Jess Franco’s Rites of Frankenstein (1972)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | December 4, 2008

Categories | Movie Reviews, Horror, Spanish Cinema, Jess Franco

My love for Jess Franco definitely clouds any objective opinion I have about his work, but I truly believe that The Rites of Frankenstein (aka Les Experiences erotiques de Frankenstein, 1972) is one of the director’s most surreal and interesting efforts. Unfortunately this erotic horror film doesn’t really live up to what it could have been if Franco had access to a bigger budget and a more enthusiastic cast, but it’s still an imaginative movie filled with some memorable sequences and a strange sensuality that manages to transcend its many flaws.

The cast is very good, but some of them don’t appear to be very invested in the film which can be distracting at times. Horror film veteran Dennis Price delivers an uninspired performance here as Doctor Frankenstein and a seemingly perplexed Jess Franco also appears in his own film playing Frankenstein’s hunchback assistant Morpho. Frankenstein’s daughter is played by Euro horror queen Britt Nichols who I usually enjoy watching, but sadly she’s rather forgettable here as is Franco regular Lina Romay, who is almost completely obscured in shadows and barely recognizable at times. Thankfully the films does contain some inspired performances that really help bring this project to life.

Franco favorite Howard Vernon appears in one of his most interesting and unforgettable roles in The Rites of Frankenstein playing a hypnotist called Cagliostro, undoubtedly named after the infamous Italian occultist. Cagliostro kidnaps Frankenstein’s monster (Fernando Bilbao) for his own diabolical plans and keeps the creature imprisoned in his castle. The erotic film actress Anne Libert also stars as a blind and sadistic flesh eating “bird woman” known as Melissa who is also being controlled by the malevolent Cagliostro. Howard Vernon and Anne Libert keep the film entertaining even during its most sluggish moments and they both seem to be truly enjoying their star turns as the ruthless Cagliostro and Melissa. The film offers both of the actors the chance to shine and they really make the most of their roles.

In an unusual twist Frankenstein’s monster has metallic looking skin that makes the creature seem more like a robot than a walking corpse stitched together from discarded body parts. The modern makeup used in the movie adds a nice psychedelic touch to The Rites of Frankenstein. The creature’s metallic appearance also seems to allude to the ancient tales about Golems with alchemical properties, which were inspiration for Mary Shelley’s original novel.

The film’s score was composed by Daniel White (aka Daniel Whitte) who is responsible for creating soundtracks for some of Franco’s most memorable films including The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus (1962), The Secret of Dr. Orloff (1964), The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966) and The Girl from Rio (1969). When I first watched the film I didn’t really appreciate it, but while watching it a second time I was struck by how different it was from the composers previous work and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s easily one of White’s most experimental scores and he manages to evoke an uneasy mood throughout the film even if it lacks the energy of his previous work. I was occasionally reminded of Jack Nitzsche’s unforgettable soundtrack for Performance (1970) while listening to White’s score for The Rites of Frankenstein and I’m not sure how I managed to overlook the similarities between the two earlier. The Rites of Frankenstein also features some interesting and unusual sound effects that I found very effective. I was especially impressed with the haunting bird-like sounds used by the character of Melissa to communicate.

Jess Franco has expressed a deep affection for Universal horror films made in the ’30s and ’40s, and The Rites of Frankenstein contains some story elements from those classic films, in particular James Whale’s unforgettable Bride of Frankenstein (1935). But Franco seems much more interested in exploring the alchemical elements of the Frankenstein myth as well as using the story as a backdrop to express his own endless fascination with sadism and surreal dream worlds. In this regard the film owes much more to the work of the Marquis de Sade than Mary Shelley.

As I mentioned earlier, the film is not without its obvious flaws such as the unconvincing day for night photography, occasional blurry camera work and erratic editing, but it also contains some beautifully crafted scenes and truly stunning location shots. Franco has a wonderful eye and few directors know how to use space as well as he does. The director is also fond of using fisheye lenses and extreme closeups to evoke a heightened sense of unreality in his films and these techniques are used abundantly in The Rites of Frankenstein to infuse the production with an eerie other-worldly quality. Even though the film’s artistic ambitions fall short, this unusual and erotic take on the Frankenstein story is just plain fun to watch. As someone who considers herself somewhat of “connoisseur” of Frankenstein cinema, I personally regard this film as one of the better and more original efforts produced during the ’70s, but I’m in the minority. The Rites of Frankenstein only seems to appeal to a select group of Franco fanatics who appreciate the Spanish filmmakers more esoteric efforts.

