She Killed in Ecstasy

This has gotten a renewed life, following the "Vampyros Lesbos Sexadelic Dance Party" CD, which includes music from "Vampyros Lesbos", "Devil Came From Akasava", and this remake of "The Diabolical Dr. Z". Basically, a young scientist is barred from continuing his experiments in mixing human and animal DNA by the local medical board. He goes home, mopes, and eventually commits suicide. His wife, the lovely Soledad Miranda, is quite upset, and proceeds to use her femininity to lure the doctors responsible into sexual situations, before disposing of them. There is a lot of Cornell Woolrich's "The Bride Wore Black" here, juiced up to 60's level sex and sleaze. Franco pops in as a scientist, and it's interesting to see Howard Vernon playing the same role he played in "Diabolical Dr. Z". Other than the flaky psychedelic Jazz soundtrack, this is one of Soledad Miranda's best films, and she tackles her role mucho gusto. Franco's notorious Zoom overuse is toned down here, and he keeps it moving along nicely. Not as twisted as his 70's takes on similar material, but more well done than much of his catalog.

Jess Franco is not known for telling a great story, but he sure knows how to show flesh and he shows it very well in She Killed in Ecstasy.

Dr Johnson is happily married to a beautiful woman (Soledad Miranda). He is conducting experiments on human embryos that he keeps jars in his lab. When he shows his findings to a medical board, they are outraged by what he is doing. They call it blasphemy and immoral. They strip him of his medical license and destroy his lab. This drives him over the edge and he commits suicide. His wife distressed decides to take revenge against the doctors who ruined his life and killed him. She speaks to her dead husband's corpse and promises to get those who did him wrong. She seduces all the doctors including a woman to get her revenge. She finds they are not as moral as they appear to be.

She Killed in Ecstasy is Jess Franco's follow-up to Vampyros Lesbos and features many of the same people who worked on Lesbos, including the late Soledad Miranda as Ms. Johnson. She is breathtakingly seductive as the woman who will do anything to avenge her husband's death. The film has a faster pace than Franco's usual offerings and not to hard to take, as the film does not run to long, plus Soledad's body is easy on the eyes.

"She Killed In Ecstasy" must be one of Jess Franco's most artistically well-made films (I say "must be", because the man has made almost 200 movies, so it's hard to be sure!). Of course, there are scenes that make him come off as a hack (especially those involving physical violence), but at least the film is not boring, and it is helped immeasurably by the mesmerizing presence of Soledad Miranda. She is almost able to convince us that a woman would go to bed with her ten minutes after she had first met her (!), or that a man would go to bed with her even though he knows she is a killer out to get him (!); the story is still implausible, yes, but without her it would've been laughable. She is also able to suggest the rage and sorrow of her character, and indeed one thing that sets this movie apart from other revenge thrillers, such as "I Spit On Your Grave", is that it doesn't try to justify or celebrate the heroine's vengeance; instead, it presents an initially normal woman who seems to be getting more deranged by the minute because of her own actions. (**1/2)

If ever there was a film director who epitomized the term Eurotrash it surely is Jesus Franco. His films are a curious mix of art and trash. Some of them are terrible but some of them are great. She Killed in Ecstasy is undoubtedly one of the latter. I can think of very few film-makers who treat plot-dynamics with such extreme indifference as Franco, so, really there is no point whatsoever detailing the storyline. All you need to know is that it is unashamedly unrealistic and absurd with plot-holes so enormous that it is entirely pointless taking them even slightly seriously. Like Franco's other best films such as Eugenie, Vampyros Lesbos or A Virgin Among the Living Dead, this film relies on a combination of eroticism, mild horror, surreal imagery, some visual flair, astonishing music and an iconic female lead. Similar to those other films, this movie is, to put it mildly, not for everyone.

Like the majority of his films, this movie has been produced on a minuscule budget, and it shows. But while Franco cannot escape from the cheap and rushed approach, impinged upon him by budgetary constrains, it is the things that the film gets right that are so remarkable. First off, that soundtrack. Wow. Very similar to the score for Vampyros Lesbos, the music here is extraordinary. Composed and performed by Manfred Hübler and Sigi Schwab, it's a highly infectious upbeat lounge classic that defies description. I don't know if Franco spent a disproportionately large slice of his budgets on his music scores but if he did then the gamble paid off, as the soundtracks to his best early 70's movies are pure gold and have helped make these little movies timeless. A very similar thing could be said about She Killed in Ecstasy's other trump card – Soledad Miranda. Honestly, I cannot think of anyone else like her. On paper she wasn't given a great deal to do in her Franco collaborations but I have rarely seen an actress with as much screen presence; she's frankly mesmerising. Despite the artificiality of these films, Soledad is never less than convincing. And in this film she is possibly at her absolute peak. She owns the picture. And Franco lovingly films her. Despite the abundant nudity and eroticism in her scenes it NEVER feels gratuitous with Soledad. Her presence is almost ethereal at times. I don't know if this has something to do with the real-life tragedy of her early death but, in any case, she is a treasure to be appreciated and her appearance in the handful of cult films she made with Franco is a testament to a screen presence that is equally beautiful, erotic, mysterious, vulnerable and confident. The other cast members are serviceable at best, although Howard Vernon is always kind of fun. But special mention must go to Horst Tappert as the police inspector, in all my years of watching films involving ineffectual policemen in pursuit of serial killers, I have never seen a more hopeless and hilariously unconcerned law enforcer. It looked suspiciously likely that he prepared for this particular investigation by smoking industrial quantities of marijuana.

Negative aspects of the movie? Well, despite the soundtrack, the presence of Soledad and the nice visual touches, She Killed in Ecstasy suffers from one of the most common faults to be found in Franco's output – the pacing. His films never exactly move along at a fast tempo and this one is no different. His filming style seems to favour editing together LONG single takes, rather than a series of shorter edits. This results in some scenes seeming to go on far too long and the film drags at times despite it's short running time. One unusual result of this is when these long, fairly uneventful scenes are combined with the completely contrasting upbeat soundtrack. It makes for a pretty disorientating effect, watching a slow scene to a soundtrack you just can't help tapping your feet along to. It certainly is unique and, along with the presence of Soledad, makes these slow sections not just bearable but, for the most part, hypnotically enjoyable.

This little cult item is definite proof that back in the day Jess Franco was making some films that offered something completely different in a good way. This is a classic of the sexploitation genre that I wholeheartedly recommend to fans of European cult cinema and the wonderful beauty that is Soledad Miranda.

Dr. Johnson (Fred Williams) is happily married with his beloved wife Mrs. Johnson (Soledad Miranda) and is researching human embryos using animal cells. When he brings his findings to the Board of the prominent Dr. Franklin Houston (Paul Müller), Prof. Jonathan Walker (Howard Vernon), Dr. Crawford (Ewa Stroemberg) and Dr. Donen (Jesus Franco), the committee rejects his researches and destroys his laboratory. Dr. Johnson has a nervous breakdown and commits suicide, and the disturbed Mrs. Johnson seeks revenge, seducing each member of the Board and killing one by one while having sex with her victims.

"Sie Tötete in Ekstase" a.k.a. "She Killed in Ecstasy" is a movie of revenge that uses a storyline very similar to François Truffaut's "The Bride Wore Black" with a grieving woman seeking revenge on the responsible for the death of her beloved lover. However, this film follows the usual style of the director Jesus Franco, with kinky sex, nudity, lesbianism and murders. The hot Soledad Miranda is very beautiful and sexy. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Ela Matou em Êxtase" ("She Killed in Ecstasy")