Nigel P There's a lot happening in this Jess Franco film. Set in an unnamed vicinity, Dennis Price (in his final film for Franco, and looking sun-burnt but in healthier than he had in Franco's two recent Frankenstein films) plays lawyer L'avocat Linsday, who - describing himself as aged and alcoholic - discovers that a young couple have been unfairly convicted of murder. He is told of this injustice by former governor Mendoza (Jean Guedes) on his death-bed. Traveling to the austere and corrupt institution in which they are being held, he attempts to sort the matter out.Although this is primarily a 'women in prison' drama, the incarceration element only makes up part of the story. Naturally, such scenes are wonderfully bleak and adorned with much wailing and sobbing. Apart from Price, other Franco regulars on hand are a suitably cruel-looking Luis Barboo as Lenz, the always brilliant Howard Vernon as Colonel Ford, and Anne Libert, who had been so effective as bizarre bird-woman Melisa in 'The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein' is reduced to an unnamed thumb-sucking peripheral prisoner. I believe this is also her final film for Franco.Usual humiliations ensue often involving fighting, torture and cruelty ensue. Raymond (Andrés Resino) and Beatriz (Geneviève Robert), the two lovers of the title, are each lead to believe their partner is dead. Beatriz's naïve goodness puts her at loggerheads with the other inmates, whereas Raymond flirts with exhaustion and hear-death as his work pattern becomes intolerable. There's a pretty twisted love angle involving Raymond's affair with his godmother Emilia (Danielle Godet), which fuels her vendetta against Beatriz, whom Governor Mendoza desires. Have you got all that?Having established Raymond and Beatriz's incarceration as a cruel injustice, Franco's script doesn't seem concerned with any urgency regarding Lindsay's mission in getting them released. Instead, we dwell more on the actions and interactions of the characters, which exploits the various layers of occasionally pantomime sadism that is part of the regular routine (incongruously involving a laser gun at one point). The finale is as low-key as you could imagine and appallingly effective. The last shot we see is of Price's face, crumpled by disgust as he turns and walks away. Price, who died the year this film was released, turns in one of his best performances for Franco. His performances in Franco's more bizarre films were heightened accordingly, but here, he reminds us he still has the talent that made him one of the most popular performers at the earlier stage of his career. Here's to you, Dennis.Interestingly, the other version of this film, known as 'Quarter des femmes' rejects the flashback sequences and inserts instead scenes of extra sex and cruelty, in which Libert enjoys her most substantial scene. It also adds a little extra to Lindsay's final departure, which ends this version of the film less abruptly than the version more widely available.

Graham Greene As was allegedly quite common for Franco's films of this particular era, Devil's Island Lovers / aka The Lovers of Devil's Island / aka Female Quarters (1974) exists in many different versions, some with explicit sex, others with violence, others with very little of the two. The version that I saw was the longer cut that maintains the use of the flashback structure and tones down many of the more obvious Franco exploitation flourishes to present a mostly straight story, which despite never really overcoming it's obvious B-movie/exploitation roots, at least presents an intelligent story well told. Still, depending on the version you see, Devil's Island Lovers could be viewed as either a B-grade treatise on political corruption, dictatorship and the horrors of the death penalty, or as a lurid slice of sexploitation schlock. You have been warned!For me, this isn't a particularly great film; Franco has a reputation for his incredibly low budget productions in which films seem to have been shot in no more than a single take with inexperienced actors and obvious post-production dubbing. Sometimes it works in favour of the subject matter and other times it doesn't. However, having said that, the film here certainly wasn't disinteresting or badly performed, with the atmosphere of the film drawing us in with its lurid characterisations and exploitation clichés, and the general air that anything could happen within the limitless confines of this Gothic, medieval-like prison. On some levels the film and its style reminded me of the early work of Jack Hill, in particular films like Bamboo Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972), with the women in prison subplot and sensational depictions of state corruption and prison guards as grotesque caricatures with a regime of brutal degradation. However, Franco's film lacks the giddy style, playful sleaze and tongue-in-cheek absurdity of Hill's early work, including the films aforementioned, which still stand out as some of the greatest exploitation/low budget film-making ever seen.Given the lack of sleaze in the version that I saw, it is its unknown who this film will really appeal to. I suppose people like myself; hardcore cineastes who genuinely love film and will watch anything no matter how poor a reputation it might have. Certainly, the low budget, rough around the edges style obviously germane to exploitation sub-genre will turn off many viewers unfamiliar with the particular style, while the slight plot and only subtle allusions to political corruption may prove disengaging to those looking for Franco's usual low-rent decadence. Regardless, Devil's Island Lovers is still an interesting film despite the required exploitation factor or the occasional stabs of outré imagination and filth that Franco would occasionally revel in. This is a slight film, though I think it has its charms and does manage to tell a story with obvious socio-political references and shades of hidden depth.

