Jess Franco

Mr Lee made numerous films in the late 60's and early 70's for Spanish director Jess Franco. Have recently reviewed some of these films Mr Lee did with him i now think that my initial opinion of Franco is now somewhat harsh. He has been dismissed over a years as a latter day Ed Wood as one of the worst directors of all time. Though he will never be considered as a great film maker I am inclined to think that he did have a certain amount of talent.
I'll be the first to admit I have never been a fan of the Fu Manchu films as a whole although Christopher Lee is truly superb as the yellow peril i feel the films were somewhat dull and uninspired and dare i say old fashioned even for 60's audiences. I much prefer Francos take on the last two films as they are purely camp entertainment and much more enjoyable than the first three films.
The Bloody Judge has to be Franco's best film with Mr Lee giving a superb performance as Judge Jeffreys. The film is obviously heavely influenced by Michael Reeve's superb Witchfinder General. Franco gives Christopher Lee a multi faceted role in portraying Jeffries and he is excellent in the film. The film also boasts impressive production values (or so it seems)
This brings me on to his most famous film El Conde Dracula or Bram Stokers Count Dracula. Has to be the closest to Stokers novel ever put on film. On the whole the film is flawed but it truly has some inspired moments. Most notably the sequence where Dracula and Van Helsing meet and the implication that Van Helsing is under Dracula's spell is a fine touch. Herbert Lom is superb and Soledad Miranda is beautiful and tragic in the role of Lucy. Mr Lee portrays the Count just as Stoker described him and has some of his best moments as the Count, being able to speak Stokers lines as they were written and doing it with such panache.
If you think as I did originally that Franco was a waste of space, please see these films again. Even his sexploitation vampire flicks such as She Killed In Ecstacy and dare i say vampyros lesbos have a unique quality or am i talking a load of rubbish. would be interested to know what others think about this.

[Domenick Fraumeni]

Franco can be difficult for many people. I think the best way to approach him is the way one approaches Jazz music, which is a very important part of Franco's films and his life. Some people love Jazz, some think it's absolute rubbish.

Franso's approach though, is very similiar to Jazz, eschewing conventional narrative and going for a more surrealistic, less organized, approach. Another issue in Franco's films is that often he 's had budgets that would frighten a caterer on most other films.

In Franco's case, it is difficult to assess his career until you've seen a number if his films, thus being able to recognize the various themes and obsessions that characterize his work.

Franco's made some terrible films, yes,. But also some very fine ones.

I understand Mr Lee has always held Franco in certain amount of high esteem according to The Authorised screen history even though he was been dismayed a few times to discover Franco had inserted scenes of a sexual nature after Mr Lee has finished filming without his knowledge. In the case of The Bloody judge for instance.