Le Trône de feu

Jess Franco's "Il Trono di fuoco" aka. "The Bloody Judge" of 1970 is one of a bunch of early 70s exploitation flicks inspired by the success of Michael Reeves' 1968 masterpiece "Witchfinder General" (starring the great Vincent Price). People familiar with Jess Franco's cinema might expect an immensely sleazy and gruesome film that mainly takes place in torture chambers, but the film is actually tame for what one might expect. Even though there are a bunch of very brutal scenes, the level of sleaze and violence is quite low for a Jess Franco film, and the film is not even nearly as nasty as other popular 'Hexploitation' films of the time, such as the ultra-gruesome "Mark Of The Devil" from the same year. Equally surprising is the budget that was obviously quite high for Jess Franco standards, as realistic costumes and nice settings are provided.

Horror icon Christopher Lee, who worked with Jess Franco on several occasions, plays Lord George Jeffreys, the infamous and merciless judge and Lord Chancellor in England torn by strife between the reigning King James II and William of Orange. Convincend of doing what's necessary, the cruel judge mercilessly persecutes 'traitors', who sympathize with the King's opponent William of Orange, as well as 'witches', who are accused of being in league with the devil...

Christopher Lee is, as always, great in his role as the merciless judge (who is based on the infamous real-life 'hanging-judge' George 1st baron Jeffreys). Beautiful Maria Rohm, who starred in many Franco-highlights, most memorably in "Venus in Furs" and "Count Dracula", plays the female lead here, and she fits in her role very well. Jess Franco-fans will also recognize another regular in his films, Howard Vernon, who plays the executioner. Another great enrichment to the film is the great score by Bruno Nicolai. Jess Franco, one of the most prolific directors ever, has directed a bunch of absolutely awesome films, as well as total stinkers. "The Bloody Judge" is definitely one of his better films (even though, in my opinion, not one of his masterpieces), and a more than decent historical horror film. Highly recommended!

As said, I just witnessed the full uncut version of the Bloody Judge. Like you could see IMDb never made notice of this version so I thought it must be wrong on the DVD but no, it clocked in at exactly 103 minutes. It's English spoken until the extra minutes appear, they are in German but the subtitles stays intact. The extra minutes are no more then a torture scene with full nudity, the others include all nudity with a love scene between the bloody judge and the witch, the last extra is a lesbian scene in the torture room with frontal bush nudity. Thinking of the year it was made, 1970, it was normal that it was cut out. Anyway, the storyline does refer to the real history but the movie is way too long. There is a lot of blah blah and the torture scenes are really laughable. You only see blood but it never runs or you never see cuts made by the executioner. A shame, could have done better by Franco. The performances are really good but the suspense isn't there due the lack of storyline, they really refer to much to history. It is nice to see how they made you say you are a witch. There are better witch hunt movies out there, I guess would Lee never appeared in it it would be a forgotten flick. It's not for the geeks of horror, just one of the Jess Franco flicks with the usual T&A features. It's available in his 103 minutes in Belgium with the German pieces in it, judge it for yourselves

O.K., it's no Witchfinder General (but then again, what is?), but Jess Franco's The Bloody Judge is a well-written, well-acted, well-made historical-horror hybrid in the tradition of it's obvious model, Rowland V. Lee's The Tower of London. Franco stalwart Howard Vernon delivers a delicious homage to Karloff's Mord the Executioner from that film, and Christopher Lee is excellent, if somewhat insecurely emphatic and earnest, as the cruel, narrow, and hypocritical Judge Jeffries. The score, by Bruno Nicolai, is majestic and memorable, and the film as a whole is vividly entertaining. Having seen this film over 25 years ago, on television, heavily edited, under the title Night of the Blood Monster, I was amazed at how much of it had lain dormant in my memory, ready to be jostled into consciousness. Whole scenes played out in my mind as I re-watched them on my wide screen TV.

There are a few people, including the otherwise estimable Glenn Erickson, of the hugely insightful and informative DVD Savant site, who have claimed, based on the evidence of this film, that Jess Franco could not have "directed" the legendary Battle of Shrewsbury in Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight. First, lets get a few facts straight. It is well documented that Franco shot the second unit on Chimes at Midnight, which included much of the battle scene. This means that Franco shot a lot of coverage of the battle, working from a general outline given by Welles. Later, Welles took the miles of footage into the editing room and, many months later, emerged with the shattering sequence that appears in his picture. Franco, obviously, had nothing to do with this editing process, and, as far as I can tell, has never claimed otherwise. To compare the battle scene in The Bloody Judge with Welles' magnificent achievement is grotesquely unfair, as I am sure that Franco was allowed minutes rather than months to assemble The Bloody Judge for exhibition. Given the strictures under which he was working, Franco, his cast, and his collaborators should be commended for having produced a film with such a high level of professionalism. Welles, that most populist of auteurs, who once stated that he would rather watch paint dry than sit through an Antonioni film, and who responded to energy, verve, iconoclasm, and enthusiasm, had seen and appreciated those qualities an early Franco effort, which eventually led to the offer to work on Chimes. If Franco was good enough for Welles, he should be good enough for us. The two are closer than you think...

Christopher Lee is tremendous as the pompous, perverse sadist, Judge George Jeffries. Lee and Director Jess Franco battled over the way in which Jeffries should be presented, with Lee wanting a more historically accurate approach, while Franco -of course!- wanted a more salacious portrayal. Well, they both won... sort of.

Lee played his part fairly straight, unaware of the lurid, gory, and demented stuff that Franco added later! So, the finished product is a historical drama with nudity, blood, and graphic torture.

Mr. Lee refused to watch it, not being a fan of anything graphic or gratuitous. Franco followers know what to expect, but those expecting a typical period piece or costume drama are in for a shock! Special mention must be made of the breathtaking Maria Rohm, who is the object of THE BLOODY JUDGE's carnal desires. Also, watch for Franco regular, Howard Vernon as Jack Ketch, the torturer in-chief...

Christopher Lee plays Welsh Judge Jeffries (who was in fact a real judge back in the 17th Century in England) in this Jesus Franco directed horror-biography from 1970. He was known as "The Hanging Judge" and would convict with a heavy strike from his gavel. Lee does quite a fine job in the lead role and almost all on his own leans me toward recommending this one, but alas it is close, but no cigar on this one. As I mentioned earlier directed by the late Jesus Franco and over his career I would commend him on the amount of work he ended up directed and writing, even though at the time of writing this review I have seen 3 of his pictures and none of them I really liked or would recommend to anyone. This one was the best as his I have seen to date. The personal problem I had with this movie was at times (always happens when Lee was not on screen) I would get bored. It became too talky and not enough action for me. Although to me the 3rd act was the best and does pick up, but wasn't enough for me.