Love Camp (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Erwin C. Dietrich
Starring: Nanda Van Bergen, Monika Kalin, Monica Swinn
Color/79 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date:

The Film
A group of beautiful girls is kidnapped by revolutionaries and taken to a jungle camp to serve as sex slaves for the revolution. The girls are forced to comply or they are tortured or killed by the sadistic warden. When one of the leaders of the revolution falls in love with one of the girls they try to escape for a life together.

LOVE CAMP is a classic example of Jess Franco tackling just about any genre that is hot at the moment and the Women In Prison genre was hot in the late 70s. Franco makes a pretty satisfying piece of exploitation either way, with plenty of flesh on screen. There's shower scenes, love scenes and a bit of violence. Had Franco went further with the violence and shown it explicitly I think LOVE CAMP could have rose above the pack and became a classic example of the genre. As it is, LOVE CAMP is pretty middle of the road WIP.

The Audio & Video
Yet another outstanding Blu-ray from Ascot Elite. The anamorphic widescreen transfer is gorgeous, with great sharpness and vivid colors. There's no edge enhancement and DNR is not excessive while skin tones are natural and healthy. The English DTS-HD 5.1 track sounds very good. The mix is strong and levels are complimentary to each other. There's no background noise. German and French tracks are also available with optional English and Japanese subs.

The Extras
-Jess Franco audio interview
-Trailers
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
A missed opportunity to be a classic ends up as something that will entertain the viewer but doesn't reach its full potential. LOVE CAMP is absolutely worth checking out for what it is instead of skipping for what it isn't.

Swedish Nympho Slaves (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Erwin C. Dietrich
Starring: Lina Romay, Martine Stedil, Vitor Mendes
Color/77 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date:

The Film
A father and his right hand man pay the five million dollar ransom for the return of his kidnapped daughter. When his daughter isn't returned he has the owner of a whore house kidnapped as they believe she knows the whereabouts of his daughter who may have been brainwashed.

A simple plot leads to a movie filled with tons of beautiful women, sex and violence. Also known as Die Sklavinnen (The Slaves), SWEDISH NYMPHO SLAVES is a fine example of Franco's ability to create entertaining Euro-trash. Lina Romay is great in the lead as the whorehouse owner and she looks as fine as ever. The sets and cinematography are among the best of the time for Franco and I'd go far enough to call this one of his best films of the mid to late 1970s.

The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite lives up to their name with another elite Blu-ray presentation of Jess Franco's films. SWEDISH NYMPHO SLAVES has great detail, natrual skin tones and excellent color representation. The picture is sharp and clean. The DTS-HD 5.1 German audio track is crisp and clear with no background noise. The mix is spot on and the English subs are perfect.

The Extras
-Audio interview with Jess Franco
-Trailers
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
Sexploitation fans will enjoy this one as Franco brings a solid story, and plenty of the juicy stuff to the table and makes a fun piece of sleaze!

SWEDISH NYMPHO SLAVES is available HERE

Girls In The Night Traffic (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1976
Directed By: Erwin C. Dietrich, Jess Franco
Written By: Erwin C. Dietrich
Starring: Kali Hansa, Pilar Coll, Diotta Fatou
Color/72 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: April 15, 2014

The Film
This is the Jess Franco I try to stay away from. GIRLS IN THE NIGHT TRAFFIC is the story of three high class hookers who sleep together and through a series of flashbacks recount their evening with their clients the night before including putting on a sex show and role playing as a corpse. One of them is kidnapped by a pimp posing as a photographer and she ends up in a weird prison. Her friends end up in the same prison to help her get revenge.

Blah. I'll put it plainly so you can skip to the next section if you wish... this film fucking sucks. It's nothing more than a reason to show naked women on screen and while that is fun and everything it becomes like work when that is all a movie has going for it. There is another cut of the film but that is merely the X-rated hardcore cut which adds on 20 minutes of hardcore sex cut from other movies. I don't know how responsible Franco is for this as he is uncredited as a director but it has all the markings of his other shitty films so he'll shoulder half the blame and Dietrich will to. Thanks for nothing.