I was really disappointed with the 2005 Image Entertainment DVD release of The Rites of Frankenstein currently available at Amazon. The Image Entertainment disc only includes the edited Spanish version of the film instead of the complete uncut English Language version known as The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein. The uncut scenes are included as part of the DVD extras, but I wish the company would have released a complete uncut version of the English Language film on DVD instead of this censored version that suffers from poor editing. I don’t know how many prints of the film exist, but the one featured on the DVD is often extremely dark and the film might be more enjoyable if some effort was made to restore and lighten up the print so the film was easier to watch. Hopefully a complete and restored version of the film will become available on DVD in the future. The Image Entertainment disc does feature a widescreen print of the movie with English subtitles, but it claims to also contain a “Stills Gallery” which is missing from my DVD. I can’t really recommend purchasing the DVD unless you’re a Franco completest or some strange person like myself who happens to enjoy collecting Frankenstein films.

If you’d like to see more images from the film you can find them in my Rites of Frankenstein Flickr Galler

- An edited version of this review originally appeared in Cinedelica 05.27.2007

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12 Favorite Foreign Language Films

by Kimberly Lindbergs | August 21, 2007

Categories | Movie Reviews, News, Mario Bava, Joe Shishido, Seijun Suzuki, Terence Stamp, Jess Franco

I didn’t want to just list the 12 films I sent in for inclusion that didn’t make the final list of nominees for the Foreign Language Films List without writing a bit about them and why I love them so much. My entire list is filled to the brim with Japanese, Italian and French films and that’s not just because they’re easily available. It means that I really love Japanese, Italian and French cinema. In all honesty, I didn’t expect a lot of the following films to make the final list because they’re personal favorites and some are not easily available on DVD, but that wasn’t one of the requirements. We were asked to list favorites and that’s what I did. If someone wanted me to teach a class on world cinema using my list I would have probably selected some different films.

I think the best part about creating these lists is discovering stuff out about yourself. While creating my list it I learned the following:

-The sixties is far and away my favorite film decade.
- I love Japanese crime films and the more surreal the better. At least five films in a similar vein made my list.
- I love horror/science fiction films with a Frankenstein theme. At least three films with variations of this theme made my list.
- I love films with great opening sequences. If a movie can make my jaw hit the floor within the first 10-15 minutes, it gains my instant affection. Many of the films on my list contain amazing opening sequences that grab you by the throat and never let go.
- Alain Delon is still my favorite actor. I could watch him stare out a window for 4 hours and never get bored.

So without further delay - Here is a list of 12 of my Favorite Foreign Language Films that didn’t make the final list of nominees. They’re listed in alphabetical order:

The 10th Victim a.k.a. La Decima Vittima (1965, Elio Petri)
Italian director Elio Petri won the Golden Palm at Cannes in 1971 for his film The Working Class Goes to Heaven and a Jury Prize in 1970 for his film Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, which was also nominated for an Oscar. Sadly, none of Petri’s films made the nominee list but I hoped that his stylish sixties science fiction film the The 10th Victim would. Part social satire, part dark sex comedy and all style, The 10th Victim is truly one of the sixties greatest looking films. It stars the lovely Ursula Andress and handsome Marcello Mastroianni in two of their most unforgettable roles as hunter and victim playing a televised survival game. It undoubtedly inspired many other lesser films such as The Running Man (1987) and Fukasaku’s Battle Royal (2000), but The 10th Victim is far and away one of the smartest and most adult science fiction films ever made. The fantastic cinematography by Gianni Di Venanzo and fabulous score by Piero Piccioni are tops.

