JESS FRANCO INTERVIEW

They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Using the statement as an analogy for horror film directors, for me Spanish composer, author and filmmaker Jess Franco immediately comes to mind. Franco (b. 12 May 1930, d. 2 April 2013) can be an acquired taste and personally I've shut off more than one of his films trying to get through it. Others I'm held spellbound until the end. 

Regardless of my opinion, Franco is held in high regard throughout the film and fan community for his unflinching view through the lens and screenplay treatments. Franco also discovered two of the most beautiful Spanish actresses to to his bidding, Soledad Miranda and Lina Romay. He married Romay and they remained together until his death.

Franco is known for immersing himself in various film genres during his career, including horror, giallo, exploitation and soft core pornography. He used a heavy dose of surrealism in many of his films (VAMPYROS LESBOS comes to mind) and was often heavy-handed with hand-held camera shots and vertigo-inducing zooms.

Here are a few of the more notable films of his nearly 200-films:

• The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962)
• The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966)
• The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968)
• 99 Women (1969)
• Venus in Furs (1969)
• Night of the Blood Monster (1970)
• Count Dracula (1970)
• Vampyros Lesbos (1971)
• She Killed in Ecstasy (1971)
• Daughter of Dracula (1972)
• The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1973)
• Lorna the Exorcist (1974)
• Barbed Wire Dolls (1976)
• Ilsa, The Wicked Warden (1977)

Kevin Collins conducted this four-hour long interview with Franco (his longest in English) that was published in October 1996 as a special issue of the fan magazine EUROPEAN TRASH CINEMA. One thing I do have to say is that he gives a good interview.

NASTY HABITS: NUNSPLOITATION!

One of the most peculiar subgenres of the horror film is "nunsploitation". A curious mix of sex, sadism and sinister forces, nunsploitation films have remained oddly popular since their heyday in the 70's.

Even Jess Franco (as Clifford Brown) explored the subject in his 1973 film, Les démons (THE DEMONS, USA).  The West German publisher MPW issued a "Taschenbildbande" (pocket photo book) in 2005 under the German title of the film, DIE NONNEN VON CLICHY in its 34th title of the series. A mix between WITCHFINDER GENERAL and THE DEVILS OF LOUDON, Franco's depiction of nuns in "nasty habits" is brimming with the usual imagery that he is noted for.

Following the magazine is a bit on Severin Films' recent nunsploitation box set Blu-ray release.

WARNING!

IMAGES OF NUDITY, BRUTALITY, BLASPHEMY AND PERVERSITY AHEAD -- GO BACK IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED BY THIS SUBJECT MATTER.

From Blu-ray.com:

Nasty Habits: The Nunsploitation Collection Blu-ray

Posted September 28, 2021

Severin Films has announced that it will release a box set with four cult nunsploitation films. The box set will be available for purchase on November 30.

Label description: Throughout the '70s, Italian filmmakers fired a canon of blasphemy to launch what remains the most controversial genre of all. Partake of its unholy sacrament with these four uncut/uncensored Nunsploitation classics: In Sergio Bergonzelli's CRISTIANA DEVIL NUN – here in two extreme versions – a born-again nymphomaniac finds pleasures of the flesh in a convent of the damned. Suzy Kendall and Eleonora Giorgi star in Domenico Paolella's historically accurate and wholly amoral STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN. Sleaze maestro Joe D'Amato combines Sapphic lust, Satanic panic and pure filth for IMAGES IN A CONVENT. And with THE TRUE STORY OF THE NUN OF MONZA, director Bruno Mattei fulfills ungodly vows of graphic sacrilege. Severin Films proudly presents this superfluity of depravity, each mastered with all-new Special Features produced exclusively for this collection.

BOX SET CONTENT

DISC ONE: CRISTIANA DEVIL NUN

Extended Italian Cut Of The Film With Optional Partial English Audio

Sisters Of Vice And Virtue: The Marquis de Sade And Nunsploitation – Video Essay By Lindsay Hallam

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Audio: English mono

Closed Captions

REGION-FREE

DISC TWO: STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN

Down The Well: Interview With Actress Martine Brochard

A Nun's Story: Interview With Actress Eleonora Giorgi

Within A Cloister: Interview With Camera Operator Daniele Nannuzzi

Trailer

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio: English mono / Italian mono

English Subtitles / Closed Captions

REGION-A "LOCKED"

DISC THREE: IMAGES IN A CONVENT

Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author Of Daughters Of Darkness

25 Minutes Of Deleted Scenes With Optional Commentary By Kat Ellinger

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio: Italian mono

English Subtitles

REGION-A "LOCKED"

DISC FOUR: THE TRUE STORY OF THE NUN OF MONZA

The Cross And The Sin: Interview With Screenwriter Claudio Fragasso

Sister Zora: Interview With Actress Zora Kerova

Audio: Italian mono

English Subtitles

REGION-A "LOCKED"