The Audio & Videos
We can't blame Ascot Elite for the lame film but we can tell them "job well done" on a very nice Blu-ray presentation. The anamorphic widescreen transfer is very pretty with good sharpness and clarity and vivid and natural colors. The 2.0 German audio track is mixed fine and sounds good. The English subtitles are a little goofy but they seem to be timed well enough and translated fine. 

The Extras
-Jess Franco audio interview
-Trailers
-Still gallery
-+ More

The Bottom
I have a hard time recommending this title for anybody at all but I suppose there are Jess Franco completeists that will want this and they'll be thankful that a dreadful film got such a competent Blu-ray release. 

GIRLS IN THE NIGHT TRAFFIC is available HERE

Downtown (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1975
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Jess Franco
Starring: Lina Romay, Paul Muller, Martine Stedil
Color/87 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: November 19, 2013

The Film
A private detective gets a much needed break with a job when he's hired by a woman to take comprising photos of her husband who is a nightclub owner. Shortly after getting the photos and finishing his job he is arrested as the prime suspect for murder in the nightclub owner's death.

Franco pulls his jack-of-all-trades routine here where he writes, directs and stars as the detective in the film. He had this routine in plenty of his films but few turned out as well as DOWNTOWN. His performance is among the best he ever gave and the story is handled well. Franco does give us a few of his notorious Franco directorial moments though with more than a couple long zooms into nude genitals and awkwardly long holds on the shot even while characters are talking. More than once the zoom goes so far as to lose focus on the shot. I guess that is just Jess being Jess!

DOWNTOWN is fun though despite any drawbacks it may have. Franco's love Lina Romay stars and is good and gives a few cabaret/nightclub performances that are sexy and memorable. She was quite the woman. The rest of the cast rises above the average mid-late 70s Franco flick to help the overall quality of the picture.

The Audio & Video
DOWNTOWN was shot a big softer at times than some of Franco's other films at the time and that is evident with Ascot Elite's transfer. While there are some scenes that overly grainy or soft, the transfer is as good as it gets. The PQ has a natural film look, and it does have a good sharpness to it for the most part. Colors are nice and flesh tones are natural. There's a nice level of detail in textures as well. The German audio track is a 5.1 DTS-HDMA track with optional English subtitles. The audio quality is clear and crisp with no background noise. Levels are even and steady with a strong mix. Subtitles are nicely translated and timed well.

The Extras
-Trailers
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
DOWNTOWN is a pretty decent flick from Franco and if you're looking into some of the lesser known or talked about Franco films this isn't a bad place to start.

DOWNTOWN is available HERE

Wicked Women (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written B: Erwin C. Dietrich, Jess Franco
Starring: Lina Romay, Moncia Swinn, Nanda Van Bergen
Color/81 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: December 10, 2013

The Film
A young woman (Lina Romay) is found naked and bloody in a mansion and is brought to a mental hospital when she won't speak a word. Her caretakers don't have the woman's recovery at the front of their mind, it certainly isn't what they're interested in. They like to get a little closer to the women in the hospital. All the while a cloaked killer is on the loose dispatching of patients at night.

WICKED WOMEN is one maniac killer away from being pretty standard Women In Prison fare with the prison switched for a mental hospital. That wouldn't be a bad thing necessarily but the addition of the murderer makes things a bit more interesting, if not a little off kilter.

WICKED WOMEN isn't a great film, it features some poor direction from Franco, including a totally out of focus shot in the opening scene of the ambulance pulling up to the house. It's always interesting seeing a Jess Franco for the first time and wondering which version of the director you'll get. The one that can direct a beautiful scene or the one that is all over the place with awkward shots and useless zooms and pans. WICKED WOMEN is an entertaining trashy film despite being a poor directorial effort from Franco.

The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite does another great job with the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer of this film. There is a nice sharpness and clarity to the picture. Colors and flesh tones are vivid and healthy. The German DTS-HD 5.1 audio track is crisp and mixed well. The optional English subtitles are nicely translated and read well.

The Extras
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
Franco and trashy film fans will enjoy WICKED WOMEN but it isn't one of his finest efforts. That's just the nature of Jess Franco.