- Clip from The 10th Victim

Black Lizard a.k.a. Kurotokage (1968, Kinji Fukasaku)
Kinji Fukasaku made a lot of great movies in Japan before his untimely death in 2003, but this truly surreal 1968 crime thriller is a personal favorite. It combines the best elements found in sixties era James Bond films and Film Noir with an erotic mystery that is guaranteed to leave first time viewers stunned. The film’s avant-garde “pop art” sensibility and dark humor really appeal to me. The lovely female lead is played by the reigning queen of Japanese drag performers, Akihiro Miwa, and his real-life lover (famed Japanese author Yukio Mishima who helped write the screenplay) even makes an appearance in the film. I hope to write a more in-depth review of Black Lizard very soon, but I will add that I’ve rarely had a better time at the movies than when I first saw this film back in the early 1990s.

Blood & Black Lace a.k.a. Sei Donne per l’assassino (1964, Mario Bava)
Selecting one Mario Bava film for my list was nearly impossible since he’s one of my favorite filmmakers, but I finally decided to include his original giallo film that managed to forge an entire genre, Blood and Black Lace. This amazing looking film really showcases everything that I love about Bava’s filmmaking and giallo films in general. It features some of Bava’s best and most brilliant color photography and impressive special effects that still make my eyes pop. Blood and Black Lace has inspired countless imitators, but this truly original piece of work remains bold and exciting some 40 years after it was first made.

- German language trailer for Blood and Black Lace

The Diabolical Doctor Z a.k.a. Miss Muerte (1966, Jess Franco)
I love a lot of Jess Franco films, but I also have my favorites and The Diabolical Doctor Z was the first film that made me a Franco fan for life. This incredible looking Spanish/French production features a terrific international cast and boasts some of Franco’s most impressive directing. It was the film that really cemented Franco’s name in the world of international cinema and it contains many of the director’s favorite themes that are perfectly executed here (it’s also co-written by Bunuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere). The film finds inspiration in Georges Franju’s classic Eyes Without a Face as well as old Universal monster films, but somehow Franco still manages to give the film a very original and modern feel that is all his own.

- Bad American trailer for The Diabolical Doctor Z

The Face of Another a.k.a. Tanin no Kao (1966, Hiroshi Teshigahara)
I’ve already written about Teshigahara’s film in great detail so I won’t bother saying much more, but you can find my previous thoughts about this amazing film here.

- Japanese trailer for The Face of Another

Female Prisoner #701 Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973, Shunya Ito)
I’ve loved the Japanese Female Prisoner Scorpion films since I first discovered them being released on DVD in the states in 2002. They’re on unusual blend of two genres (Pinky Violence and Women in Prison films) that somehow manage to take what could be considered very trashy and exploitive themes and turn them into truly great avant-garde filmmaking. Beast Stable is the third and last film in the series directed by Shunya Ito and he brings everything I love about his earlier films into this last movie in the series and turns it up to volume 10. He also manages to define his previous ideas and develop his directing style in ways that really impress me and that’s why this film is my favorite in the series. I wrote another tiny blurb about Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable earlier this year, which you can find here.

- Japanese trailer for Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable

Gonin a.k.a. Five (1995, Takashi Ishi)
The 1990s was an amazing decade for Japanese cinema and I wanted to include films made by many great directors from this period on my list such as Takeshi Kitano, Takeshi Miike, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hirokazu Koreeda, but after I started slowly chipping away at my long list of Favorite Foreign Language films to select a mere 25 for inclusion on my list, Gonin was the one film from the decade that remained (I also assumed those other directors would make the list without my vote). Takashi Ishi has only made a few worthwhile films and Gonin is far and away his greatest achievement, but its influence on modern Japanese cinema shouldn’t be underestimated. This incredible crime film involves a gang of misfits who come together and try to rob the local yakuza, but things don’t exactly go as planned and as the film unfolds in a thunderous wave of unparalleled violence and mind-blowing action, it also takes on a dark, surreal and horrific tone that raises it far above most typical Asian crime films. Underneath Gonin’s slick and stylish exterior you’ll find the first film - in my moving going experience - that dared to openly exploit the gay subtext found in thousands of buddy action movies made in previous decades. It also contains some terrific performances by great Japanese actors such as the amazing Takeshi Kitano who is guaranteed to impress and give you nightmares as a bloodthirsty one-eyed hitman. I first saw Gonin when it debuted in the US in San Francisco and half the audience left before the film finished. The rest of us that remained sat in stunned silence until the very end. We all watched the credits roll until the darkened theater turned on the house lights and then we all looked at each other - half of us with tears in our eyes and the other half with our jaws still on the ground - fully aware that we had just experienced a stunning and groundbreaking film. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.

