The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A typically inane jumble of sex and horror from prolific pervo Jess Franco – here masquerading under the name 'Clifford Brown'. Obviously inspired by the similarly-titled Ken Russell epic THE DEVILS, Franco is happy to throw in as many ingredients as he likes into the heady brew. Yep, here we have it, a combination of lesbian nuns, sadistic torture, swashbuckling, black magic, court intrigue, romance, and a witch who can turn people into skeletons via a deadly kiss. However, I'm afraid that the film isn't as eclectic as it sounds; indeed the most exciting thing about it is the music, which ranges from vaguely-appropriate guitar/folk noise mixed with outlandish rock during the frequent sex scenes. Franco's blurry camera typically zooms into the private parts of various women as they undress; there's lots of frolicking and moaning, and it's a complete turn-off for sensible viewers.The English-dubbed version of the film is pretty poor and the camera-work as shoddy as ever. Lots of jump cuts make little sense and result in a sometimes headache-inducing movie. The nubile Libert and Nichols are happy to strip often for the camera, whilst Alberto Dalbes is a spitting image of our own Tony Blackburn – and whose idea was it to call him Renfield (a la Dracula?). Franco regular Howard Vernon is on hand as a star-gazing nobleman. Franco spices up the sex with some distinctly unappealing torture sequences, such as the opening when an old woman has a needle driven into her arm and then has boiling water poured over her. Mmmm, nice. Anyway, the combination for ingredients makes for typical Spanish fare; certainly bad but fast-paced with it.

Franco's flicks always have something entertaining about them, even if that turns out to be the 'so bad it's good' aspect, but this was actually a pretty good film. I have to say that it must have had to do with the writing and acting. The dialogue wasn't stupid; something pretty odd for a Franco film. I can't remember one stupid line from the film; it actually made sense for the most part. The acting was also much superior to most of his other films I've seen. It seemed like these people actually knew how to act. My hypothesis is that JF was using some talented French actors, instead of the bimbos he used in all his other movies, most of whom had never acted before, and just turned him on sexually. The only part that reminded me of the typical Jess Franco film was the fact that the judge turned into a skeleton at the end in front of the entire town, and no one said a word! The unusual use of rock-based music for some scenes worked pretty well, and Daniel White did a pretty good job with some of the Latin jazz bits.

Yes I was shocked; at just how good this film was. Jess Franco has made some awful films, but "Les Demons" is certainly not one of them. The 'De Sade-like' tale concerns two beautiful sisters, orphaned and left at a convent, to be raised as pure servants of God. But their origin is a mystery to everyone. As it turns out, they are the daughters of an old witch, who vows while she is being burned at the stake, that her daughters will take revenge on her tormentors. The aptly named Lady De Winter, the icy blond servant to the equally cruel Lord Jeffries, embarks on a hunt to find and destroy the supposed witches before they can take their revenge.With a surprising amount of attention to historical detail, an interesting story unfolds, with many unexpected turns. The widescreen cinematography is beautiful, and many shots are stunning. Lavish interiors and costumes, as well as the usual fantastic soundtrack that you would expect from a Jess Franco production, all add to the quality of The Demons. Another surprise was the lack of nudity and sex in the production. Of course those elements are there, but they are not overdone, and the largest portion of the film is dedicated to the story, and to character development. The words "elegant" and "restrained" don't' usually come up when describing Franco's work, but in this case those words are appropriate. The version I saw is the restored cut, running 1 hour 41 minutes. I'm sure the heavily cut North American version must really ruin this beautiful film. "Les Demons" is up there in quality level with Franco's slightly superior "Love Letters of A Portuguese Nun." Highly recommended.

Les Demons (1972) ** (out of 4) 101m. Director's Cut A witch is burned at the stake and swears her daughters will seek revenge for her death. This is a rather disappointing effort from director Jess Franco. The film is too slow and it seems the director doesn't know if he wants to make a straight witch film or a sexploitation film dealing with lesbian nuns and various other beautiful women. The score doesn't help matters either. However, seeing lesbian nuns in action is a reason to check it out. There are at least nine versions of this film out there.The DVD set I have contains two other versions but this one here is a 2003 edit by Franco.