WICKED WOMEN is available HERE

Love Letters Of A Portuguese Nun (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Erwin C. Dietrich
Starring: Susan Hemingway, William Berger, Herbert Fux
Color/90 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: March 25, 2014

The Film
When a corrupt priest sees Maria flirting with a boy in the forest near her home he brings the girl to her mother and orders the mother send Maria to his convent to become a nun as penance. Of course there is a fee to be paid to the priest and the church for such a service. Maria is sent, but not before her mother belittles her in front of the priest for leaving her penniless. While at the convent Maria is stripped naked, left in solitude, tortured, seduced by other girls, tortured more when she falls victim to a fever and hallucinates and did I mention she was tortured? All in the name of the lord, of course. And when she sees the priest and Mother Superior worshipping the devil she is accused to being a witch and sentenced to burn at the stake.

LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE NUN is a fine and really unsung example of the Nunsploitation genre. Franco fits in a bit of psychological and hallucinatory horror elements to go along with the inherent sleaze that comes along with this genre. Lesbianism and Satanism run rampant in LOVE LETTERS and it makes for a damn entertaining 90 minutes of Jess Franco greatness. 

The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite gives LOVE LETTERS its Blu-ray debut with a transfer that is largely very nice. There are a few instances where colors fluctuate or the picture is a bit soft but the majority of the film is sharp and filled with vibrant colors and natural healthy looking skin tones. There's no edge enhancement or excessive DNR noticeable. The English 5.1 DTS-HD audio track sounds great and has no background noise. It is crisp and mixed perfectly so that dialogue and soundtrack compliment each other. German 5.1 DTS-HD and 2.0, Italian 5.1 DTS-HD and Spanish 2.0 tracks are also availabel with optional English or Japanese subtitles. 

The Extras
 -Featurette featuring Jess Franco, Lina Romay and Herbert Fux
-Audio interview with Jess Franco
-Trailers
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
Franco tackles the Nunsploitation genre with great success. LOVE LETTERS features Franco's signature style, a bit of sleaze and weirdness and more than enough entertainment to recommend to genre fans and Franco fans alike.

LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE NUN is available HERE

Barbed Wire Dolls (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1976
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Jess Franco
Starring: Lina Romay, Monica Swinn, Eric Falk
Color/81 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: February 25, 2014

The Film
Lina Romay stars as Maria, a woman thrown in to the nasty women's prison after murdering her father who tried to rape her. Maria is exposed to the despicable warden and her guards, the lesbian inmates and the various forms of torture lying within the walls. Eventually Maria plans an escape with her cellmates leading to a chase through the jungle exteriors.

BARBED WIRE DOLLS is a mean spirited film. All of the prisoners are badly mistreated physically, sexually and mentally. Monica Swinn does a great job at playing a warden that would give Ilsa a run for her money. BARBED WIRE DOLLS is pretty much an exploitation fan's wet dream.

The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite's transfer of BARBED WIRE DOLLS is top notch. The picture is sharp, colors are vibrant and there's a healthy grain structure while skin tones are natural. The English 5.1 DTS-HD track sounds great. It is nicely mixed, and free of any audible disturbances. There is also English subtitles for the German language track.

The Extras
-Interview with Jess Franco, Lina Romay and Erwin C. Dietrich
-Jess Franco audio interview
-"Falk's Frauen" featurette with Eric Falk and Erwin C. Dietrich
-Trailer
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
Jess Franco fans will find a lot to love here, especially with the performance from Lina Romay. In broader terms, any sleazy film fan will be doing a disfavor to themselves if they don't at least give BARBED WIRE DOLLS a chance and this Blu-ray is the best way to do so.

BARBED WIRE DOLLS is available HERE

Sexy Sisters (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Manfred Gregor
Starring: Karine Gambier, Pamela Stanford, Jack Taylor
Color/87 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date:

The Film
Edna keeps her sister Milly chained up in her secluded bedroom. Milly suffers from sexual trauma after being raped as child by a large muscular man. Milly may be curable but Edna has no desire to help her sister as she is the sole heir to their father's large fortunes he left for inheritance as long as Milly is mentally incompetent. Edna and her lovers long plot of drugging Milly to keep her in a state of sexual desire, a nymphomaniac will soon unravel and Milly will get what is rightfully hers.