- The original Gonin trailer

Jean De Florette / Manon of the Spring (1986, Claude Berri)
It’s hard to explain why we enjoy some films more than others, but ever since I first sat through the entire 4-hour sweeping epic that is Claude Berri’s Jean De Florette and Manon of the Spring back in the late 1980s when I was in college studying film, I’ve been in love with these two movies. Together they make up a powerful drama of great beauty that manages to invoke the magic of cinema classics while telling a timeless story that can still deeply affect modern audiences. Has the French countryside ever looked so beautiful? These are films that I’ve come back to again and again when the world doesn’t seem right and I need a “pick me up” as well as a confirmation of humanity in all it’s loveliness and ugliness. The great French actor Yves Montand also delivers an incredibly moving performance in these films that always leaves me impressed.

- American trailer for Manon of the Spring

Pale Flower a.k.a. Kawaita Hana (1964, Masahiro Shinoda)
If you haven’t noticed by now, I really love Japanese crime films and many of my favorites ended up making my list because I couldn’t bare to leave them off. Shinoda’s brilliant Pale Flower manages to be both an erotic and highly subversive bit of filmmaking that perfectly represents the Japanese New Wave while keeping one foot firmly planted in the violent underworld of Japanese crime cinema. Shinoda takes what could be a simple yakuza tale and love story, and turns it into cinematic art. This gorgeous film showcases why he’s one of Japan’s greatest modern filmmakers. I naively assumed Shinoda’s amazing film Double Suicide would make the final list of nominees so I voted for this one instead, but I love them both a lot. In the end though, Pale Flower is a film I like to return to again and again and it’s complex themes appeal to me in many ways.

Santa Sangre (1989, Alejandro Jodorowsky)
With the recent release of the Jodorowsky DVD Box set in America this year I assumed that at least one of his films would make it onto the list of nominees. Obviously I assumed wrong. I expect that Jodorowsky’s brand of surrealism is still just a bit too extreme for most film audiences. That’s really a shame, because he’s made some fascinating films and my favorite Jodorowsky film is Santa Sangre. Santa Sangre is Jodorwsky’s darkest effort and his most fully realized film in my opinion. It is brimming with unforgettable imagery and startling storytelling techniques that recall an earlier time in European horror cinema seen through more modern eyes. Like many of the films on my list, Santa Sangre is not easy viewing, but it’s a film that constantly comes to mind when I think about Foreign Language Films that have deeply affected me and changed the way I view cinema as an art form.

- Clip from Santa Sangre

Teorema (1968, Pier Paolo Pasolini)
I’m not really sure that Pasolini’s Teorema counts 100% as a foreign language film, but I included it in my list anyway. Teorema is a film that seems to divide audiences and many critics find it incomprehensible or just plain trashy. I think it’s a bit of both and that’s why I love it so much. It also features some of Pasolini’s most impressive imagery and manages to mix eroticism with political and social issues in an extremely creative way. Terence Stamp is unforgettable here as the mysterious sexy stranger who enters into the life of a bourgeois family and changes their lives forever. It’s the film that introduced to me to Passolini’s work and it remains a favorite since I first saw it some 18 years ago.

