Spikeopath Il trono di fuoco (AKA: The Bloody Judge) is directed by Jesus Franco and written by Anthony Scott Veitch and Peter Welbeck. It stars Christopher Lee, Maria Schell, Leo Genn, Hans Hass Jr., Maria Rohm and Margaret Lee. Music is by Bruno Nicolai and cinematography by Manuel Merino.Based on the real life Judge Jeffreys, the so called Hanging Judge who presided over what became known as The Bloody Assizes in Winchester 1685.Spaghetti horror with plenty of blood but nothing else. Christopher Lee was known to say this performance as the cruel Judge Jeffries was one of his best, you have to think he was bluffing by way of trying to be on the same planet as Vincent Price's turn as Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General two years earlier. Not that Lee is bad, far from it, he's the reason to watch this, it's just that he is planted in the picture for a number of scenes and everything else is spliced around him in hap-hazard fashion; and that's the uncut version as well!Ponderously paced and done on the cheap, it also comes off as tacky exploitation, where sex and glimpses of flesh serve for titillation, while exposition rules the day. It's a real hack job, aimlessly directed even. A battle scene stands out, but is at odds with the film, the costuming is smart, the set design equally so, and the colour photography decent. Yet the over riding sense of boredom and amateurism strips the film of any real entertainment factor. Apart from Chris of course, but even then we don't really get a great deal of him! 3/10

gavin6942 George Jeffreys (Christopher Lee) is the hanging judge under James II during the 1680s... he was a personally vengeful man.This is apparently Jess Franco's answer to "Witchfinder General". Both this film and that one seem to focus on historical figures and then twisting them to have a witch/horror theme, with a lusty undertone. Witchfinder was based on an actual witchfinder... but I am not sure how much the real Judge Jeffreys dealt with witchcraft.Anyway, always nice to see Christopher Lee in a sinister, menacing role. And with great power! I found his lecherous tendencies a bit disturbing -- not surprising for the character, but seemed to me to be beneath the classy presentation we normally see from Lee. (But certainly not beneath Franco!)

Michael_Elliott Bloody Judge, The (1970) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Jess Franco directs this tale of Judge Jeffries (Christopher Lee), a sadistic and evil judge who would constantly force women to be tortured and eventually burned at the stake for a variety of crimes but mostly stuff to do with Satan. After sending an innocent woman (Margaret Lee) to her death, her sister (Maria Rohm) joins forces with a man (Hans Hass, Jr.) and the two plan on bringing the judge down. THE BLOODY JUDGE has been shown in countless versions over the years and even when it was first released it seemed like every country got their own version. Some focused more on the story while others focused on either the sex or violence. The edition released by Blue Underground clocks in at 104-minutes and it's certainly the longest that's ever been released and includes a few torture sequences including one where Rohm is forced to lick the blood off of another woman. This film has several problems with it but overall it's a fairly good movie and one really could argue that it's one of the best films, technically speaking, that Franco has ever made. The budget was cut short before production but the director still manages to get some pretty good stuff including the cinematography, which makes the film seem like a bigger budgeted film. Another major plus are all the sets and costumes, which again, make the film look much more expensive than I'm sure it was. We also get a very good musical score by Bruno Nicolai. Franco's direction is able to build up a pretty good atmosphere as you really do feel as if you're back in the days where this sort of thing goes on. Of course, it doesn't hurt that you've got Lee delivering one of the best performances of his career as the sadistic judge. Lee might object to the violence, gore and nudity but when he's on the screen he's certainly giving it his all. You can just look into his eyes and it's as if the actor is possessed with the spirit of Jeffries because he's just so cruel and cold in the part. Rohm is as beautiful as ever and does a nice job in the role of an innocent woman who finds herself being tortured and raped. Hass is rather bland in his role but we do get Howard Vernon playing one of the torturers. The nudity level is quite high and if you're easily offended you should be warned that a lot of it comes from women being chained up and tortured. The violence is also fairly high but while it's more graphic than something like WITCHFINDER GENERAL it's still miles short of what we'd see in other films like this including MARK OF THE DEVIL. The one major flaw with the film is the fact that it runs too long and there are way too many slow spots where nothing much is happening. It also doesn't help that it's really hard to care for any of the characters. With that said, even those who spit on Franco should find enough here to enjoy.

Witchfinder General 666 Jess Franco's "Il Trono di fuoco" aka. "The Bloody Judge" of 1970 is one of a bunch of early 70s exploitation flicks inspired by the success of Michael Reeves' 1968 masterpiece "Witchfinder General" (starring the great Vincent Price). People familiar with Jess Franco's cinema might expect an immensely sleazy and gruesome film that mainly takes place in torture chambers, but the film is actually tame for what one might expect. Even though there are a bunch of very brutal scenes, the level of sleaze and violence is quite low for a Jess Franco film, and the film is not even nearly as nasty as other popular 'Hexploitation' films of the time, such as the ultra-gruesome "Mark Of The Devil" from the same year. Equally surprising is the budget that was obviously quite high for Jess Franco standards, as realistic costumes and nice settings are provided.Horror icon Christopher Lee, who worked with Jess Franco on several occasions, plays Lord George Jeffreys, the infamous and merciless judge and Lord Chancellor in England torn by strife between the reigning King James II and William of Orange. Convincend of doing what's necessary, the cruel judge mercilessly persecutes 'traitors', who sympathize with the King's opponent William of Orange, as well as 'witches', who are accused of being in league with the devil...Christopher Lee is, as always, great in his role as the merciless judge (who is based on the infamous real-life 'hanging-judge' George 1st baron Jeffreys). Beautiful Maria Rohm, who starred in many Franco-highlights, most memorably in "Venus in Furs" and "Count Dracula", plays the female lead here, and she fits in her role very well. Jess Franco-fans will also recognize another regular in his films, Howard Vernon, who plays the executioner. Another great enrichment to the film is the great score by Bruno Nicolai. Jess Franco, one of the most prolific directors ever, has directed a bunch of absolutely awesome films, as well as total stinkers. "The Bloody Judge" is definitely one of his better films (even though, in my opinion, not one of his masterpieces), and a more than decent historical horror film. Highly recommended!