Frauen ohne Unschuld

Frauen ohne Unschuld carries the hallmarks of Franco's style, with a heavy reliance on close-ups and voyeuristic camera angles. The setting of the mental institution, though potentially intriguing, is underutilized, serving more as a backdrop for the film's numerous erotic scenes rather than contributing to the atmosphere or narrative tension.

The film's primary focus on erotic content overshadows any attempt at a coherent plot. The story is fragmented and often incoherent, with scenes that seem disjointed and lacking in narrative flow. The thriller elements are superficial, failing to build genuine suspense or intrigue. This lack of a solid storyline makes it difficult for the viewer to stay engaged.

Moreover, the film's production values are noticeably low, with poor lighting and sound quality detracting from the overall experience. The dialogue is often stilted and poorly delivered, which further hampers the film's ability to create a compelling narrative.

Frauen ohne Unschuld does have moments of atmospheric tension and some visually striking scenes, but these are few and far between. The film's overreliance on eroticism feels exploitative rather than integral to the story, which may alienate viewers looking for a more balanced thriller.

In conclusion, Frauen ohne Unschuld (1978) is a film that struggles to find its footing between eroticism and thriller. Its weak plot, underdeveloped characters, and low production values make it a challenging watch. While it might hold some appeal for dedicated fans of Jesús Franco's work or those with a particular interest in 1970s erotic cinema, it falls short of delivering a satisfying or cohesive film experience.

Lina Romay is found, naked and bloody in a luxurious house and is promptly taken to a mental institute. The doctors and nurses meant to take care of her aren't exactly who they seem and a mysterious figure, clad in black, circles the premise at night, offing nubile young women.

Who is it and why is he/she doing it, and why is Lina Romay always close-by witnessing it when it happens? Franco raises a lot of interesting questions that keeps the viewer intrigued for the duration of the feature presentation. Franco this time incorporated some thriller/slasher elements and made the film all the better for it.

Acting-wise it's pretty much business as usual - bad! But the girls are beautiful and naked... and let's face it, that's what these productions were all about. The photography is simply stunning, although a few instances can be seen where there seems to be vaseline smeared on the lens of the camera, but it really isn't distracting. An entertaining little Franco-gem. Sure, it's mainly for the fans but if you're looking for a way into the Franco universe, this is as good a place to start as any.

The DVD from Dietrich's company has, as always, excellent picture quality with vibrant colors that practically sting the eyes. A+ image-wise. There's not an abundance of extras on the disc but one can't really expect it either. The film in itself is good value for money. B+ overall.

Wicked Women (1977)

** (out of 4)

The police break into an apartment where they find a dead couple who appear to have been murdered. Upstairs is another woman (Lina Romay), naked and unable to talk from shock. the woman is sent to a mental hospital for women where a doctor (Michael Maien) and his assistant (Nanda Van Bergen) try to make her speak and tell them where the diamonds the dead couple were smuggling are hidden. Oh yeah, there's also a maniac dressed in black running through the hospital killing the women. This Franco outing got off to a pretty good start but things start to go downhill around the thirty-minute mark and for the most part everything that happens afterwards is pretty slow and dull. The film only runs 76-minutes but it feels much longer. Romay turns in a pretty good performance playing the silent character, which she is very good at doing in most films. The supporting cast is pretty good with Monica Swinn also having a small role. There's some nice visuals in the film and the music score also manages to be quite good. The film takes place in a women's hospital so you can expect several lesbian scenes including the highlight of the movie when five women make love to Romay when she first comes to the hospital.

Wicked Women is pretty much a textbook example of what ultra-prolific director Jess Franco was churning out in the mid 70's. For what it's worth, the story entails the discovery of a naked, bloodied young woman who is found in a catatonic state in a luxurious house alongside a murdered husband and wife. She is immediately taken to a psychiatric hospital. While there a mysterious black clad killer roams the grounds, murdering several inmates.

It's the sort of narrative that seasoned Franco fans will recognise as pretty typical given that it is clearly set-up for a women in prison flick – a sub-genre that Jess was certainly well versed in. Consequently, this one is chock full of sleazy action from start to finish, with plenty of lesbian fumbles and medical examinations. But, despite being a pretty clear example of sexploitation, like quite a lot of other similar Franco efforts it isn't particularly erotic. Don't get me wrong, Jess could make quality soft-core sex films – take a look at any of the movies he made with Soledad Miranda for proof of that – but quite often his approach was to just point the camera at extended scenes of naked groping with very little overall effort beyond that. This film sort of falls into this particular category, although pleasingly it does extend itself a little beyond this with sub-plots involving a serial killer and a hunt for missing diamonds, while there is also an extended flash-back detailing the deadly love triangle that sets up the story. Needless to say, it's production values are truly rock bottom and it's micro-budget is evident at all times, nevertheless, it still has some good looking photography at times when Jess remembers to use the focus properly. Cast-wise, Franco's muse Lina Romay is once again the star attraction, sporting a cropped barnet, and she is pretty good value it has to be said.

Naked and bloodied Lina Romay is found in a luxurious mansion and is promptly taken to a mental hospital.The doctors and nurses are hiding something,female patients indulge in lesbian sex and a mysterious figure dressed in black robe stabs women to death.The hunt for missing diamonds begins...I am not a big fan of Jesus Franco.His movies are usually sleazy as hell and pretty dull at the same time."Wicked Women" is no exception.There is plenty of graphic nudity and lesbian encounters.The central performance of Lina Romay as Margareta is quite good.If you liked "Women Behind Bars" or "Faceless" give this one a look.6 out of 10.An average slice of absolute sleaze.