- Clip from Teorema

Youth of the Beast - Criterion Collection a.k.a. Yaju no Seishun (1963, Seijun Suzuki)
Sejiun Suzuki’s Youth of the Beast is the final film on my list of favorites and it’s undoubtedly one of the best looking films of the bunch. I was astonished that none of Suzuki’s films made the list of nominees since his work has been available on DVD for many years and is supported by Criterion, but the Criterion crowd often likes to dismiss Suzuki. His films are still widely unseen and under-appreciated which is a shame. He’s one of Japan’s greatest living directors and he makes some of the most entertaining and beautiful looking films that I’ve ever seen. I had an extremely hard time trying to decide which Suzuki film I would select for inclusion on my list. He is the only director that I almost broke my own rule for because I couldn’t pick between the dark WWII drama Gate of Flesh (which I raved about here) and this mind-blowing crime film. Youth of the Beast was the first film that gained Suzuki a reputation in Japan for making unbelievably stylish and over-the-top crime films that left audiences reeling and confused his critics. It was also the first film that brought Suzuki and his longtime star Jo Shishido together, and the two men truly make movie magic on screen that has to be seen to be believed. Youth of the Beast was made only a year after the first James Bond film and yet in many ways it’s light years ahead of any adult action films shot during that decade and made on probably half the budget. Besides mind-blowing action sequences, jaw-dropping photography and an amazingly effective score, the film is also infused with Suzuki’s own brand of eroticism and violence, and it showcases his incredibly modern storytelling abilities that have inspired countless imitators. If you rent Suzuki’s Youth of the Beast you are guaranteed a knockout night at the movies that you’ll never forget so if you’re unfamiliar with the director’s work, do yourself a favor and discover it soon.

- Clips from Youth of the Beast

While I was compiling this list of 25 favorites I came up with over 100 films that I wanted to add to make mention of so maybe someday I’ll share my entire list since I regret not including many films - in particular horror films. Lists are tricky things and limited by what we have seen. I don’t like sharing them since my list of favorites could change at any given day depending on my mood and whatever new films I’m exposed to, but I can honestly say that all 25 films on this list will always be personal favorites.

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Birthday Wishes for Jess Franco

by Kimberly Lindbergs | May 12, 2007

Categories | Directors, Spanish Cinema, Jess Franco

I never made a film thinking that I’d win the Grand Prize in Cannes. Never. I always thought it would be so beautiful for my films to be shown in theaters in the suburbs and the theater is packed with people who are enjoying my films. There it is, That’s more than enough. There’s nothing else. - Jess Franco

Today one of my favorite filmmakers turns 77 and I couldn’t let the date pass without wishing him a very happy birthday wherever he may be.

Franco seems to polarize people in my own experience. There’s a good chance that if you like him, you love him and if you don’t like him, you probably can’t understand what all the fuss is about. Either way you cut it, Jess Franco is a fascinating and creative man who for good or bad, may have made more movies than any other director I personally know of.

I tend to prefer Franco’s early films, in particular the movies he made between 1962 and 1972. The body of work he produced during that period is really amazing. Franco is one of horror cinema’s greatest auteurs in my opinion, and very few filmmakers working with his limited resources have been able to match his creative passion and shear volume of work.

Out of the 40+ films he made during 1962-1972, I’ve only managed to see 22 so far. Naturally I have my favorites such as The Diabolical Doctor Z (Miss Muerte, 1966) and I tend to prefer Franco’s films when they creatively blend horror with eroticism as in Venus in Furs (Paroxismus, 1969), Succubus (Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden, 1968) and Vampyros Lesbos (1971) over his straight up erotic films. Many of Franco’s best movies inventively mix genres, which makes them almost impossible to easily categorize.

I also really like his early spy and espionage films that often featured strong female protagonists saving the day as in Two Undercover Angels (Rote Lippen, Sadisterotica, 1969) or trying to take over the world in The Girl From Rio (The Seven Secrets of Sumuru,1969).

Franco uses music brilliantly in his movies and he’s also a great musician in his own right. Volumes could be written about the numerous nightclub scenes featured in almost every Franco film. He returns to exotic dance clubs and erotic strip joints over and over again in his work. It’s almost as if the musician in him is longing to get out, so these trips he makes to various nightclubs in his movies could be one way that his inner musician is able to express itself.

When I think about Franco’s best films a few words replay in my head such as haunting, beautiful and surreal. There is an otherworldly quality about much of his work that I find utterly entrancing and even after watching so many of Franco’s movies (30+ at last count) I’m still eager to seek out more of his films and return to my favorites over and over again.

For more on Jess Franco I highly recommend visiting one of my favorite blogs: I’m in a Jess Franco State of Mind.

You can also find a nice post about Jess Franco over at Jeremy’s terrific blog Moon In The Gutter.

Tim Lucas also wrote up a great piece about Jess Franco today over at his Video WatchBlog. Here’s hoping that Tim follows up his Mario Bava book with a book on Franco!

