Miss Muerte

Intriguing as well as thrilling Euro-horror film stunningly shot by recently deceased Jesus Franco or ¨Uncle Jess¨ , born Jesús Franco Manera , a prolific Spanish film-maker who specialised in psychedelic Gothic terror , often laced with sex and violence . The sadistic Baron Klaus deals with a woman (Mabel Karr who married Fernando Rey) seeks to revenge her dad's (Antonio Jimenez Escribano) death by using a stripper (Stella Blain) , with long poisonous fingernails , to do her bidding . As she kidnaps a local dancer and controls her mind so she can seduce the scientific (Chris Huerta , Marcelo Arroita , Howard Vernon) who panned and mocked him . At the end takes place a twisted surprise about the murders . Nothing ever stripped your nerves screamingly raw like the Diabolical Doctor Z .

Enjoyable and above average rendition about European terror , a habitual genre during the sixties . This very campy picture contains thrills , action , phantasmagoria , horrifying situations , and being compellingly developed . Here Franco manages to give us an appropriate ambient , an evocative production design , being rightly narrated , including a criminal plot enough to keep you intrigued throughout the flick . Interesting screenplay and adaptation by Jean-Claude Carrière , Luis Buñuel's ordinary writer . The picture was made by the time in which Franco directed nice movies such as : ¨Rififi En La Ciudad¨ , this ¨Miss Muerte¨ or ¨Diabolic Doctor Z¨ , ¨Necronomicon¨ and ¨Gritos en la Noche¨ , developing a consolidated professionalism , as his career got more and more impoverished in the following years, but his endless creativity enabled him to tackle films in all genres , from "B" horror to erotic films . Others , however, have been downright atrocious : ¨Emmanuelle Exposed¨ (1982) , ¨Red Silk¨ (1999), and his last picture ¨Al Pereira vs the Alligator Ladies¨ (2012) one of the worst films I have ever seen . ¨Miss Muerte¨ belongs to his peculiar series about ¨Doctor Orloff¨ , as he is also called ¨Doctor Klaus¨ or ¨Doctor Z¨ , the first was "The Awful Dr. Orloff" , it's followed by various sequels such as ¨El Secreto del Dr. Orloff¨ (1964) aka "The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll" , "Orloff y el hombre invisible (1970) aka "Dr. Orloff's Invisible Monster" and finally "Faceless" (1987) . Fine acting by Mabel Karr as vengeful daughter and unforgettable Stella Blain who plays an arty/spider dance . And other notorious secondary actors in brief appearances as Howard Vernon , Cris Huerta , Jose Maria Prada , Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui , Rafael Hernández and Guy Mairesse , some of them uncredited . And , of course , a special and sympathetic intervention by Jesús Franco , as always . Evocative and adequate cinematography in black and white by Alejandro Ulloa (Horror express) . Atmospheric original music by Daniel White (Franco's usual musician) who appears as a British Pólice detective .

The motion picture was well directed by Jesus Franco ; being professionally written , produced and often deemed among his very best . Jesus Franco was a Stajanovist director , as his filmography boasts 203 directorial credits from 1957 to 2013 , a record few can match in the era of talking pictures . Given that many Franco films exist in three or four variant versions, sometimes so radically different that alternative cuts qualify as separate movies , his overall tally might be considerably higher but embarrassing . However , here he doesn't use his trademarks , as he pulls off a traditional narration , without zooms , neither lousy pace . As the picture belongs to Franco's first period in which he made passable flicks . Franco used to utilize a lot of pseudonyms and customary marks such as zooms , nudism , foreground on objects , filmmaking in ¨do-it-yourself effort¨ style or DIY and managing to work extraordinarily quickly , realizing some fun diversions, and a lot of absolute crap . Many pictures had nice photography , full of lights and shades in Orson Welles style , in fact , Franco was direction-assistant in ¨Chimes at midnight¨ and edited ¨El Quijote¨ by Welles . He often used to introduce second , third or fourth versions , including Hardcore or Softcore inserts or sexual stocks many of them played by his muse Lina Romay . In many of the more than 200 films he's directed he has also worked as composer , writer , cinematographer and editor . His first was "We Are 18 Years Old" along with the documentary ¨El Arbol de España¨ and his subsequent picture was ¨Gritos en la Noche¨ (1962) , the best of all them . Like ¨Justine¨ , some of these films have been extraordinarily entertaining : ¨The Diabolical Dr. Z¨ (1966), ¨Vampyros Lesbos¨ (1971), ¨A Virgin Among the Living Dead¨ (1973) , ¨The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein¨ , ¨Female Vampire¨ , ¨Women Behind Bars¨ (both 1975), and ¨Bloody Moon¨ (1981). As his ¨Necronomicón¨ (1968) was nominated for the Festival of Berlin, and this event gave him an international reputation . He also directed to the great Christopher Lee in 4 films : "The Bloody Judge" , ¨Count Dracula¨, ¨The Blood of Fu Manchu¨ and ¨The castle of Fu Manchu¨ . Jesús's influence has been notable all over Europe . Many of his films have had problems in getting released, and others have been made directly for video . More than once his staunchest supporters have found his "new" films to contain much footage from one or more of his older films . He broke up with all that and got the independence he was seeking . He always went upstream in an ephemeral industry that fed opportunists and curbed the activity of many professionals . But time doesn't pass in vain, and Jesus' production has diminished since the 90s ; however he went on shooting until his recent death .