Michael_Elliott Devil Island Lovers (1974) * 1/2 (out of 4) An incredibly boring and lifeless WIP (Women in Prison) film from director Jess Franco. A man and woman are sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit and soon find themselves being beaten by the guards. I love Franco's WIP films when they're over the top. Sleazy and full of girl on girl action but this thing here featured none of that and tries to tell a serious story but fails on every level. The film has way too much talk with none of it being interesting. Dennis Price, Howard Vernon and Brit Nichols star.

MARIO GAUCI Though I've had this for some time, I opted to watch it on the day in which writer/director Franco celebrated his 77th birthday. It's his second among numerous "Women In Prison" films he made, and a pretty good one – in fact, I'd place it between 99 WOMEN (1968) and ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN (1977); the other two I've watched, namely BARBED WIRE DOLLS (1975) and LOVE CAMP (1977), I found to be atrocious and among Franco's worst efforts.Starting off with a stylish credit sequence montage (similar to the one in Franco's own NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT [1970]), the film is given a real shot in the arm by Bruno Nicolai's outstanding score – even if it does seem like the discarded soundtrack of some Spaghetti Western! Surprisingly, the plot incorporates elements of the Marquis De Sade's "Eugenie De Franval" (which Franco himself had filmed some years previously) – making for an interesting early section involving the frame-up of two young lovers by their rejected (and much-older) suitors; as in EUGENIE DE SADE (1970), the narrative is then related in flashback to crusading alcoholic lawyer Dennis Price from the deathbed of one of the villains (he learns of the events inside the prison from a female inmate punished for daring to help the lovers escape). The latter is played by sexy Josiane Gibert who, as with Price himself (in his fifth, last and perhaps best role for Franco), gives a good performance.Gibert's character is interesting in that, when we first see her, she's the prison rat who's infiltrated into the saintly heroine's cell (at the instigation of the sadistic, and obviously lesbian, female director) in order to see what she's really made of. Eventually, however, she's drawn to her plight: as I said, after learning that the girl's lover – whom she thought dead – is actually locked up in the men's ward of the same prison (conveniently, Gibert lends her sexual services to the guards over there!), she organizes their breakout and suffers the consequences for her actions.Unfortunately, the other Franco regulars in the cast – Howard Vernon, Britt Nichols and Anne Libert – are given very little to do, though their presence is always welcome. The handsome leads, on the other hand, prove inadequate to carry the film – while the Prison Director is too one-note (merely narrowing her eyes to appear sinister or suggest authority) to create much of an impression; she's certainly no match for the hammy Mercedes McCambridge of 99 WOMEN or Dyanne Thorne's Ilsa (whose character appeared in a series of films and has been turned into something of a minor cult).Actually, the official version of the film is the French-language cut named QUARTIER DES FEMMES – which drops the flashback framework and is decked out with copious nudity. Coming off too much like padding, as well as grossly exploitative, these erotic scenes (which have been included here as a bonus but are sourced from a very poor-quality VHS) merely serve to undermine the seriousness of Franco's intent; I wonder if he preferred the French version himself – as in the case of, say, THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN (1972; which was also changed considerably in its Spanish variant).Needless to say, we also find ample evidence here of the trademark Franco sloppiness: the change of heart experienced by both Gibert and the Governor isn't dealt with in any real detail and, therefore, lacks conviction; the frame-up of the lovers is so obvious as to elicit a head-shaking response from this viewer (though, to be fair to Franco, Shakespeare himself used the exact improbable ruse in "Macbeth"!); the quarry scene where the exhausted hero is watched over by a completely inert guard (as if Franco had forgotten to give him any kind of direction!); a cell-door is most irresponsibly left open by another set of obtuse guards, thus enabling the heroine's (short-lived) escape; and what's up with that silly laser gadget (seeing it 'at work' in the deleted scenes is even more hilarious)?!The film, at least, manages to work its way to a very effective downbeat 'curtain' – which comes completely out of left-field but, once again, proves that Franco was aiming higher than usual with this particular effort, and that he had 'something to say' about the current political situation in his own country.