She Killed in Ecstasy, 1971.
Directed by Jesús Franco.
Starring Soledad Miranda, Paul Muller, Fred Williams, Ewa Strömberg, Howard Vernon, Horst Tappert, Jesús Franco.
SYNOPSIS:
After her discredited doctor husband kills himself, a woman takes revenge on the medical board that struck him off.
During the early 1970s the quantity of movies Jesús ‘Jess’ Franco was putting out was very impressive. Different story when it came to quality, mind, but you cannot deny the man was busy and 1971s She Killed in Ecstasy is a very good yardstick for gauging the quality of his output, sitting somewhere in the middle.
Franco’s muse at the time, Soledad Miranda, plays Mrs. Johnson, the wife of Dr. Johnson (Fred Williams), who is conducting research into something involving foetuses, growth hormones and other such biological mumbo-jumbo that we’re not really meant to question. However, the medical board do question Dr. Johnson and whatever it is that he is claiming he can do, calling his research unethical, immoral and all the other adjectives that mean they don’t agree with him, and discredit all of his hard work. Naturally, Dr. Johnson doesn’t receive this criticism too well and takes his own life, after which Mrs. Johnson – who still keeps his corpse around, which will become important later – tracks down the four medical professionals who she believes are responsible for her husband’s death.
It sounds like a fairly simple plot and it is, so much so that Jess Franco – who also plays one of the doctors on the medical panel – can barely fill the running time, and when that running time is only 80 minutes then pacing becomes a very big issue, forcing the director to linger on shots or just extend scenes so they feel forced or unnatural and not how people really interact with each other.
However, despite the inconsistent pace there is a lot to like about She Killed in Ecstasy as it is a relatively accessible Jess Franco movie, coming as it did off the back of Vampyros Lesbos, where Franco got to flex his arthouse muscles a little and create an otherworldly dreamscape to carry his story. Here, he keeps things more grounded and easier to follow, revisiting ideas from his 1966 shocker The Diabolical Dr. Z – where the daughter of a discredited scientist uses an exotic dancer as a proxy to take her revenge on those that wronged her – and adding a big dose of sleaze to appeal to a more open-minded 1970s audience, which helps when the characters stop talking and look a bit awkward.
It goes without saying that Soledad Miranda is the standout here, playing the grieving wife going on a revenge mission but also showing vulnerability too; maybe a little too much, as one scene feels a little out of place considering the type of movie this is, but Mrs. Johnson loved her husband very much and ends up finding a use for his corpse that Nekromantik director Jörg Buttgereit must have taken some inspiration from. If nothing else, it pads out that running time a little more and gives you more of Soledad Miranda to gaze at (literally).
Whilst the 4K UHD upgrade is certainly an improvement over previous releases, the colour scheme of this movie is a lot darker than with the recent upgrade of Vampyros Lesbos, favouring blues and purples over reds. It still looks rich and sharp, but whether the difference from previous releases is that noticeable will likely depend on your 4K setup more than the disc itself. However, as with Vampyros Lesbos, Severin have put together an extensive collection of extras to add some insightful context to the movie, the highlight being another lengthy interview with Jess Franco expert Stephen Thrower. There are no audio commentaries but you do get an interview with Jess Franco, an interview with actor Paul Muller, a trailer, a Franco featurette and an interview with Soledad Miranda historian Amy Brown, which is also on the Vampyros Lesbos disc.
Overall, She Killed in Ecstasy is a very watchable and enjoyable Jess Franco movie, but it does feel overly long for what it is, despite the short running time. Soledad Miranda aside, the rest of the performances are solid and the sleazy, exploitation edge is a welcome touch after Franco’s previous movie went full-on dreamscape, although he does employ slight bursts of that style here and there, but sex and violence is what keeps this one going when the (minimal) dialogue slows things down a little too much. If those two things are what you come to Franco’s movies for then there is enough here to recommend it, but if you favour excitement over those two things then you might be better suited to a more mainstream revenge thriller to get your kicks.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