This was my second Jess Franco film, one of his earlier black-and-white thrillers; often considered among his very best. Despite being an obviously low-budget production, the film actually looks pretty slick for all that. This seems to have been an interesting period for Franco: his films from this era are easily the most accessible and readily enjoyable. Still, there are definite hints of what was to come, even in this film where the accent is on a somewhat disturbing use of violence but also on the seductiveness of (female) sexuality.

The plot of the film is quite simple, if improbable, and Franco would apparently borrow freely from its themes and images for many years afterwards (SUCCUBUS [1967], VAMPYROS LESBOS and SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY [both 1970]). Jean-Claude Carriere contributed to the script and while the film is closer in spirit to Franju than Bunuel, he manages a few distinctively surreal touches – as when Irma Zimmer (Mabel Karr) 'tames' the rebellious Nadia/Miss Death (Estella Blain) by using a whip and a chair, as if she were a wild circus animal; or the fistfight at the climax which suddenly turns into a good old-fashioned swashbuckling routine. As a director, Franco rises to the occasion with any number of eerie and unusual compositions – though the film does not entirely escape his trademark haphazard 'style'. Other visual assets here would have to be: the photography, which is smooth for a change and satisfactorily 'expressionistic'; and the production design, which maintains a good balance between 'old' (Dr. Zimmer's castle and country-house) and 'new' (Dr. Z's laboratory, full of hilariously impractical gadgets, and the cabaret where Miss Death performs her act). Daniel White's music, while not exactly imposing, provides the perfect underscoring for Franco's wild romp.

The film features several memorable sequences, often involving heart-pounding chases (Miss Death pursued in the empty theater by the hypnotized criminal Bergen; Dr. Moroni's fog-laden close encounter with both Miss Death and Irma Zimmer before he is dispatched) or graphic violence (Irma Zimmer's botched 'suicide' which leaves her facially scarred; Mrs. Moroni's death, by having her head plunged through a window-pane, ten years prior to Dario Argento's DEEP RED [1975]!; Dr. Vicas' train seduction and eventual assassination at the hands of Miss Death). Also notable, of course, is Miss Death's weird and kinky dance routine - complete with fetching outfit!

The cast was not made up of star names but they all acquit themselves nicely, particularly Mabel Karr who is quite convincing – and even demands pity – in her obsessive quest for revenge; Howard Vernon, the epitome of sleek villainy, though his presence is all too brief; and, above all, Estella Blain who is sumptuous throughout (aided a great deal, of course, by her character's all-important 'wardrobe').

The film contains several in-jokes and references to other films which Franco may have admired and subsequently been influenced by: during Dr. Zimmer's first appearance, the phone rings and Irma says after answering that it was Dr. Bresson calling that 'un condamne' a' mort s'est eschappe'' (a condemned man has escaped). It is an unexpected and amusing nod towards Robert Bresson (certainly among France's finest film-makers ever and one of my personal favorites) and that which is arguably his greatest film, more commonly known as A MAN ESCAPED (1956). Furthermore, Louis Feuillade's legendary seven-hour serial LES VAMPIRES (1915-16) is homaged by naming the leading character Irma (after that film's most memorable character, Irma Vep, who frequently sported sultry costumes herself) and Miss Death's dancing at a night-club recalls an early scene in Feuillade's Silent serial as well. Somehow I suspect that these references may be Carriere's doing (who could hardly fail to be aware of these two directors and their movies, especially the latter's which were highly regarded by the Surrealist movement) rather than Franco's, but I could be wrong. Franju's LES YEUX SANS VISAGE aka EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959) – an established influence on Franco's THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF (1961) – is also referenced here in Irma's facial decompositions (which recall the ones suffered by Edith Scob in Franju's film), while Irma's killing of the hitch-hiker and disposing of her body in the river is strikingly similar to that film's opening sequence. Of course, the laboratory sequences in DR. Z are a loving nod towards the Universal monster films of the Thirties.

When a film is as enjoyable as this one, its faults – thematic as well as technical – are hardly worth criticizing, as these can often be pinned down to budgetary/time constraints. So, now I'll rush on to my thoughts on the DVD proper: the film is presented in French (which is what the actors are apparently mouthing) and it is a reasonably effective track, giving the whole a distinctly 'European' feel. Both the film's OAR and its running time have been the subject of controversy over the Internet these last few days. There are definite traces of overscan here, for even the menu screens are visibly cramped. The quality of the video and audio on this disc are excellent for the most part; unfortunately, the film's closing moments are marred by excessive pops and crackles on the soundtrack (these are also present on the English-dubbed version). The extras, while not plentiful, compliment the film superbly; particularly of note are the 15-minute featurette on Franco (giving a nice, if understandably skimpy, overview of his career), the informative biographies and, of course, the 'amusing' Easter Egg – which shouldn't be too hard to find now! I don't quite know what to say about the 'extra' scenes featured in the 'Stills Gallery' section: these could just as well have been publicity shots, or perhaps were scrapped prior to release; it's true that the film runs for only 83 minutes when the 'original' Spanish version was somewhere between 86 and 87 minutes long, but that could be because the transfer was made in PAL mode (after all, Mondo Macabro is a UK-based company).