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Favorite DVD Releases of 2006 - Part III.

by Kimberly Lindbergs | March 10, 2007

Categories | Movie Reviews, Favorite 2006 DVDs, Giallo, Italian Cinema, Crime, Spanish Cinema, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jess Franco, Criterion, Klaus Kinski, John Barry

This is the final part of my 30 Favorite DVD Releases of 2006 list that I’ve been slowly putting together. You can find Parts I. and II. HERE.

Please keep in mind that these are all official NTSC Region 1 DVDs of films originally released between 1960 and 1979 and the numerical order means absolutely nothing except that I got these brief reviews written up in the order that they appear.

30 FAVORITE DVD RELEASES OF 2006 PART III.

The Fifth Cord
21. The Fifth Cord (Blue Underground)
Luigi Bazzoni’s impressive giallo stars the handsome Italian actor Franco Nero in one of his best roles as a journalist struggling with alcoholism, while trying to solve a series of brutal murders. The cast also includes acclaimed actors and genre favorites Wolfgang Preiss, Edmund Purdom, Renato Romano, Silvia Monti, Ira von Fürstenberg and Rossella Falk, who all give fine performances in the film. The Fifth Cord (1971) also features some truly incredible photography by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and an amazing score by Ennio Morricone, which really compliments Bazzoni’s story. Blue Underground released some terrific gialli titles last year, but The Fifth Cord was easily my favorite of the bunch and I can’t recommend it enough. The DVD is presented in widescreen and looks terrific. It also comes with an extra feature called Giornata Nera (Black Days) which contains some insightful interviews with actor Franco Nero and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, as well as a theatrical trailer. Hopefully Blue Underground will continue to release more hard-to-find gialli titles this year!

The Loved One
22. The Loved One (Warner Home Video)
After the talented British filmmaker Tony Richardson won the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars in 1964 for Tom Jones, Hollywood was at his feet and MGM offered him complete creative control over his next project. No one expected that Richardson would take the opportunity to make “The motion picture with something to offend everyone,” but that’s exactly what he did. The Loved One is a blacker then black comedy that satirizes the Hollywood funeral business and definitely contains something to offend everyone. The script was written by Christopher Isherwood & Terry Southern, and it’s based on the original novel by Evelyn Waugh. Isherwood & Southern manage to retain Waugh’s uncompromising wit while giving the story a completely modern twist. The Loved One has an impressive cast that includes Robert Morse, John Gielgud, Roddy McDowall, Jonathan Winters, Anjanette Comer, Dana Andrews, Milton Berle, James Coburn, Tab Hunter, Paul Williams and Liberace, but the real star of the film is Rod Steiger who gives one of his best performance as the embalmer Mr. Joyboy. The Loved One should appeal to anyone who’s ever imagined what it might be like if John Waters had directed Dr. Strangelove. The DVD is presented in widescreen and features some great extras including the theatrical trailer and a new featurette called Trying to Offend Everyone. The film was universally panned when it was originally released and that’s probably because it was so ahead of its’ time. It’s gained a sort of cult following over the years and I think modern audiences might be able to appreciate it’s humor more so it’s great to see Warner making an impressive effort to release it on DVD.

Spirit of the Beehive
23. Spirit of the Beehive (Criterion)
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) is a beautiful and spellbinding film that will stay with you long after it has ended. It centers around an enchanting six-year-old girl named Ana (a very young Ana Torrent) who attends a traveling movie show of James Whale’s classic Frankenstein and becomes haunted by her memory of the film. This memory begins to shape her world view and effect the way she see’s the harsh world around her. The story takes place in 1940 following the Spanish Civil War and offers a deeply moving look at a troubled nation trapped under Franco’s tyranny. Director Víctor Erice bathes the film in honeycomb colors and recurring metaphors that give the film a timeless and ethereal quality. The sparse score by Luis de Pablo adds to the somber mood of the film and Luis Cuadrado’s breathtaking cinematography beautifully captures the rural landscapes. The impressive 2 Disc Criterion DVD features a restored widescreen print of the movie and contains lots of great extras including a documentary about the making of the film called The Footsteps of a Spirit and an extensive interview with the director conducted by Japanese filmmaker Hideyuki Miyaoka.

