Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Nigel P There's a lot happening in this Jess Franco film. Set in an unnamed vicinity, Dennis Price (in his final film for Franco, and looking sun-burnt but in healthier than he had in Franco's two recent Frankenstein films) plays lawyer L'avocat Linsday, who - describing himself as aged and alcoholic - discovers that a young couple have been unfairly convicted of murder. He is told of this injustice by former governor Mendoza (Jean Guedes) on his death-bed. Traveling to the austere and corrupt institution in which they are being held, he attempts to sort the matter out.Although this is primarily a 'women in prison' drama, the incarceration element only makes up part of the story. Naturally, such scenes are wonderfully bleak and adorned with much wailing and sobbing. Apart from Price, other Franco regulars on hand are a suitably cruel-looking Luis Barboo as Lenz, the always brilliant Howard Vernon as Colonel Ford, and Anne Libert, who had been so effective as bizarre bird-woman Melisa in 'The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein' is reduced to an unnamed thumb-sucking peripheral prisoner. I believe this is also her final film for Franco.Usual humiliations ensue often involving fighting, torture and cruelty ensue. Raymond (Andrés Resino) and Beatriz (Geneviève Robert), the two lovers of the title, are each lead to believe their partner is dead. Beatriz's naïve goodness puts her at loggerheads with the other inmates, whereas Raymond flirts with exhaustion and hear-death as his work pattern becomes intolerable. There's a pretty twisted love angle involving Raymond's affair with his godmother Emilia (Danielle Godet), which fuels her vendetta against Beatriz, whom Governor Mendoza desires. Have you got all that?Having established Raymond and Beatriz's incarceration as a cruel injustice, Franco's script doesn't seem concerned with any urgency regarding Lindsay's mission in getting them released. Instead, we dwell more on the actions and interactions of the characters, which exploits the various layers of occasionally pantomime sadism that is part of the regular routine (incongruously involving a laser gun at one point). The finale is as low-key as you could imagine and appallingly effective. The last shot we see is of Price's face, crumpled by disgust as he turns and walks away. Price, who died the year this film was released, turns in one of his best performances for Franco. His performances in Franco's more bizarre films were heightened accordingly, but here, he reminds us he still has the talent that made him one of the most popular performers at the earlier stage of his career. Here's to you, Dennis.Interestingly, the other version of this film, known as 'Quarter des femmes' rejects the flashback sequences and inserts instead scenes of extra sex and cruelty, in which Libert enjoys her most substantial scene. It also adds a little extra to Lindsay's final departure, which ends this version of the film less abruptly than the version more widely available.

Michael_Elliott Devil Island Lovers (1974) * 1/2 (out of 4) An incredibly boring and lifeless WIP (Women in Prison) film from director Jess Franco. A man and woman are sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit and soon find themselves being beaten by the guards. I love Franco's WIP films when they're over the top. Sleazy and full of girl on girl action but this thing here featured none of that and tries to tell a serious story but fails on every level. The film has way too much talk with none of it being interesting. Dennis Price, Howard Vernon and Brit Nichols star.

MARIO GAUCI Though I've had this for some time, I opted to watch it on the day in which writer/director Franco celebrated his 77th birthday. It's his second among numerous "Women In Prison" films he made, and a pretty good one – in fact, I'd place it between 99 WOMEN (1968) and ILSA, THE WICKED WARDEN (1977); the other two I've watched, namely BARBED WIRE DOLLS (1975) and LOVE CAMP (1977), I found to be atrocious and among Franco's worst efforts.Starting off with a stylish credit sequence montage (similar to the one in Franco's own NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT [1970]), the film is given a real shot in the arm by Bruno Nicolai's outstanding score – even if it does seem like the discarded soundtrack of some Spaghetti Western! Surprisingly, the plot incorporates elements of the Marquis De Sade's "Eugenie De Franval" (which Franco himself had filmed some years previously) – making for an interesting early section involving the frame-up of two young lovers by their rejected (and much-older) suitors; as in EUGENIE DE SADE (1970), the narrative is then related in flashback to crusading alcoholic lawyer Dennis Price from the deathbed of one of the villains (he learns of the events inside the prison from a female inmate punished for daring to help the lovers escape). The latter is played by sexy Josiane Gibert who, as with Price himself (in his fifth, last and perhaps best role for Franco), gives a good performance.Gibert's character is interesting in that, when we first see her, she's the prison rat who's infiltrated into the saintly heroine's cell (at the instigation of the sadistic, and obviously lesbian, female director) in order to see what she's really made of. Eventually, however, she's drawn to her plight: as I said, after learning that the girl's lover – whom she thought dead – is actually locked up in the men's ward of the same prison (conveniently, Gibert lends her sexual services to the guards over there!), she organizes their breakout and suffers the consequences for her actions.Unfortunately, the other Franco regulars in the cast – Howard Vernon, Britt Nichols and Anne Libert – are given very little to do, though their presence is always welcome. The handsome leads, on the other hand, prove inadequate to carry the film – while the Prison Director is too one-note (merely narrowing her eyes to appear sinister or suggest authority) to create much of an impression; she's certainly no match for the hammy Mercedes McCambridge of 99 WOMEN or Dyanne Thorne's Ilsa (whose character appeared in a series of films and has been turned into something of a minor cult).Actually, the official version of the film is the French-language cut named QUARTIER DES FEMMES – which drops the flashback framework and is decked out with copious nudity. Coming off too much like padding, as well as grossly exploitative, these erotic scenes (which have been included here as a bonus but are sourced from a very poor-quality VHS) merely serve to undermine the seriousness of Franco's intent; I wonder if he preferred the French version himself – as in the case of, say, THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN (1972; which was also changed considerably in its Spanish variant).Needless to say, we also find ample evidence here of the trademark Franco sloppiness: the change of heart experienced by both Gibert and the Governor isn't dealt with in any real detail and, therefore, lacks conviction; the frame-up of the lovers is so obvious as to elicit a head-shaking response from this viewer (though, to be fair to Franco, Shakespeare himself used the exact improbable ruse in "Macbeth"!); the quarry scene where the exhausted hero is watched over by a completely inert guard (as if Franco had forgotten to give him any kind of direction!); a cell-door is most irresponsibly left open by another set of obtuse guards, thus enabling the heroine's (short-lived) escape; and what's up with that silly laser gadget (seeing it 'at work' in the deleted scenes is even more hilarious)?!The film, at least, manages to work its way to a very effective downbeat 'curtain' – which comes completely out of left-field but, once again, proves that Franco was aiming higher than usual with this particular effort, and that he had 'something to say' about the current political situation in his own country.

The_Void As with most Franco films I see these days; I was expecting this one to be the pits, but actually; Devil's Island Lovers isn't bad at all - especially by the director's usual standards! Before watching, I thought this was yet another 'women in prison' flick, but after the first few minutes; it would seem that Franco is actually trying to tell a story this time round. The plot concerns a man who has framed the woman he loves and her lover after she 'betrayed' him. Now on his deathbed and wanting to put things right, he tells a lawyer what he did - leaving the lawyer with the task of getting enough evidence together to get the lovers off the hook! As mentioned, this isn't really a women in prison film - although Franco couldn't completely stay away from the genre he (apparently) loves, as we do get to see some females behind bars during this film. However, the prison scenes aren't all that sleazy, which is odd considering Franco's (vast) filmography. The story here isn't likely to actually intrigue anyone, but it really isn't all that bad and I wouldn't hesitate to put Devil's Island Lovers in the top half of a list of Franco's best efforts!