6 Best Jess Franco’s Films (Thorough Overview)

In this article, I’ll tell you about the best Jess Franco’s films (in my opinion): what they’re about, remarkable details, and interesting facts about them.

If you have watched too few (or none of) Jesus Franco’s movies, this list will help you choose which films to start your journey with.

Let’s cut to the cheese.

• #1 Macumba Sexual (1981)

Plot Summary

Alice, a luxury real estate agent (Lina Romay) and her husband are on vacation on a tropical island. Alice has regular nightmares about a mysterious and malicious black woman (Ajita Wilson).

Despite her vacation, Alice gets a call from her boss asking her to assist with a sale of a mansion to Princess Obongo on the neighboring island. Alice goes there to meet the princess, in whom she recognizes the woman from her weird dreams. Alice becomes involved in Princess’ weird erotic magic rituals that change her life and herself forever.

Movie Highlights

• Mystery 
• Magic
• Breathtaking tropical scenery
• Mesmerizing score
• Eroticism / pornography
• Relaxing dreamy ambiance

Why I Love It

Macumba Sexual is one of the most mysterious and relaxing films I’ve seen. It has an intriguing plot, shows black magic and eroticism, and is seasoned with a relaxing and dreamy score. The scenery, shot on a tropical island, is spectacular. The film feels like a dream I don’t want to wake up from.

Below, I’m diving into a deeper explanation of why I love this film. But this is mostly sharing my personal story about how this movie affected my life.

My Personal Attachment to the Film

Macumba Sexual was the first film that gave me the desire to discover more European exploitation movies, when I was in my early twenties. In fact, I had watched a couple of other Franco’s and other European directors’ films and disliked them. This was during the period when I explored films about the living dead (“zombie apocalypse”), and Jesus Franco’s films such as A Virgin Among the Living Dead or Mansion of the Living Dead had nothing to do with the subject matter. They were too different from mainstream, professionally-made films I was used to. I even avoided Jess Franco’s films after that, until I gave another chance to Macumba.

After my journey to the “zombie apocalypse” films, I decided to explore movies about what the word “zombie” meant originally: a person transformed to an unconscious slave by being poisoned and hypnotized through an African Voodoo ritual.

This genre is pretty scarce — I didn’t find too many films on this topic. I watched mainstream films like Angel Heart and The Serpent and the Rainbow (with its wonderful soundtrack) and a few more. While searching online for more films about Voodoo, I found Macumba Sexual on IMDb or a similar site, among other suggestions. There was a mention of Voodoo magic somewhere in the description. Although the film doesn’t have anything to do with voodoo zombies, it helped me make one of the most important discoveries in my life.

Macumba Sexual gave me mixed feelings when I watched it for the first time. On one hand, its low budget style seemed unattractive to me. As well as the ridiculous naivety specific to European exploitation movies. On the other — I was charmed by its mysterious and dreamy ambiance.

At that period of my life, I worked at a steel plant as an electrician. I hated that job, but I didn’t see a way to replace it with something better. Because of this, I felt desperate thinking my life was at a dead end.

What I saw in the film contrasted so much with my real life. A beautiful fairytale against the grey and depressing reality. It was so efficient in helping me escape from my real life for a while. I had seen other beautiful obscure films before, but the way Macumba was made happened to resonate with my aspiration for beauty and escapism in a completely new way.

I watched Macumba Sexual before going to work, for a night shift. On the bus taking me to the steel plant, I was still enjoying the images from the film staying vivid in my memory. One of the images that had left the deepest footprint in my mind was a simple shot of a sailboat in a sunny tropical harbor. A little scene having no importance for the plot, but the calm beauty of the image and music felt so soothing and comforting to me. I still remember being on the bus taking me to the ugly place I hated, and thinking about that cute scene of the sailboat in the tropical harbor — my newly discovered imaginary refuge.

During that bus ride, I was thinking that I needed to explore this genre further and to review my attitude to the sleazy European films. To discover and watch similar movies again and again using them to escape from my real life as far as I could (hence the title of my blog — Escapist’s Advisor where I share my findings with like-minded people). This was the night when I realized I was standing at the doorstep of discovering a whole new world — European low budget exploitation films.

This is why Macumba Sexual takes the first position on my ‘best Jesus Franco’s movies’ list.

Additional Facts

The film stars Ajita Wilson as Princess Obongo. Ajita Wilson was a man who underwent a transgender surgery in the 70's. When I did research and discovered this after watching the film, I felt surprised by the fact that plastic surgery was so advanced in the 70’s.