This film has certainly whetted my appetite for more films from this early phase of Franco's career. It seems that the only ones that are available on DVD are THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF (unfortunately, I've already missed watching the original Spanish-language version of this one – which I understand to be considerably longer – twice so far!), THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1962) and DR. ORLOFF'S MONSTER (1964). Though I recall opinions on the other two as being pretty mixed, I would still like to know if they are cut as well?

I'm not quite sure which of the two Francos I prefer at this stage: while THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z is certainly the more enjoyable (and straightforward) one, EUGENIE…THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION (1969) is obviously the more profound – and thus mature and personal - work. That said, they have both earned their well-deserved place in my collection – and, at long last, the (negative) barriers surrounding the Franco 'myth' have been dealt a blow, even if they are still a LONG way from being struck down…though I don't know if I'd REALLY want to do that in the first place!

It has to be said that The Diabolical Dr Z is a lot like Jess Franco's most famous film, The Awful Dr Orlof (in fact, said doctor even gets a mention here); but if you ask me, the superior film is this one. This time, rather than deal with facial reconstruction as Orlof did; sleaze master Franco deals with mind control. The plot, unlike many of Franco's films, is straight forward and here Franco proves that he can actually be quite a good story teller, when he doesn't get bogged down by too many sub plots and things that don't make sense. The film takes obvious influence from George Franju's masterpiece, Eyes without a Face (as many Euro horror films at the time this was made did), but Franco injects a lot more of his own stuff here than he did with Orlof. The doctor of the title doesn't appear for long, but before his death; he does provide the film with its main plot point - that being a mind control machine. When he suffers a heart attack, his daughter takes it upon herself to gain revenge - and so she takes control of the mind of a beautiful dancer calling herself 'Miss Death', who dispatches the doctors who caused Dr Z to suffer a heart attack by way of her long, poisoned, finger nails!

The main talking point where this film is concerned is, of course, the style! Franco has shot the film in beautiful black and white, which, along with the excellent use of shadows, locations and cast members ensure that the film has both a dark, gloomy atmosphere and a real sense of beauty. Jess Franco's name has become synonymous with trashy Eurocult rubbish - but if you'd only ever seen this film from him, I wager that you wouldn't know why! The Diabolical Dr Z is art, pure and simple. The locations shot are one thing - but by far my favourite aesthetic element of the film is amazingly beautiful Miss Death, played by Estella Blain. The exotic dancer enters the film in a great sequence that sees her performing her nightclub act, in which she travels across a spider's web to seduce and kill her victims. From then on, she lights up every scene she's in - especially the ones that see her wearing the suit from her act! The film isn't very gory, but the horror appears from the ideas behind the plot, and scenes such as the one that see Dr Z's daughter hideously burned are definitely very gruesome. I've got to say that I'm surprised at how great this film is - and I'll finish off this review by giving The Diabolical Dr Z the highest of recommendations!

Probably a good starting point to explore your Franco. This is a well written and smoothly running yarn of obsession and revenge, with handsome and solid cast, hypnotic soundtrack and first class camera work. There's the ethereal Estella Blain, a beauty who is changed into a killing machine, with powers to mesmerize men. Knowing that in real life she ended her life with a shotgun adds to the morbid fascination of seeing her. The scene of her seducing one of her victims on a train, in sudden silence and almost complete darkness as the train enters a tunnel, is so weirdly beautiful that one is compelled to watch it several times. My second viewing of this film was in a rather tired company, and I witnessed a drunkard - well, an intoxicated young gentlemen - wake up from his slumber just because of the dreamlike soundtrack and becoming glued to the screen. These are the moments that make film the greatest of art forms. Otherwise I'm not a great fan of Mr Franco. A man who directs about 200 films can't hit a bullseye every time. But this time he really has. A piece de resistance for every eurotrash lover. How lucky you are if you haven't seen this film yet and are planning a viewing!

Far from perfect, this is nevertheless a very good looking film with enough fine moments to hold anyone's interest. The two female leads are both excellent and if they seem somewhat detached from the proceedings, this helps the creepy feel. Franco, himself plays one of the police investigating and whilst he does not disgrace himself as he would in several later films, none of the scenes seem to add anything. Intended more as light relief than to progress the story they are an awkward distraction. The laboratory scenes are excellent and the robotic contraption most effective. The movie doesn't flow effortlessly but its very oddness and sense of unreality adds to the overall worrying feel.