El huerto del Francés

A middle class Frenchman owns an orchard in Spain as the 20th Century begins . He also uses it as a brothel and turns it in to a surruptious graveyard where he murders people he doesn't like and hides their bodies in the ground

A slightly strange contribution from Spanish horror king Paul Naschy and unfortunately one I found terminally boring . Directed and co-written by Naschy I can see what he's trying to do here . He doesn't want to be eternally known for his Daninsky werewolf movies so tries to be Paul Naschy the actor . Sadly he lets himself down in a type of period drama with a bit of serial murder thrown in to the mix . The pace crawls along the same urgency as a snail on beteblockers with the cast giving overwrought facial expressions as a Hispanic guitar plays over the soundtrack just to remind the audience where the story is taking place . It's interesting to watch a film where Naschy speaks in his native language since so much of his material is only available via poorly dubbed English versions and some people might be grateful that there's nothing along the lines of low brow thrills in the shape of werewolves but to be blunt thrills of any kind is what this film needs

This extremely rare Paul Naschy vehicle is actually one of his very best films – one that not only features perhaps his most commanding performance but showcases an infrequent seriousness of intent as writer-director. It is a serial-killer thriller which treats a real-life case from the early 1900s, about which it seems that even ballads were written (heard over the opening and closing credits).

The star plays the titular character quite sympathetically, and his garden is predictably used to bury the bodies of his various victims. At first, I thought these would be inconvenient girls, since he is not only depicted as a stud but runs an inn which serves as make-shift gambling-den and brothel as well (while also taking care of his lovers/prostitutes when they get pregnant)! His crimes – with a much older man for accomplice – relate to the former vice and lend new meaning to the phrase 'get-rich-quick scheme' (though, to be fair to Naschy's character, he was feeling stifled by the ruthless Spanish class system). The latter aspect, therefore, provides a mix of social commentary and black comedy – just as the combination of the anti-hero's illicit activities is ultimately what brings him down (having spurned a girl, who had hoped he would leave his bourgeois wife for her, she reports him to the authorities after stumbling upon his secret).

The narrative unfolds in flashback, eventually culminating in the meticulously-presented garroting execution. Nudity and violence are prominent here but not overstressed. Still, the haunting score by Angel Arteaga (also of THE DEVIL'S CROSS [1975] and THE TRAVELER [1979]) – sounding melancholy for lyrical passages and urgent for those requiring suspense – is practically a character all to itself; for the record, we get to see a midget performing a flamenco dance at one point! It is odd, too, that Naschy's two most highly-regarded efforts as director both indulge in homosexuality for one of its sub-plots! As for the quality of the VHS-sourced edition I watched, it was a very soft and murky print – even suffering from picture loss towards the end, not to mention sporting English subtitles which were so unevenly-placed that at times they obscured half the image! With this in mind, the careful photography (such as having Naschy's face suddenly thrown into darkness during a couple of especially revelatory moments) doubtless ought to benefit from a restoration but, while this seems highly unlikely given the title's obscurity, I would love to be proved wrong. Incidentally, on "The Mark Of Naschy" website, the running-time of the film is given at 109 minutes yet my copy only ran for 93!

This decent film "El huerto del Francés¨was one of Paul's most personal projects and and one his finest artistic achievements. Based on actual events about ¨The Frenchman's Garden Murders¨ that were a series of 6 murders that were perpetrated in the town of Peñaflor, Province of Seville, Spain, up to 1904 . The crimes were committed by Andrés Aldije , known as El Francés for being a native of Agen, France, and José Muñoz Lopera . Both men had set up an illegal gambling house, robbing and murdering some of the visitors . After being condemned to the death penalty , both were executed by garrote vil on October 31, 1906 in the Prison of Seville. The star plays the titular role Juan Andrés Aldije 'El Francés' (Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina) , helped by José Muñoz Lopez (José Calvo who performed a lot of Spaghetti as Fistful of dollars) . El Frances runs an inn which serves both as a brothel and as a make-shift gambling-den , as well . While he is happily married to Elvira (Julia Saly , usual collaborator to Naschy , she even produced him) and along the way taking care of his prostitutes/lovers (Agata Lys , Yolanda Rios , Silvia Tortosa) . To carry out his ominous purports the orchard is allegedly used to bury the corpses of a lot victims . Then there arrives an ex-lover (Maria José Cantudo) gets pregnant and things go wrong . But his crimes go on and on until a predictable ending .

