Absolutely Fantastic

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

When I think of some of the barely visible 3rd generation copies of Jess Franco's films I've seen over the years and now here is a pristine, all bright and shiny Blu-ray. Also, this is a film that was very hard to get to see in any shape or form, for good or bad i will leave to you. Actually, considering what this sets out to do, a Universal Studios rip-off in full colour with full frontal nudity, some gore and a little S&M, this succeeds rather well. Dennis Price probably comes back to life a few too many times and I never did work out why the monster was painted silver but it is light hearted fun with some magically lit scenes. Neither was I sure why Howard Vernon had to stand by as many of his 'instructions' and guidance were spoken by his half bird, half woman side-kick but never mind. The film doesn't waste time getting going and keeps up for the duration with plenty of bloody scenes and lots of skin. The aforementioned S&M quota come curtesy of a fairly lengthy sequence where a completely naked man and women are tied back to back while the silver monster lashes them severely leaving rather theatric bloody stripes. Not bad at all.

More movie-making madness from the archfiend of Iberian exploitation Jess Franco. This movie, known variously in its alternate guises as "The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein" and "The Curse of Frankenstein" (not to be confused with the Peter Cushing Hammer classic of the same vintage), re-utilises a great deal of the same cast and characters of Franco's roughly contemporaneous "Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein", but is thankfully a more coherent film than that effort.That's not necessarily to say that it's good, mind...The plot, such as it is, involves Dr. Frankenstein (Dennis Price once again slogging the twilight years of a once-promising career away in Eurotrash exploitation) and his assistant creating a bizarre silver monster, before being attacked by Melisa the flesh-eating bird woman (the lovely Anne Libert, also to be seen in Franco's "A Virgin Among the Living Dead"), resplendent in green feathers and not a lot else. Melisa is the slave of the immortal Cagliostro, played with relish and garnish on the side by the godlike genius of Howard Vernon, who wants to mate the creature with kidnapped lovelies such as Britt Nichols. Well, you would, wouldn't you? Meanwhile, Esmerelda the gypsy (future Mrs. Franco Lina Romay) is having her own ponderous and largely irrelevant adventures in the woods, chatting away to a batty old crone who doesn't seem to realise that she's even in the film. Understated just doesn't cover it. Cagliostro is in the meantime summoning an undead army of darkness (ie: extras wearing Halloween skellington masks and cloaks), resulting in some quite atmospheric and haunting shots of these revenants drifting through a mist-shrouded forest. Sadly, however, these dreams of conquest are destined to never come to fruition, and Cagliostro winds up plummeting over the edge of a precipice for no other reason than that the film's run-time is almost up.A truly trippy and hallucinatory experience that must be endured to be believed, this is another true Franco classic that combines the kind of story-line you made up when you were too young to know any better, needless nudity of hot chicks, and editing seemingly done on the hoof by a blind man. And a green-feathered flesh eating bird woman. What's not to love?

The beginning of the movie doesn't stray far from what you might expect - Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant are transplanting a brain into their creature. The transplant works and the monster is not only capable of performing simple tasks, but can think and speak. But before the Doc has time to celebrate his victory, he is interrupted by Melissa, the Bird Woman. She kills the Doctor and assistant and takes the monster to her master, Cagliostro. He has other plans for the creature. Dr. Frankenstein's monster will be the father of a new race of supermen.First, a word of warning. I bought Image's The Rites of Frankenstein that came out August 9, 2005. I didn't pay much attention and just assumed it would be the edition that is commonly known as The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein - a movie I've wanted to see for a while. But this version is actually the Spanish movie - La Maldición de Frankenstein. The big difference is that the Spanish movie is heavily cut (meaning all the naughty bits are cut out) and extra scenes with Lina Romay have been added (which do nothing for the movie). It seems that almost everything you normally look for in a Franco film has been left on the Spanish editing room floor. I'm positive my rating and opinion of this movie would improve when and if I ever get a chance to see the real thing.For those unfamiliar with Franco, a first time viewing can be puzzling and jarring. To begin with, Franco has a tendency to put shots in his films that are totally unrelated to the story. The scenes I mentioned with Lina Romay are the perfect example. They're just there. Sometimes Franco will allow his camera to linger on an inanimate object for what seems like an eternity. In this movie we get a random, close-up shot of a tree for no purpose that I could see. Shooting things out of focus doesn't appear to bother Franco. There were a couple of scenes in The Rites of Frankenstein where I had to stop myself from yelling "Focus, Franco. Focus". There are other examples as I've just scratched the surface of what you're likely to see in an average Franco movie. Whether you like them or not, his movies provide an experience like no other.Visually, Franco has filled The Rites of Frankenstein with all sorts of treats (at least what wasn't cut from my version). I've already mentioned Melissa, the Bird Woman. She's a blind half-bird/half-woman with steel looking talons, green feathers, and an appetite for human flesh. That's definitely something you don't see everyday. Franco could have made the whole movie about her and it might have been more interesting. Frankenstein's monster has a unique look - he's completely silver. Cagliostro has the ability to summon the undead. The site of these shrouded figures wandering through the forest is one of the highlights of the movie.But mixed with these interesting scenes, Franco has seen fit to include some ridiculous moments. One of my "favorites" in The Rites of Frankenstein are continual close-ups of Cagliostro's eyes. Somehow Howard Vernon was able to go the entire movie without blinking and, for some reason known only to him, Franco felt compelled to show us Vernon's non-blinking eyes over and over and over and.... Don't ask why - it's Franco. I'm convinced they had a representative from Guinness and were going for some sort of world record.In short, if you're a fan of Franco, you might find some enjoyment in the movie - but wait for the uncut version. If you don't like Franco, skip it all together.

Most people watch Franco it seems specifically because it is junk, or so they think. The cheapness and (for the era) exotic nudity must give some sort of trailer park thrill.But these films seem important to me. The reason is that today's most exiting cinema comes from the Spanish tradition of layered realisms. While the main source is Latin literature, I fancy that it can be traced back to Franco and buddies as well.About half of these that I encounter make me yell "This! This must be the ultimate Franco!" I had that experience when gliding through this.Yes, of course it is cheap, with bad acting and so on. But nearly _every_ movie is for me. Its just a matter of degree and earnestness. Overlook that, dear viewer.The story alone should be enough to attract you. I won't recount it here, but it is complex and ambiguous, borrowing from several genres and reinventing them capriciously. One character is the evil genius's erotic soothsayer. She is blind but sees, a vampire but humanly erotic, our surrogate on screen.That evil genius wraps us up in capturing Frankenstein's monster to mate for a purpose I didn't understand. This eventually involves Frankenstein's beautiful scientist daughter who temporarily reanimates her now carrion dad and ends up getting nudely whipped... well it hardly matters.The real thing is in how he creates a gauzy, abstract world that floats above the normal world of movies. It is a movie like other movies, but not. It engages us in a conspiracy to weave a new world. Who cares about what that world contains, it is how it is woven that matters.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.