In Macumba Sexual, you see Ajita naked, including genitals. Later, I saw a hardcore pornographic scene with Ajita and another man somewhere online. It showed a closeup of penetration. For an average person, it’s impossible to tell him from a normal woman. However, one detail gives his real gender away: the size of his hands. Women have smaller hands than men.

In one of his interviews, Jess Franco said that the word “Sexual” had been added to the title (by the distributor or someone else from the movie business) against Franco’s will — to attract more viewers to theaters. Franco said this was stupid and that the real title for the movie was simply Macumba.

• #2 The Perverse Countess (1974)

Plot Summary

A young girl (Lina Romay) is invited to a luxury mansion on an island to spend a weekend with her new boyfriend and his girlfriend. The couple takes the girl to a neighboring island to visit their friends — Countess and Count Zaroff (Alice Arno and Howard Vernon). Little did she know that all this was a conspiracy against her, just like for many previous young women whom the rich couple would subject to their exquisitely perverse and deadly games.

Movie Highlights

• Mystery
• Intriguing plot
• Breathtaking tropical scenery
• Luxurious mansion
• Eroticism / pornography
  

Why I Love It

The Perverse Countess has a well-elaborated plot. During the whole film, I was curious about what would happen next. The ending doesn’t feel obvious.

I have a special spot in my heart for old-fashioned chateaus, castles, and mansions. So I enjoy the fact that the film takes place in a rich couple’s residence. There is a certain charm in the image of an aristocratic family living as outcasts, away from the society, and engaging in secret activities. Other examples are numerous films and novels about doctors conducting forbidden scientific experiments, vampire stories, or movies about satanic cults.

I love the picturesque locations Jess Franco chose for the filming. The movie was shot in Calpe (Alicante, Spain). As the mansion of the perverse noble couple, it shows Edificio Xanadu designed by the architect Ricardo Bofill, a hotel with an unconventional shape of the building. There is also La Muralla Roja — an apartment building designed by the same architect, an even more bizarre architectural piece.

The same location had been also used in Franco’s She Killed in Ecstasy (1971). And many decades later, both buildings and their surroundings were shown in greater detail in Phantasmagoria 2: The Labyrinths of Blood (2018), a movie by Cosmotropia de Xam (you can also learn more about this from my interview with Cosmotropia de Xam).

French titles:

• La comtesse perverse
• Les croqueuses

For those who already know and love this film, I made these print T-shirt designs. Shirts (as well as hoodies, dresses, and other clothing) with these designs on them are available at my online store.

• #3 Lorna the Exorcist (1974)

Plot Summary

A young daughter (Lina Romay) of a wealthy businessman (Guy Delorme) celebrates her 18th birthday. For the father, the happy hour of celebration is darkened by a mysterious woman — Lorna (Pamela Stanford) — who returns from his past to demand what belongs to her according to their old diabolical agreement. The man realizes that the price he accepted in the past was too high.

Movie Highlights

• Mystery
• Intriguing plot
• Eroticism / pornography
• Unusual scenery
  

Why I Love It

Although the storyline is based on the familiar idea of the “deal with the devil”, the film doesn’t feel predictable. The events are developing gradually, keeping the viewer in tension up until the ending. The film is soaked with a fatalistic expectation of an upcoming supernatural diabolical revenge the family is going to become a victim of.

Although Lorna the Exorcist contains a high number of pornographic scenes, they blend well with the storyline. The weird and sinister manner they are filmed in supports and enhances the overall macabre feeling given by this mystic and tragic story.

The events take place in La Grande-Motte, France, a city with interesting architecture by Jean Balladur. We can see unusual buildings inspired by Aztecs’ pyramids and looking like formicaries. This amplifies the film’s surreal vibe.

The same location was used in Franco’s other film — Shining Sex (1975), a sci-fi erotic movie.

Additional Facts

Lorna was the first serious role for Pamela Stanford, and one of her favorite ones. Read what she says about it and the rest of her career in my interview with Pamela Stanford.

There is no exorcism in the film. Just like with Macumba, the film’s title was adjusted to attract more viewers by exploiting the topic made popular by the film Exorcist (1973).

French titles:

• Les Possédées du diable
• Lorna l'exorciste

For those who already know and love this film, I made this print T-shirt design. Shirts (as well as hoodies, dresses, and other clothing) with this design on them are available at my online store.