Another piece of sexploitation from Jess Franco. It seems in 1977 that is all the director had on his mind. This one isn't as weird as Blue Rita, and not as boring as Voodoo Passion. SEXY SISTERS lies somewhere in between. At the very least it has a story but then again, it isn't a very interesting one. The entire point of this film is for Franco to show off his beautiful actresses. There's nothing particularly wrong with that but a more interesting movie would certainly have made it more enjoyable. 


The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite's transfer of SEXY SISTERS is good, despite being one of the weakest I've seen from their Jess Franco Golden Goya collection. The film is mostly very sharp and detailed with a nice natural look to it. Colors are vivid and skin tones healthy and fleshy. There are instances throughout that are soft and overly grainy. These scenes aren't terrible but they don't hold up to the high bar that Ascot Elite has set for themselves. The English 5.1 HD audio track (the only English friendly option) sounds very good, as usual. It is a full bodied track that is well mixed with no instances of background noise that I could notice.

The Extras
A trailer and photo gallery are the lone extras

The Bottom Line
Franco completists or sexploitation super fans will want to add this disc to their collection immediately. As for the rest of us you'd be better off seeing the movie before plopping down the big bucks to buy it. 

SEXY SISTERS is available HERE

Voodoo Passion (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Erwin C. Dietrich, Jess Franco
Starring: Muriel Montosse, Ada Tauler, Jack Taylor
Color/87 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: November 19, 2013

The Film
Oh, Jess Franco. I really have no idea what to make of you. For every film you made that is at the very least entertaining, you make crap that is an absolute chore to sit through despite always being filled with some sort of exploitative fare (more often than not it is copious amounts of naked women). While I was hoping VOODOO PASSION would be a fun, sex filled, horror film example of the former, it ends up being a glaring example of the latter.

Upon arriving in Haiti to live with her husband Jack, Susan is introduced to Jack's sister Olga, a nympho who likes to push the boundaries of taboo, and their lesbian housekeeper. Susan expresses an interest in learning about the local Voodoo culture to Jack and soon after begins having nightmares about Voodoo ceremonies, murder and sexual rituals. After 80 minutes or so a really half-assed attempt to throw together a conspiracy against Susan involving Jack and his partners is revealed by Olga who helps Susan along with the local Voodoo community.

The only reason to watch this is for the endless nudity from just about everyone involved. The beautiful women are rarely dressed and even when they have something on it usually exposes boobs or bush or both. Hell, the only reason this film has anything to do with Voodoo, as far as I can gather, is so Jess Franco could incorporate shots of beautiful dark skinned people baring it all. VOODOO PASSION could have easily had a few different plot details and the there would be no need for Voodoo at all.  Really, this film isn't good at all. If you're a Franco completist or really want to see an underwhelming sexploitation film, you can give it a shot.

The Audio & Video
At least the A/V is good. Ascot Elite has proven to be a top notch company with their Jess Franco Golden Goya releases. VOODOO PASSION looks very good overall. There are a couple instances of DNR but for the majority of the film has a very natural look with great detail and color. The only way to watch this in an English friendly manner is with the DTS-HD 5.1 English track. It sounds great. There's no background noise or hiccups in the audio. 

The Extras
Trailers and a stills gallery are included.

The Bottom Line
This is far from Jess Franco's best work and despite its fantastic looking and sounding disc I can only recommend this film to Franco super fans.

VOODOO PASSION is available HERE

Blue Rita (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

Switzerland, France/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Jess Franco
Starring:
Color/79 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: February 18, 2014

The Film
Rita runs a popular strip club where men who are believed to be rich and undercover agents are held captive, stripped naked and tortured. These men are pushed to within inches of their limits of sexual sanity, especially when Rita douses them in her secret green potion that makes the men horny to sign over their bank accounts and tell all of their secrets.

BLUE RITA is not a film that will engross you with it's story. This is purely Jess Franco stroking himself visually. And that isn't a bad thing because BLUE RITA is one of the most visually striking and appealing films I've seen in a long time. Of course there is the group of women who are naked for the duartion, it is like they don't know what clothes are. Beyond that however, are colorful rooms, packed with inflatable furniture, tin foil doors and cellophane curtains. Even the cell the men are kept in is striking as it is below the floor and covered in spikes so the angles the viewers are exposed to are cool.

