One of the best introductions to a movie ever! Classical music accompanies the first couple of minutes with images of erotic renaissance artwork then the music swiftly changes to this early 60's jazz.Then things turn weird with experimental Stockhausen type music with the classic shot of Janine Reynaud looking like a dominatrix. S&M style night club act. Jess was the master at directing these strange sexual night club scenes he continually went back to this throughout his career. This film represents the beauty of any great Euro cult horror movie. Dreamlike, psychedelic, beautifully shot cinematography with plenty of babes and eroticism and not to mention it's cool jazz score. It's a lost art form that is being preserved by many great DVD labels today. Many people don't know that this was (for an erotic-horror b-movie) pretty successful in the UK and the States in the late sixties and it wouldn't have been completed had it not been for a millionaire film producer who had the hots for Reynaud. If you're into Franco this is one of his masterpieces, but the slow pace that always makes Franco films seem like they drag on and on (I guess that is what turns a lot of people off) from Franco. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but the film is really grainy looking. This was probably to make the film look like a dream and give this psychedelic atmosphere. Lots of shots of beautiful European architecture, a weird hedonistic LSD party, a strange demon women and walking mannequins. In the 60's Jess was on the verge of becoming one of the great European directors, but then he started making films like Eugenie de Sade and Vampyros Lesbos and his reputation was ruined by critics who like to say he made crappy boring porn movies that made no sense. Oh well, more for us heathens to enjoy! A forgotten gem of European sex-horror from the 60's. 7/10
Review of Succubus