• #4 A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)

Plot Summary

A young girl, who was raised at a boarding school, arrives at a chateau she is inheriting after her father’s death. At the chateau, she meets her other family members for the first time. After the reading of the will, the girl stays at the chateau with her new family. Little by little, she discovers their weirdness and becomes involved in a macabre, supernatural phantasmagoria through which she truly becomes part of her new family.

Movie Highlights

• An old spooky luxury chateau
• Beautiful scenery of the chateau’s surroundings
• Macabre supernatural phantasmagoria
• A bit of comedy
• Intriguing plot

 

Why I Love It

Similarly to The Perverse Countess, the events take place at a spooky chateau. However, this time it has an old-fashioned style that I love even better. It’s basically a haunted mansion story.

The surroundings of the chateau are splendid too, especially the pond.

Despite being a horror story, the film has comical elements and sometimes feels like a parody and farce. The characters are rather funny than scary. However, closer to the end, the story’s vibe changes to tragic, surreal, and fatalistic.

For the first time, I watched this film when I wasn’t used to European exploitation films. It was before Macumba Sexual. I couldn’t appreciate its weirdness at that time. I expected to watch a scary film, but instead it felt ridiculous, naive, and cheap. Nothing like a traditional horror film. I felt bored. As a result, I started to avoid all Jesus Franco’s films until rediscovering them later, with a different mindset.

The movie has a remarkable soundtrack by Bruno Nicolai featuring pieces sung by Giulia Alessandroni whose voice (that I adore) we can hear in multiple other European exploitation films. The OST is an interesting mix of various musical styles reflecting the mood of different scenes: threatening, suspense, careless and happy, sad, or mysterious.

Additional Facts

The film features a beautiful nightmarish, haunting sequence shot additionally by Jean Rollin. It’s not present in the original director’s cut though.

By the way, Jean Rollin is my favourite director. If you aren't familiar with his filmography and are unsure which movie to watch first, I suggest that you read my guide to the best Jean Rollin's films.

 

One of the titles of the film is Christina, princesse de l'érotisme (Christina: Princess of Eroticism) which, again, doesn’t have anything to do with the story except for the main character’s name. There is some nudity, but it’s not as important as in the previous films on this list of the best Jess Franco’s movies. A Virgin Among the Living Dead is about the supernatural, not eroticism.

French titles:

• Une vierge chez les morts vivants
• La nuit des étoiles filantes

 

For those who already know and love this film, I made this print T-shirt design. Shirts (as well as hoodies, dresses, and other clothing) with this design on them are available at my online store.

• #5 Les chatouilleuses (1974)

Jess Franco made this film under one of his pseudonymes — Clifford Brown.

Plot Summary

In Central America at the beginning of the 20th century, a group of prostitutes gets arrested by a local government chief. At the same time, their friend, a famous local revolutionist, whom these women love and respect, gets arrested too. During the prostitutes’ transportation from the brothel, they manage to escape and hide in a recently abandoned local convent pretending to be nuns.

The same chief and his assistants who previously arrested the women, come to the convent and stay there protecting the “nuns” (whom they don’t recognize) from a potential threat from revolutionist rebels.

While the prostitutes are trying their best (or actually their worst) to keep pretending to be pious nuns (which is the main comical line), they also organize the liberation of their rebel friend.

Movie Highlights

• Silly humour
• Comical, ridiculous, and explicit sex scenes
• 19th - early 20th century ambiance
• More sleaze than usual
  

Why I Love It

While the most famous Jess Franco’s films are based on mystery and violence, Les Chatouilleuses is a pure comedy. And a very good one. While its silly and ridiculous humour isn’t subtle and sophisticated, it’s still efficient.

The funniest character in the film is the chief played by Richard Bigotini, a genius actor who basically played the same role in many films (Jess Franco’s movies Les gloutonnes, Lorna the Exorcist, Les grandes emmerdeuses, Alain Payet’s Prostitution clandestine, and maybe others) but always incomparably. I also liked his stupid assistant played by Raymond Hardy.

One scene that made me laugh hard was when the enemies had to have a meeting at midnight. The scene was filmed in the middle of a sunny day, without any attempt to make it look like night. Except for Bigotini’s character imitating twelve strikes of a clock with his own voice! This is a pure trash-style parody of adventure films.

It’s also a parody of erotic and pornographic films: the sex scenes, though being explicit, are shot in a ridiculously playful way, contrary to the usual style where the characters are supposed to behave seductively.

