With a director who provokes such extreme reactions as Jess Franco – he's often either revered or reviled – the truth concerning the quality of his output is usually somewhere in the middle. In my view, the appeal of 'Sadist Erotica' drifts closer to the 'disappointing' end of the spectrum. The fault does not lie entirely with Uncle Jess – both the English version of the script and the dubbing itself are pretty appalling, and any attempts at humour are truly squashed by this double-barrelled attack.Comedies are not really Franco's forte. Or perhaps I should simply say that this style does not appeal to me. I would count his latter day 'Red Silk (1999)' as amongst his worst and, I'm sorry to say, this exists in a similar league. Having said that, it is easier to watch this once you have got used to its limitations, which hit you from the very start.'Sadist Erotica' works best as an exercise in nostalgia, a time of unconcerned casual sex and no repercussions. Main players Jeanine Reynault (as Diana) and Rossanna Yani (as Regina) form the Hot Lips detective duo. Two strong-minded, independent women who nevertheless spend most of their time fantasising over men. As detectives, it is difficult to imagine a squad less likely. Their 'kooky' sixties lifestyle is appealing and carefree, and the locations in which they live are rarely less than charming. The story soon becomes lost in the sea of extravagant characters and unengaging performances, but it seems a growing number of attractive models are going missing. The culprits may be hard-to-kill werewolf-like Morpho (Michael Lemoino) and his shady Master (Adrian Hoven).A definite positive is the soundtrack, Jerry van Rooyen's jazzy soundtrack sweeps alongside the eccentric series of events and scatty set-pieces. The whole is a bizarre and vaguely appealing mess of ideas and tones, veering from lazy thriller, tepid horror and badly translated comedy. Whilst more than a sum of its parts, 'Sadist Erotica' is nevertheless not Jess Franco's most engaging production."I really think it's time to bring this farce to an end," to quote one character, is a little harsh perhaps, but a point of view that does provoke a certain sympathy.

I just performed a feat that many would probably balk at: i sat through Jess Franco's bizarre-a-thon '60s crime caper / spy-fi / horror flick "Sadisterotica" (aka "Two Undercover Angels") for the second time in two days.Glutten for punishment, you may well say: making the 'sadist' part of the title almost apt. Sadly for a movie involving the buxom charms of Rosanna Yanni and Janine Reymaud, though, there is precious little of the 'erotica' that one would expect from crazy Jess after seeing later works such as "Vampyros Lesbos" or "Female Vampire". Ah, well: you can't have everything, and i was focussing too hard on trying to detect a plot and keep tabs on the myriad characters to be distracted, anyway.The two titular (arf!) lovely ladies of the 'Red Lips' detective agency are on the track of missing models, which lead them to murderous pop artist Klaus Tiller, with his amazing disguise kit of fake beard, fez and eyepatch that will have precisely no-one fooled, and his inexplicable werewolf sidekick - named Morpho, as is de riguer for deformed henchmen in a Franco flick.If you can cope with the excreble dubbing in the English-language release - which really is terrible: my brother and i used to do better making stuff up on the spot with a microphone and the video's audio-dub button - then this kitsch and campy slice of late '60s madness does yield some enjoyment. Gawd only knows what was happening most of the time, though. It made more sense when i watched it drunk: i recommend everyone does the same.