The Conformist
24. The Conformist (Paramount Home Video)
Director Bernardo Bertolucci has made a lot of terrific films and The Conformist (1970) is easily one of his best. The story centers around the disturbed and repressed Marcello, who works as an assassin for the Italian Fascist movement in 1938 and is desperately trying to “conform” to societal expectations. In various flashbacks we learn about his troubling past. Jean-Louis Trintignant gives one of his best performances in the demanding role of Marcello and the rest of the cast is also exceptional. Vittorio Storaro’s cinematography (previously mentioned above in my review for The Fifth Cord) is especially impressive here and Georges Delerue score for the film is haunting. Aldo Lado also worked on the project as Assistant Director and I think fans of Lado’s great giallo films and various thrillers will notice his fingerprints on the movie along with Bertolucci’s. Previous prints of the The Conformist that I’ve seen have been very dull in comparison to the beautifully restored widescreen Paramount print featured on this DVD. The DVD also contains important previously cut footage and features some wonderful extras including three new featurettes about the making of the film.

Deadfall
25. Deadfall (20th Century Fox)
In Deadfall (1968), Michael Caine plays a jewel thief who finds himself caught up in a complex romantic relationship. Is he being played, or is he the player? The movie will keep you guessing and offers plenty of unusual twists and turns along the way. The exotic locations, stylish period clothing and shiny sport cars provide a lot of eye-candy in the movie, but British director Bryan Forbes’ real achievement in Deadfall is getting the incredible composer John Barry to score the film and make an appearance as himself. In one of the greatest combinations of music and cinema that I’ve ever come across, John Barry conducts a concert while Michael Caine makes a desperate attempt to steal some jewels in unison with the music. It has to be seen! Deadfall is presented in widescreen and includes a theatrical trailer as well as an interesting new featurette about the life and music of the British composer John Barry, who’s scored many great films. Deadfall is an under appreciated movie that really deserves another look.

Succubus
26. Succubus (Blue Underground)
Succubus (1968) is one of my favorite Jess Franco films so I was thrilled when Blue Underground announced that they were going to remaster the film and re-release it on DVD in widescreen for the first time last year. The film stars Janine Reynaud in one of her best roles as an exotic nightclub performer named Lorna who is plagued with sadistic hallucinations that she doesn’t understand. As her dream world becomes more violent and depraved, Lorna seems to loose her grip on reality and the audience is left wondering if she is a victim of some plot to drive her insane, suffering from demonic possession or are her psychedelic hallucinations just a product of her wild imagination and decadent lifestyle? Franco regular’s Jack Taylor and Howard Vernon both have interesting roles in the film, but Janine Reynaud is especially memorable as the seductive Lorna. Franco’s directing is really impressive in Succubus and he manages to beautifully capture Lorna’s frenzied dream states. Extras on the DVD include an insightful interview with Franco and actor Jack Taylor as well as the original theatrical trailer.

The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion
27. The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (Blue Underground)
2006 was a great year for fans of the Italian director Luciano Ercoli. It marked the first time that any of his films had been released officially on DVD in the US and we were treated to three impressive gialli films made by the director. I’ve already reviewed the terrific Luciano Ercoli Death Box Set released by NoShame that contained Death Walks on High Heels & Death Walks at Midnight, so I couldn’t resist including this Erocoli thriller released by Blue Underground in my list of Favorite 2006 DVDs as well. In The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970) the beautiful Dagmar Lassander plays a repressed newly married woman named Minou who’s traumatized by a sexual assault as well as obsessed with her attacker. Passions turn deadly and soon Minou finds herself being blackmailed. Genre favorite Nieves Navarro shows up in a memorable supporting role and really spices up the film. Ercoli’s directing is impressive and it’s complimented by Ennio Morriocne’s fantastic score, which is easily one of his best. The film is presented in widescreen and looks fabulous. The DVD also includes the theatrical trailer and a nice featurette called Forbidden Screenplays which contains an interview with co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi. The basic premise of The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is bound to offend some, but if you enjoy erotic films from the 60s & 70s that are more concerned with eroticism & aesthetics then political correctness, you might enjoy the film as much as I did.