Based on actual deeds , the film director Paul Naschy made this film titled ¨The Frenchman's Garden¨ in 1977 and at his best . Here he plays a ruthless and egoistic stud who attempts to get richness quickly , at whatever cost . Continental Europe's biggest horror star Jacinto Molina Aka Paul Naschy passed away at 2009 , he created a classic character Waldemar Daninsky along with many others and often frightening to viewer . He was actor, screenwriter and director of various films about the personage based on fictitious character , the Polish count Waldemar Daninsky. The first film about Waldemar was ¨The mark of the Wolfman (1968)¨ by Enrique Eguiluz . In fact , in 1967 he wrote the script for La marca del Hombre Lobo (1968) . He was forced, out of necessity, to play the lead role of tormented werewolf Waldermar Daninsky after Lon Chaney Jr. turned it down . He reprised this character in over a dozen subsequent sequels . Naschy's portrayals of the anguished and sympathetic werewolf Daninsky became his signature part and consolidated his enduring cult status as a bona-fide horror icon . Other significant horror figures Paul played were the Mummy , Jack the Ripper , the Hunchback , the Frankenstein Monster , the Phantom of the Opera , and even the Devil . Naschy made his directorial debut with Inquisición (1977) . His most important movies were the successful ¨Night of Walpurgis¨ by Leon Klimovsky , ¨Fury of the Wolfman¨ , ¨Doctor Jekill and the Wolfman¨ ,¨The return of the Walpurgis¨, ¨Howl of the devil¨, ¨The beast and the magic sword (1982)¨ that was filmed in Japan and finally ¨Licantropo (1998) . After ¨The craving¨ it was such a box office disaster that Jacinto was bankrupt . And his performance as the Prince of Darkness in ¨El gran amor del conde Drácula¨ (1973) was one of his personal favorites . However , he was forced to turn to Japan for making artist documentaries , as he filmed ¨ Madrid Royal Palace and Museum of Prado¨ and he gets financing from Japanese producers for ¨The human beasts¨, the first co-production Spanish-Japan and followed ¨The beast and the magic sword¨ that was lavishly produced for the Paul Naschy standards . And ¨Howl of the Devil"--El aullido del diablo (1988)- that was one of his more interesting films in which he gives a tour of force , here Jacinto Molina plays several characters in this forgotten gem.

This film ¨El Huerto del Francés¨ is a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes , twisted style and a Naif-gaudy realization . This exciting terror movie contains thrills , chills , twists , some nudism and lots of blood and gore . The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato and is occasionally an engaging horror movie full of zooms , slashing , hitting and anything else . This time Paul Nashy/Jacinto Molina exhibits little breast but he was a weightlifting champion . The picture is plenty of sadism , two ominous criminals executing creepy events , and grisly killings . Pretty slow going , but hang in there for some surprising scenes and thrilling final . In the film appears a nice cast with gorgeous actresses of Destape or nudism and Eurotrash such as Agata Lys , Maria José Cantudo , Silvia Tortosa , Yolanda Rios and Julia Saly . And other secondaries who starred innumerable films of Spaghetti , suspense , and horror genres during the 60s and 70 , such as : José Calvo, Carlos Casaravilla, José Moreno ,José Nieto and brief appearance by Luis Ciges as the executioner. Good and foggy cinematography by Leopoldo Villaseñor with chillon , strong colors , though being really necessary a perfect remastering . Shot on location in Algete, Madrid, and Peñaflor, Sevilla, Andalucia . Along with evocative musical score , adding two songs-Romance at the begining and the end written and performed by Rosa León . The motion picture was professionally written/played/directed by Jacinto Molina . The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and terror genre enthusiast . Rating : 6.5/10 , passable and entertaining .

one of the myths of fantastic movies, Paul Naschy, filmed this realistic drama in the best tradition of Spanish novel (Cela, Blasco Ibañez ) and paintings (Goya, Gutierrez Solana ) .

the story of a real psychokiller, " the french man ". Besides Naschy two beautiful stars, María José Cantudo ( in her best role ) and Agatha Lys.

The action is good, the atmospheric photography looks great ans crime scenes are strong . A film for rediscovering .