Made immediately after SUCCUBUS (1967) - one of Franco's most serious and dense efforts - with three of its lead actors (husband and wife team Janine Reynaud and Michel Lemoine and producer Adrian Hoven) and much the same crew, this film and its sequel KISS ME, MONSTER (1967) retained its colorful look and pop-art backdrop but they were its exact opposites in mood and intent (which, ultimately, reflected on their overall quality and significance in the director's vast canon).That's not to say that the individual films are totally worthless: TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS is a goofy combination of various genres then at their zenith - espionage, comic strips and low-grade horror (Lemoine is made-up as villain Hoven's werewolf assistant!); fun, therefore, but decidedly lightweight...despite the artistic Hoven's modus operandi - painting the fear on the faces of dying women from photographs he takes himself and then hiding the bodies inside sculptures - having probably been inspired by PEEPING TOM (1960) and HOUSE OF WAX (1953) respectively! Typical of such spy fare, the mystery at the centre of the plot emerges as pretty trivial - to say nothing of obvious with respect to Hoven's dual identity; Franco handles the proceedings with some gusto and the film moves at a fairly brisk pace - but, even after two viewings in one day, there's precious little to remember about it (certainly not the unspeakable dubbing of the English-language version featured on the Blue Underground DVD)...apart, that is, from the lovely leading ladies themselves - Reynaud and Rosanna Yanni - who, given their contrasting personalities, make a rather delightful team (and their scanty wardrobe, ranging from the fashionable to the fetishistic, certainly helps!).Knowing that these films were toned-down and altered for the Spanish market, I managed to acquire an unsubtitled copy on DVD-R of those particular versions: in the case of TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS, it was called EL CASO DE LAS DOS BELLEZAS (THE CASE OF THE TWO BEAUTIES). My friend (and Jess Franco authority) Francesco Cesari who, unlike me, is fluent in the language has said that the film is greatly improved in this variant - and even funnier; well, given the language obstruction, I couldn't really testify to the latter - but I'm glad I watched the English version first, because otherwise the plot would have been impossible to follow! Still, while the differences are considerable, to my eyes they're not really night and day as Francesco suggested and the overall effect was pretty much the same (save, of course, for the more natural-sounding Spanish dubbing!). To begin with, the scores were different - the English version by Jerry Van Rooyen (who also did SUCCUBUS) and the Spanish by Fernando Garcia Morcillo; I personally enjoyed the Van Rooyen one more, while Francesco preferred Morcillo's accompaniment.Some scenes ran longer in the Spanish print, while others have been changed around - but, again, I like the editing of the shorter U.S. version better. For instance, the first three scenes from the English-language print are absurdly jumbled in the Spanish cut: instead of introducing the two leads immediately and then show the museum robbery, followed by Reynaud's presentation of the stolen painting to Adrian Hoven (while still in the "Red Lips" costume from the previous scene), we begin with the robbery, then cut to the apartment scene (where Reynaud is casually dressed) and then she steps in costume again for her meeting with Hoven! In view of the oppressive censorship conditions in Spain during this time, the U.S. version obviously comes across as sexier (notably the writhing of a 'caged' naked girl in a nightclub scene, which was re-shot in the dark for the Spanish market). On the other hand, the soundtrack for the Spanish version is significantly 'cleaner': the U.S. print features a lot of useless background noise which makes dubbing job seem even more fake than it already is! The DVD transfer is pretty nice, and I must say that the quality of the Spanish copy far exceeded my expectations - apart from a couple of brief instances where it froze and skipped. Besides TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS' theatrical trailer, the Blue Underground disc for this title features yet another informative interview with the prolific and outspoken film-maker in which he discusses the making of the two "Red Lips" films; among other things, he notes that this was the first instance in his career where he shot two films back-to-back while confessing to have taken a liking to the practice immediately!

Two female detectives are hired to find a missing woman. They soon discover that their missing woman is only one of many models and dancers who have vanished. The trail leads to an artist who paints and sculpts women at the time of their deaths. His work is eerily reminiscent of the woman they're looking for.Two Undercover Angels appears to have been an attempt by Franco to cash-in on the success of James Bond and other spy movies of the 60s. While this was the first "Red Lips" movie that Franco made, I unfortunately saw the sequel, Kiss Me Monster, first. Two Undercover Angels is miles ahead of the sequel by having something of an understandable plot (I would argue that the second in the series had no plot), acting, sets, and every other way imaginable. A lot of the jokes (this is a spoof after all) work in this movie.While this movie may be better than it's successor, that's not to say it's a particularly good movie. Part of the problem, unfortunately, comes from the dubbing. I'm not one to complain about dubbing, but this may be the worst I've heard. It's hardly the fault of Franco or anyone else involved in making the movie, but it's still a distraction. The bad dubbing may be partially responsible for the confusion I had from time-to-time following the plot. But Franco's style of storytelling doesn't help much either. He introduces new characters on a regular basis that add little or nothing to the proceeding but to confuse the issue. As soon as you think you've gotten a handle on a new character, they disappear never to be seen again.The two detectives mentioned in the title are played by Janine Reynaud and Rosanna Yanni. At least from appearances, they appear to be having a good time with their roles. There is a sense of humor and ease with which they work together that helps to make-up for some of the movie's shortcomings.If someone were to ask me for a good place to begin discovering Franco, this is not where I would advise them to begin. Seek out Venus in Furs or The Diabolical Doctor Z for a place to start with Franco.