
I have only one term that perfectly summarizes my
feelings towards director, Jess Franco--Magnificent Son-of-a-Bitch!
It's half compliment and half put-down, it's perfect! I really can't
explain my fascination with that freaky, pint-sized Spaniard, but I
just can't help myself from coming back to his films time after time.
That sick urge came to me again recently and I started to Jones for
some Franco style madness. I've seen quite a few of the man's films,
but he has made so many, I will probably be playing catch-up for years.
That being said, I'm not one of those Franco fans that can't understand
why people hate the man's films--they are slow, tend to be boring, have
the budget of a High School play, feature bad acting and prolonged
shots of hairy vaginas--he is probably one my favorite directors that I
simply just can't defend. Franco does not make films for the same
reasons other filmmakers do--he's a visionary--sometimes those visions
are only clear to him, but a visionary nonetheless.

Till now, I have mainly only seen Franco's films from the 70's such as A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD, EXORCISM, VAMPYROS LESBOS, FEMALE VAMPIRE, COUNT DRACULA, ILSA: THE WICKED WARDEN
and a few of his WIP films--to name a few. I hear his films from the
60's are pretty good--even for Franco. I've only seen two of his films
from that era, VENUS IN FURS (my favorite Franco movie) and CASTLE OF FU MANCHU (via MST3K). From what I can tell, Franco's films from the 80's were really hit and mostly miss, witness CANNIBALS and OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES
(possibly the two worst films I've ever seen), but I guess I'm a
glutton for punishment because I decided to check out two more of his
films from the 80's--MACUMBA SEXUAL and MANSION OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Why? As always, the plot synopsis of both seemed intriguing and Netflix
carried them, which is really all the incentive I needed.
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