I have no idea if BLUE RITA was improvised, it certainly could be with the random inclusion of the Eastern Block part of the story. It seems like the movie just skips around getting from one naked lady filled scene or one extravagantly dressed or lit set piece. Franco has done better, but to date I'm not sure he's been so visually striking in any of his films I've seen. 

The Audio & Video
A visually stunning film deserves a visually stunning Blu-ray and Ascot Elite has done that. The 16x9 (1.78:1) transfer looks very good. There is a bit of light DNR applied to clean things up a bit but the film still retains a natural look and a light grain structure. Skin tones are fleshy and healthy while the colors are vibrant. Detail is strong as well. The only English friendly audio option is an English dub track which isn't the way I'd prefer to watch it, but it'll have to do. Some of the voice acting is crappy to say the least. The quality of the audio itself is quite good however. There's virtually no background noise and the DTS-HD 5.1 track is full bodied, and crisp with excellent mixing on the levels.

The Extras
-Interview with actor Eric Falk
-Trailers
-Still gallery

The Bottom Line
A bizarre mix of exploitation and art house, BLUE RITA ends up being something very distinct. I haven't decided if I'm a fan of it yet but I certainly won't be forgetting it any time soon. If you're inclined to check out the movie this disc is the way to do it.

BLUE RITA is available HERE

Ilsa, The Mad Butcher (Blu-ray Review) - Ascot Elite

USA, Switzerland, Germany/1977
Directed By: Jess Franco
Written By: Manfred Gregor, Jess Franco
Starring: Dyanne Thorne, Lina Romay, Eric Falk
Color/95 Minutes/Not Rated
Region FREE
Release Date: October 22, 2013

The Film
ILSA, THE MAD BUTCHER aka ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN was the third film featuring Dyanne Thorne in the lead role as some sort of domineering, sexually charged matriarch. This time Ilsa is in charge of a medical institute for women dealing with sexual issues ranging from Nymphomania to prostitution. This place is designed to set them straight but instead it is more of a playground for Ilsa.

Roughly a year after her sister mysteriously died following an attempt to escape the walls of the institute, Abby infiltrates the hospital posing as a patient in order to uncover the mystery surrounding the death of her sister. Abby quickly finds that patients are abused physically and sexually. If they forget their uniform number it is branded on their chest like cattle. Many of the girls are also forced into sex with the staff, or with each other to make pornography videos. Juana (Lina Romay) is Ilsa's lover and the most powerful patient in the hospital and has her lustful eyes set on Abby. Abby's hell begins when she won't give in to Juana's advances and Ilsa punishes her. Abby is able to learn the details she needs from other inmates facing similar torture and Abby and the inmates band together for an uprising against Ilsa that results in one of the most unexpectedly gruesome endings I've seen in any film.

ILSA' THE MAD BUTCHER has a little bit of everything as far as exploitation films go. It's violent, it's sexy and it is altogether pleasing. It is full of beautiful women, despicable acts and excess. Ilsa's status as a legendary character in alternative cinema was cemented by this point and if you aren't familiar with her don't you think it's time to introduce yourself?

The Audio & Video
Ascot Elite has done a fantastic job on the video transfer of this disc. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer looks stunning in HD. Skintones are fleshy and natural, never waxy. There are strong textures from clothing to hair and set pieces. Colors are vibrant and lifelike without looking artificial. The jungle outside the walls of the prison are lush and green. A beautiful thing to look at. The 5.1 DTS-HD English audio track sounds very good. The mix is strong and balanced with attetion paid both to dialogue and score. German and Italian tracks are also available in 5.1 DTS-HD while a French track is presented with 2.0 Dolby Digital. English and Japanese subtitles are optional for the tracks.

The Extras
A pretty substantial interview with Jess Franco and producer Erwin C. Dietrich is the main feature here and yes, it is English friendly. Also included is an original trailer for ILSA, THE MAD BUTCHER and several trailers for other titles from the Golden Goya line from Ascot Elite.

The Bottom Line
ILSA, THE MAD BUTCHER is exploitation at its finest and Ascot Elite's Blu-ray release is home video at it's finest. An absolutely fantastic job from the German company that you should absolutely import for your collection!

ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN is available HERE