Another example of this kind of parody are the films by Eduardo Cemano: Fongaluli, Madame Zenobia, and The Healers that the director calls “antiporn” (read my interview with Eduardo Cemano (aka Ed Seeman) to learn more).

Finally, the old-time ambiance — the convent, the vintage dresses etc — is also something I like.

Additional Facts

As of the time when I’m writing this, the film doesn’t seem to have been released on DVD or BluRay (I can’t even see its English title anywhere). I have a VHS rip (in a comparatively good quality) in French with English and French subtitles. If you want me to share it (of course, for free), just send me an email. My contact information is here.

Alternative title: 

• Les Nonnes en folie.

• #6 Les Gloutonnes (1973)

 

Plot Summary

In a fantasy universe of might and magic, a race of descendants of the people of Atlantis is under a threat. They need a hero to protect them from an evil spirit — Parka (Kali Hansa) — one of their enemies who destroyed their land and civilization centuries ago.

The queen of the Atlanteans (Alice Arno) finds a man who qualifies for this task: a famous hero — Maciste (Karzan in the English version) (Wal Davis). The queen makes a deal with a magician and alchemist — Kagliostro (Howard Vernon) who convinces Maciste to save the women.

Upon his arrival to the new land of the Atlanteans, Maciste meets their queen and her people. Now Maciste has two tasks: to satisfy their inexhaustible erotic desire and to engage in a deadly fight with the evil spirit.

 

Movie Highlights

• Fantasy universe
• Beautiful scenery
• Eroticism / pornography
• More sleaze than usual

Why I Love It

The film is funny, notably because of the portion of sleaze it has. For example, the main character — Karzan / Maciste, who is supposed to look muscular like a bodybuilder — isn’t muscular enough. He doesn’t look weak or bad, but this is not what you would expect when thinking of a Maciste. Apparently, Franco only had enough money for an affordable, low budget Maciste when hiring actors.

At the end, there is a fight between Maciste and the male villain. It’s staged so badly that I laughed out loud. Probably, it was improvised. It’s obvious that none of the two men were experienced in showing a realistic fight.

Like with the previous movie on this ‘Jess Franco’s best films’ list, Les chatouilleuses, we have Richard Bigotini here playing an assistant of the alchemist (Howard Vernon). The assistant is as silly and funny as all Bigotini’s characters I’ve seen.

Richard Bigotini in Les Gloutonnes. A scene shot in La Grande Motte (see the previous section about Lorna the Exorcist), in a restaurant in front of Lorna’s Sofitel hotel.

 

Howard Vernon: If you behave nicely, I will materialize you more often.
Lina Romay: Oh yes, yes… I love old pigs like you!

Although I watched the film in bad quality as a VHS rip that wasn’t even colorful, I appreciated the mountainous and maritime scenery.

This is one of the greatest examples where Jess Franco used free-of-charge beauty of locations to compensate for a tiny budget.

The old-time clothing (medieval and ancient style) is also beautiful.

Lastly, the film features a few senseless and badly filmed sex scenes (but also a few funny ones), which is, however, not a critical drawback considering all the fun and beauty the movie offers.

As Alexandre Mathis told me, these scenes are inserts included for the audience preferring pornographic films. They weren’t present in the original version that Alexandre watched in the 70’s upon the film’s initial release. And even in a VHS version that he saw later. The original version also included more meaningful scenes that were thrown away to make space for the inserts:

There was a scene where Pamela Stanford (whom we don’t see other than in badly-lit erotic scenes) was walking along the sea to meet Vernon and Bigotini. — Alexandre says.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing this, the version with the inserts is the only one I could find. But I still love this film.

Additional Facts

French titles:

• Les gloutonnes
• Les Exploits érotiques de Maciste dans l'Atlantide

Not to be confused with The Lustful Amazons / Yuka / Maciste contre la reine des Amazones (1974), also by Jess Franco.

Just like Les Chatouilleuses, Les Gloutonnes may not be very easy to find in the quality you see on my screenshots. You may see this film on porn tube sites, but they mostly feature a much worse rip (yellowish sepia, with colors almost eliminated). To get it in the quality that you see on my screenshots (French version, no subtitles, unfortunately), just send me a message (my contacts are here).

For the fans of Jess Franco, I made this print T-shirt design. Shirts (as well as hoodies, dresses, and other clothing) with this design on them are available at my online store.

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