The Passenger
28. The Passenger (Sony Pictures)
In The Passenger (1975), the talented Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni once again explores his favorite themes involving identity and isolation. Antonioni has made many brilliant films and I think The Passenger is one of his best, as well as one of his most accessible due to the presence of Jack Nicholson. Nicholson gives one of his most interesting performances here as a burned out journalist named David Locke who decides to assume a dead man’s identity and start his life again as a new person. Locke doesn’t know about the dead man’s past or what he did for a living, and he soon finds himself in over his head. The beautiful Maria Schneider is memorable in her role as the “Girl” and Luciano Tovoli’s cinematography is really impressive, but Antonioni’s directing is the real reason to watch The Passenger. Antonioni knows how to perfectly capture the isolation that his characters feel as well as the world they occupy, which is filled with detached people who rarely understand one another’s motives. The Sony DVD is presented in widescreen and the print looks terrific. I’ve never seen the movie look or sound better. The DVD also includes some insightful commentary tracks by Jack Nicholson, screenwriter Mark Peploe and journalist Aurora Irvine. It’s a shame that it has taken Sony so long to release the film on DVD, but thankfully this release was well worth the wait.

The Black Belly of the Tarantula
29. The Black Belly of the Tarantula (Blue Underground)
Director Paolo Cavara started his career making “Mondo” movies alongside filmmakers like Gualtiero Jacopetti. In 1970 Cavara decided to try his hand at making a genre thriller and The Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971) was the interesting result. This unusual giallo stars the talented Giancarlo Giannini as the suave Inspector Tellini. Tellini finds himself investigating a series of vicious murders involving a killer who injects his victims with the paralyzing poison of a rare wasp and then forces them to witness their own deaths. The rest of the cast includes many beautiful Bond girls as well as actresses who have appeared in other gialli films including Claudine Auger, Barbara Bouchet, Rossella Falk and Barbara Bach. Paolo Cavara’s directing is inspired and complimented by Ennio Morricone’s effective score. One of the most interesting elements of the movie is Cavara’s use of documentary footage showing deadly insects fighting for their lives, which is added throughout the film. It brings to mind the directors previous Mondo films and adds an interesting touch to this entertaining giallo. The Blue Underground DVD is presented in widescreen. It also includes the theatrical trailer and an interview with the scriptwriter’s son Lorenzo Danon. The Black Belly of the Tarantula is not the best giallo Blue Underground has released, but it is one of the most unique and I couldn’t resist adding it to this list.

Two Undercover Angels
30. Red Lips Double Feature: Two Undercover Angels & Kiss Me Monster (Blue Underground)
This great double feature DVD contains two of director Jess Franco’s best spy spoofs. Both films star Franco regulars Janine Reynaud & Rosanna Yanni who seem to be having a lot of fun playing the “red lips” spy team of Diana (Janine Reynaud) & Regina (Rosanna Yanni) while they seduce their enemies, solve crimes and travel to exotic locations wearing stylish late-60s fashions. Two Undercover Angels (1969) is definitely the best of the two films, while Kiss Me Monster (1969) seems a lot less inspired. Both movies are played for laughs and filled with slapstick comedy routines that get a little tired at times, but Janine Reynaud & Rosanna Yanni keep things entertaining. These are not Franco’s best films but they will appeal to anyone who enjoys spy spoofs featuring beautiful female agents like Modesty Blaise (1966) and Fathom (1967) backed by terrific jazzy scores. Previous DVDs of these films were rather bland and the movies were presented in fullscreen so viewers missed a lot of the action. Thankfully Blue Underground remastered them and the DVD features nice widescreen prints of both films as well as the original trailers and interviews with director Jess Franco.

- TV shows released on DVD in 2006 that deserve a mention: Ultraman: Series One, Vol. 1 and The Wild Wild West - The Complete First Season

- Honorable mentions that didn’t make my list: Magic (1978), The Other (1972) , Scorpion - Female Prisoner 701: Grudge Song (1973) and Satan’s Blood (977).

- DVDs that might have made my list if I had the chance to see them: The Witch’s Mirror (1962), Brainiac aka El Baron Del Terror (1963), The Curse of the Crying Woman (1969), , The Quiller Memorandum (1966), Red Angel (1966), Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales (1970-72) and The Anniversary (1968).

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