It is with a sad heart to post about the passing of Jess
Franco. Franco was a film director that I had really just started to get to
know better. His name went hand in hand with Spanish horror and eroticism. His
films helped break the barriers of censorship in his homeland. He certainly was
a cinematic force to be reckoned with even if some of his films failed to
present this to American film fans. During his career Franco directed over 200
films, a cannon of celluloid that I’m not sure any other filmmaker can match.
He was best known for his films The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962),
Venus in Furs (1968), Vampyros Lesbos (1971), Lorna The Exorcist (1974) and
Oasis of the Zombies (1982). The list does indeed go on and these just scratch
the surface. Many of his films starred the beautiful and erotic Lina Romay.
They spent many years together and finally married in 2008. She passed away in
February of 2012.
Jess Franco has left us a legacy on film. One that deserves
to be discovered, rediscovered and kept alive and become a lasting part of “cinema
fantastique”.
Here is a nice documentary on Franco that I recently found
on youtube.com. Enjoy!
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