Leofwine_draca 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.

sgcim 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.

BA_Harrison It's not at all surprising that Les Demons, Jess Franco's sequel to The Bloody Judge, was severely truncated for the US market: it's an extremely repetitious film, never quite knowing when to quit. That said, the full length version is still the way to go, because this being a Franco movie, it would be a crime to miss even a second of the depravity, of which there is plenty to wallow in.The film, clearly modelled on Ken Russell's The Devils (1971), opens with the torture and burning of a witch; as the old crone goes up in flames she places a curse on the people responsible for her death—Lord Justice Jeffries (Cihangir Gaffari), Lady De Winter (Karin Field) and Thomas Renfield (Alberto Dalbés). Years later, beautiful nun Kathleen (Anne Libert) begins to experience sinful dreams and, along with her equally tasty sister Margaret (Britt Nichols), is suspected of being a witch, bringing them to the attention of Lady de Winter and her wicked pals. After much cruelty, torture, and sex, it transpires that sisters Kathleen and Margaret are the dead witch's daughters, and that they are to be her instruments of vengeance.With a plot that goes in circles, Franco's trademark (ie. clumsy) directorial style (erratic zooms, roving camera etc), and loads of crap acting, Les Demons isn't exactly what you would call a Euro horror classic, but with Libert and Nichols regularly disrobing to indulge in all manner of deviancy (self gratification, lesbianism, sex with the devil—that sort of thing), plus a hefty dose of sadism and violence, this trashy piece of nunsploitation should still hold your attention to the end. A wonderfully incongruent soundtrack—including a funky bass guitar that kicks in whenever the women get saucy—only adds to the charm.6/10 (which, from me, is a pretty decent rating for a Franco film).

J. Canker Huxley This Jess Franco (aka Clifford Brown) classic is a cross between Ken Russell's "The Devils" yet with all the bad photography and 70s softcore sex that make Franco's movies unique.A stand out in this Franco film is this movie's odd soundtrack. The music has two styles; a heavily Spanish influenced guitar and flute instrumental that backs a majority of the movie and a ripping 70s rock soundtrack (a la Iggy and the Stoogies "Funhouse") during all of the sex scenes.All amounted to the total Jess Franco experience. Although this was the English edit of the film, I would still name this as one of Franco's "better" works.