Truly Dreadful Film

Absolutely Fantastic

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Blistering performances.

Strange that enigmatic Ludwig von Klaus should be played by handsome Hugo Blanco who, with very little make-up, would be called upon to terrify people in 'The Mistresses of Dr. Orloff' two years after the release of this early Jess Franco directed horror story.As it is, 'Baron von Klaus' sits very comfortably among Franco's other early 60s horror releases. Apparently (as ever), funding was difficult, but you really wouldn't know it. The cast, the locations and the overall atmosphere (and the jazzy soundtrack) are stylish and polished, especially the mighty Howard Vernon as Von Klaus senior, whose striking presence is the focal point of any scene without the need to over-gesticulate or overact. However, somewhere in the middle of the story, the pace lapses quite severely and only partially manages to fully reinvigorate the proceedings by the end, despite a protracted and graphic sadomasochistic torture scene.Although enjoyable and laced with some beautifully orchestrated scenes, I found this slightly less impressive than Franco's other work from this period. I wonder if Franco, renowned for losing interest in things quickly, was getting bored with telling stories in this way? I wouldn't dare suggest that just because I found this occasionally sluggish that he was ready to move on to more graphic content – but certainly the inclusion of a level of gratuity here would seem to indicate a possible transition between the noir-ish tendencies of his early films to the more garish, exploitative productions of his later output.

Originally expecting to receive a DVD solely containing writer/director Jess Franco's 1973 Obscene Mirror,I was happily caught by surprise,when I discovered that the DVD seller had kindly included a bonus title!,which led to me getting ready to uncover the Von Klaus curse.The plot:Firmly keeping his feet on the ground,police inspector Borowsky has always dismissed the folk tales from the villagers about the first ever Baron of the wealthy Von Klaus family, (after attacking a woman,the first ever Baron Von Klaus killed himself via walking into the swamp surrounding the Klaus castle.Ever since Klaus has walked into the swamp,tales have been going around the village for decades about their being a Klaus ghost that kidnaps women.)due to seeing the myths as nothing but superstitious nonsense,that the locals use to take comfort in,instead of confronting the human face of evil.Sadly for Borwsky,he soon finds his dismissal of the supernatural to get a serious test,when a series of murders begin taking place across the village,that are eerily similar to Von Klaus mysterious killings. Whilst Borowsky is catching up with this folk tale, Ludwig von Klaus sits by his mum's death bed.About to take her final breath, Elisa von Klaus decides to that this is the best time to reveal to Ludwig that the first ever Von Klaus is suspected of being a serial killer.As Ludwig tries to get a grip on these new details, Murder and Maidens newspaper reporter Karl Steiner is ordered by his editor to pay a visit to the town,thanks to the ghost of Baron Von Klaus having returned to kill again.View on the film:Filmed at a time when the German Krimi genre was beginning to gain popularity,co-writer/ (along with Pío Ballesteros, Juan Cobos and Gonzalo Sebastián de Erice)director attempts to cross the police investigating side of the Krimi with a brewing Gothic Horror atmosphere.Running at a far too long 95 minutes,the writers are sadly never able to make both sides of the movie fully balance,thanks to the Krimi side of things being delivered in a surprisingly dry manner which lacks any really sharp twists & turns,whilst the Gothic Horror vibes are only allowed to deliver a true sting during the last few minutes of the title. Filmed away from the dictator-led Spain in France,Jess Franco surprisingly keeps away from using his trademark zoom-ins,to instead reveal a sharp eye for creating an excellent Film Noir mood,with Franco covering the Von Klaus mansion in thick,dusty blacks which create a strong feeling of their being a horrific evil covering the place in shadow.Along with the Film Noir mood,Franco also catches the audience completely by surprise,by delivering an extremely ahead of its time,daring S&M sequence,which along with the slow,sensual manner that Franco shots the scene,shows that the Von Klaus myth has come back from the swamp.

When women are found knifed and gouged in the tiny hamlet of Holfen, everyone suspects the distantly related heir of Baron Von Klaus, a sadistic 17th century baron who cursed the village.There are some good themes here: the small village, the wealthy but evil baron, and the idea of a family curse. At one point the heir wonders if at some point he will become a killer like von Klaus was. The film does not play into the emotional or psychological very deeply, but it raises that age old question: can you escape your destiny? I would need to see this film again to give it my full attention and a more thoughtful review. I was not ready for subtitles and could not follow along the whole time. Shame on me.

My last-viewed Jess Franco movie had been the supremely silly CELESTINE, AN ALL-ROUND MAID (1974); I was therefore relieved to catch something from his initial black-and-white phase, not that the end result proved exactly satisfying (especially since, at 95 minutes, it tends to drag somewhat). Incidentally, since I missed out on celebrating the notorious Spanish director's 80th birthday last year, I was ready to make amends now with as many as 15 Franco titles scheduled for this month (10 of them will even be first-time viewings) and 5 more that are in a way related or somewhat similar in theme and approach! This pretty much evokes the same mood as the superior THE DIABOLICAL DOCTOR Z (1965): in fact, I think his style kept improving or, if you like, gradually became more polished and reached its zenith in that film before he turned his attention to color and, with the new-found permissiveness, his erotic concern also came to the fore (which, in my book, was not a good thing but that argument is better left for another day and another film). By the way, even if these early efforts were officially Spanish productions, they are easier to come by in their slightly-altered (emphasizing the nudity quotient, sometimes gratuitously so, which on its home ground would have been repressed by the State Censorship Board!) French versions via the Eurocine company; thankfully, this copy retains the French dialogue which is (by far) superior to the English dubs…though the original Spanish title, which translates to THE HAND OF A DEAD MAN, is decidedly classier than the one it got stuck with here!The narrative is quite typical and, in fact, his later Dracula'S DAUGHTER (1972; no relation to the 1936 Universal horror classic) makes for a direct remake of it: if anything, Franco frequently ingeniously (or is that ingenuously) revamped a plot that he felt a particular affinity with or, perhaps to put it more crudely, a formula that seemed to work – personally, I find his most interesting double-feature in this vein to be the blood-sucking combo of COUNT Dracula (1969; which I will be revisiting presently since I have only caught it thus far in the slightly extended but unsubtitled Spanish-language version) and VAMPYROS LESBOS (1970). Anyway, this is not bad but it does not reach any great heights either: we have a series of murders which seem to be tied to one particular family and, apparently, are a reprise of a killing spree perpetrated by an ancestor. The obvious suspect is the new head of the family (played by the sinister-looking and Franco regular Howard Vernon) but, as it turns out, it is someone else who had so far been depicted as reasonably sympathetic and virtuous – that said, there are clues to his true nature when he barely bats an eyelid over the death of his mother…unless this was a combination of bad direction and listless acting (with Franco, you are never really sure)! In the end, he voluntarily joins his progenitor into the swamps (again, foreshadowing a subsequent picture by the director, namely A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD {1971}).The film contains elements which would soon become trademarks such as the dysfunctional family unit, the cabaret act and the Police procedural, yet Franco is most inspired when he tries to emulate his idol Orson Welles – particularly a night-time chase through the streets marked by tilted camera angles! As I said, on the other hand, the would-be titillating inserts do not really add anything to the proceedings or the film's overall assessment: indeed, these so-called "Continental Versions" were never more than sensation-seeking exploitation ploys and, at this juncture, come across as mere curiosities!