The young and idealistic Dr Johnson (Fred Williams) proudly presents his work with human embryos, but has his expectations crushed by 4 experts (Howard Vernon, Paul Muller, Ewa Strömberg and Jess Franco himself) who ridicule the work of his lifetime and destroy his experiments. Dr Johnson commits suicide, and his widow (Soledad Miranda) decides she will kill the 4 enemies of her husband - in interesting ways. Meanwhile she keeps the body of the doctor and continues to talk to him as if he were still alive...A thriller with a remarkable straightforward story for a Jess Franco movie. Soledad Miranda is scorching the screen, the director gives her plenty of opportunity to stare with her dark eyes at her future victims. Not even a silly blond wig can damage her maniacal presence. The jazzy lounge music contributes a lot to the freaky atmosphere, but also the locations near Alicante/Spain are beautifully chosen. The only weak point to me is the role of the police inspector (Horst Tappert), because he seems to do a really lazy and sloppy investigation, considering there are several murder cases. Oh, and maybe it's the only time in cinema history that a car falls down a cliff and just breaks apart, it doesn't explode like it's full of dynamite - movie cliché avoided. Most likely it were only the costs which mattered, though.

The Spanish Exploitation cinema icon Jess Franco is doubtlessly one of the most eccentric, prolific and controversial European filmmakers. Whil his impressive repertoire of almost 200 directed films includes everything from brilliant to awful, his masterpieces are clearly those from the earlier decades in his career, especially the "Dr Orloff" films from the 60s and the psychedelic Erotic Horror gems from the early 70s. The films he made with the stunningly beautiful Soledad Miranda in the late 60s and early 70s are doubtlessly among his most memorable ones. One of the most mesmerizing beautiful women ever to bless the screen with their presence, Soledad Miranda tragically died in a car accident at the age of 27 in 1970. Her best-known films directed by Franco were released only after her death. The most widely known one is probably the Erotic Horror classic VAMPYROS LESBOS (1971). While that film is doubtlessly a must-see for my fellow Eurocine-lovers, this sexy, insane and incredibly groovy slice of classic Eurocult SIE TÖTETE IN EKSTASE aka. SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY (1971) is easily as memorable and entertaining.The sublime Soledad plays the beautiful young wife of a Doctor (Fred Williams) who makes dubious experiments with fetuses. When a science-committee (consisting of cult-actors/Franco-regulars Howard Vernon and Paul Muller, the blonde Ewa Strömberg who also co-starred in VAMPYROS LESBOS, and director Jess Franco himself) condemn the Doctor's work and cause his debarment, he attempts to kill himself. His sexy young wife is now out for revenge - sexy revenge.This is Jess Franco at his most prototypical greatest. A weird but exquisite combination of shameless sleaze and elegance, SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY epitomizes what Franco-admirers admire about Franco. Sleazy perversions and relatively perverse acts of violence, gorgeous naked women, incredible elegance and an insanely brilliant score (which is partly the same as in VAMPYROS LESBOS and THE DEVIL CAME FROM AKASAVA), fantastic settings and an overwhelming visual style are unified in an inimitable Jess Franco manner. The story is secondary, but still making more sense than in your typical Franco-flick. For my fellow Eurocult-fans, appearances by Franco's favorite macabre actor Howard Vernon or by Paul Muller are reason enough to watch a movie. Horst Tappert, who is best known as TV-detective "Derrick" in German-speaking countries once again has the minor role of a cop. The most convincing quality of this film (or any other that she starred in) is, of course, the divine Soledad Miranda. A true must for all fans of Jess Franco, Soledad Miranda and Cult-Cinema in general. My rating: 8.5/10

Jess Franco isn't known as a great artist, but he is one busy boy. In half a century he's directed 187 films under a variety of different names.Sundance Channel is presenting SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY this month and it's really rather enjoyable. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but I do appreciate that it has subtitles instead of being dubbed.Dr. Johnson and his gorgeous wife (Soledad Miranda) live in a house the size of a multi-story office building on a cliff overlooking the sea. He wants to break the frontiers of conventional medicine to help humanity, but winds up being barred from practicing medicine.In a major funk, he slashes his wrists. His widow vows revenge on the medical establishment.OK. There's the basis for solid drama. Not original, since the themes are timeless. But you can still work with it.The four doctors she targets have, between them, a room temperature IQ. All the better to trap and destroy them.But here's a major continuity problem. Just what is the time structure here? The action would seem to cover days or even weeks. But although Dr. Johnson's death is common knowledge his body is still in the house. His color stays good, no sign of decay, no flies buzzing around. The four targets aren't from this unnamed city: they're staying at a hotel. Why are they still in town?This being European and coming from 1971 you know that there will be zoom lenses a popping'. One scene, though, actually has some creative camera work. It's set in a hotel lobby. One of the men she's pursuing is sitting. We see Mrs. Johnson reflected in a huge mirror, and the camera fluidly zooms in and out so we see the faces of both parties without any cutting. There's a humorous scene (did Franco intend it to be funny?) without dialogue as she pursues him up a flight of stairs. He goes into his room, slams the door, and she's already inside on the bed wearing a silly wig. Huh?All things considered, Ms. Miranda's performance is good. It's a difficult part: in many scenes she's alone on screen silently staring ahead. A good part of the film finds her in varying degrees of nudity. Sadly, this is her last film: she died in a car wreck before the film was released.Just to help us remember that this is from 1971, there's a throbbing soundtrack of "psychedelic" music with a sitar (or a guitar or keyboard sounding like one) giving a Purple Haze atmosphere.The print Sundance Channel obtained is in great shape. The colors are sharp and clear, as is the soundtrack.Don't go expecting high art, but you just might enjoy SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY.

When a non-talent hack like Jess Franco admits he has little respect for his own work then why bother trying to argue with him? This pile of amateur-hour sleaze is a blatant rip-off of "The Bride Wore Black' written, directed and musically scored on what appears to be a drunken bender. The revenge plot of 'Black' couldn't be simpler, yet Franco can't hold it together. The dead-by-suicide doctor that sets off the vengeance is left in his bed by his maddened wife for God knows how long without the slightest change from decomposition (unless we are to believe that the wife killed off all the other characters in a few hours---nope, just directorial stupidity) and to cap it off the wife doesn't notify anybody about his death, yet the other doctors seem to know. She goes off on a killing rampage, yet the doctor-targets don't tell the authorities what they know about the wife's designs on them--in fact some of them simply allow her to kill them without resistance. Right. For instance, the obvious producers-need-nudity-to-sell-the-film lesbian scene concludes with Killer Korda simply putting an air-filled pillow over her victim, who promptly suffocates without the least struggle. Franco's directorial lethargy is so complete he has the last doctor-victim simply slump back in a chair and allow himself to be cut to pieces. And the topper is an abominably amateurish death-by-car-wreck finish---we're supposed to believe our "heroine" would die from a soft slide down an embankment that would barely cause a ripple to the shock absorbers? Oh, and there's a music score of sitar-laden late-60's go-go schlock that is slathered over the film without thought or point, except to prove Franco's incompetence is complete. Of course there are viewers who will love this film because there are always empty heads who enjoy any film they have eye contact with. What is really a stream of urine appears as a shaft of gold to these non-discriminating types who find "enjoyable" and "stylish" all the stupidities and sleazy goings-on, and sadly describe this dreck as "better than usual from Franco." That they would spend enough time watching Franco's body of work to be able to make such judgments is a pathetic admission of too much time on their hands and too little taste.