Jesús (or Jess) Franco (born May 12, 1930 as Jesús Franco Manera) is a Spanish film director, writer, cinematographer and actor. While never having found wide commercial success, Franco has nevertheless retained a small (but faithful) cult following with his sexually-charged horror films. He was very prolific during the 1960s through the late 1980s, and while he continues to work, his output has slowed down in recent years, creating the average of one film per year. Of his 180+ films, some of his most popular are; Gritos en la noche (1961), Miss Muerte (1965), Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden (1967), The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968), Justine (1968), The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969), Count Dracula (1970), Vampyros Lesbos (1970), The Vengeance of Dr. Mabuse (1970), Christina, princesse de l'érotisme (1971), Female Vampire (1973), Frauengefängnis (1975), Die Liebesbriefe einer Portugiesischen Nonne (1977), Oasis of the Zombies (1981), Esclavas del Crimen (1986), and Faceless (1988). In recent years, his films, Lust for Frankenstein (1998), Tender Flesh (1998), Vampire Blues (1999), Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell (1999) have come to be heartily embraced. Franco has also worked under innumerable pseudonyms, including David Khune and Frank Hollmann. A big fan of jazz music (and a musician himself), many of his pseudonyms are taken from famous jazz musicians, such as Clifford Brown and James P. Johnson. Franco's themes often revolved around lesbian vampires, women in prison, and sexual exploration (including several films based on the writings of Marquis de Sade). Franco also worked in other exploitation film genres, such as cannibal films and nunsploitation. His movies often contain long, uninterrupted shots of nude women writhing uncontrollably on the floor or in bed (such as in Lorna The Exorcist and La comtesse noire). He is also notorious for his use of hand-held camera and zoom shots, especially between 1968 and 1975. He has frequently worked with actors Howard Vernon, Antonio Mayans, Paul Müller, Christopher Lee, Soledad Miranda, Maria Rohm, Lina Romay (his longtime companion) and Klaus Kinski. Kinski is famous for his dislike of directors, but according to Franco, he never had any trouble working with him.
Fictional Portrayal
Spanish comic-book Iberia Inc. by Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marín mentioned a fictional movie, Casta de Heroes directed by Jesús Franco, about Spanish superheroes of the past where Paul Naschy played "the Ogre", a character inspired in lycantropic villain Lince Dorado. Unsatisfied with this portrayal of himself, Lince Dorado arranged for the original to be lost, and no copy of the film is supposed to remain.
Further reading
- Jess Franco, Memorias del tío Jess (2004) (autobiography, in Spanish)
- Stéphane du Mesnilot, Jess Franco - Énergies du fantasme (2004, in French)
- Alain Petit, Manacoa Files (1994-1999, in French)
- Lucas Balbo, Peter Blumenstock, Christian Kessler, Tim Lucas, Obsession - The Films of Jess Franco (1993)
- Tim Lucas, How to Read a Franco Film, in Video Watchdog n. 1 (1990)
- The book Immoral Tales: European Sex & Horror Movies 1956-1984 (1994) by Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs dedicates a chapter to him.
- Benedikt Eppenberger, Daniel Stapfer Maedchen, Machos und Moneten: Die unglaubliche Geschichte des Schweizer Kinounternehmers Erwin C. Dietrich. Mit einem Vorwort von Jess Franco. Verlag Scharfe Stiefel, Zurich, 2006, ISBN 3-033-00960-3
