However, compared to Vampyros Lesbos, which I watched first out of the two releases, it feels somewhat flatter than its counterpart, and lacks something that the other film had in spades; character.
She Killed in Ecstasy is a short film, clocking in at around 80 minutes, and despite having a short runtime and a simple revenge narrative the film came across like it was struggling to actually do anything. The story never really developed beyond its initial concept, the characters were pretty one dimensional and more stock archetypes than people, and many of the scenes went on too long to the point where they stopped being entertaining. I'm glad that it wasn't the first Franco movie I watched, as I'd have struggled to see why he had such a successful career.
The only real thing in the film that stands out is it's lead, Soledad Miranda, who is the only actor who seems to have any kind of presence in the film. Miranda has a striking beauty, one that lends her face well to expressing extreme shifts in emotion and mania that her character goes through. It's clear that Franco thought she was an extreme beauty, putting her in these two movies as seductresses, and whilst it worked well in Vampyros Lesbos here it fails somewhat as the film has no real reason why these victims, who are aware that they're being hunted by Miranda, willingly open their beds to her. She's too beautiful, too irresistible, and these terrible doctors can't help but get naked with her before they die.
I can't help but feel that Franco had a vague idea for a film he wanted to make with Soledad Miranda, and whether because of his production style of knocking out as many films as he could, or some other pressure, rushed into the movie before he'd given it the treatment it deserved, and thus we end up with a film that could have been interesting, yet feels somewhat hollow. This feeling was only compounded by the fact that compared to Vampyros Lesbos, which had a pair of audio commentaries from people who had deep love for the film, She Killed in Ecstasy had none.
Whilst the release lacks audio commentaries it does come with some extras, including an interview with Franco, an interview with a historian who specialises in the life and career of Soledad Miranda, and an interview with author Stephen Thrower. There's also the thirteenth part in Severin's series on Jess Franco, 'In the Land of Franco'. The extras offer some extra insight into the film and it's creators, but like the film itself it does feel a little lacking at times.
Whilst I'm glad that I've watched She Killed in Ecstasy, and it makes for a good companion piece with the other release, it's not a film that I can see myself returning to. For fans of Franco this is likely going to be a great purchase, but for casual film watchers and movie fans it might not quite hit the mark as well.
She Killed in Ecstasy is available on 4K UHD/Blu-ray now from Severin Films.
No comments:
Post a Comment