Der Ruf der blonden Göttin

Since 'Voodoo Passion' (or 'Call of the blond goddess', that is the original title, literally translated) is regarded by many Franco experts as one of his lesser works from the 1970s, I didn't exactly rush to get the DVD, but when I finally did, it turned out to be much better than many say. I don't know how anyone can prefer a bungled work like 'Nightmares Come At Night' over this surprisingly round work of art. The movie lives very much from the music, maybe that is an underestimated factor. Turn up the sound, it helps a lot. Jess Franco, apart from being a director, also had a passion for jazz music, and he used jazz combined with voodoo drums to create obsessive intensity here. In the middle of the movie, the music suddenly stops for a while (when Susan tells Jack how scared she is), and the scary silence makes you aware how much everything was in a musical flow before, driving on and on through the dances and rituals.

The story as usual can be told in 5 lines: Susan (Ada Tauler) comes to an island (the tag line says it's Haiti) to marry Jack House (Franco regular Jack Taylor). A woman he introduces as his sister Olga (Karine Gambier) turns out to be his lover, so much for a normal marriage. Susan has nightmares of herself killing people under the influence of voodoo, and the housekeeper Ines (Vicky Adams) seems to have something to do with it. A conspiracy against Susan has begun... Debutante Vicky Adams plays the priestess with mesmerizing charm, stealing the show every time the camera catches her, thus she well deserved to become the first listed in the cast, although her role is smaller than those of Susan and Olga.