Bureaucrats, checkuser, oversight, Administrators
61,878
edits
On November 27th, 2022, the 8,000th article was added to the SuccuWiki!
Succubus (1967): Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
no edit summary
m (→Cast) |
mNo edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[Category:Film and Media]] | [[Category:Film and Media]] | ||
{{Infobox film | |||
| name = Succubus | |||
| image = SuccubusMovie1967.jpg | |||
| image_size = | |||
| border = | |||
| alt = Succubus DVD Box Cover | |||
| caption = Succubus DVD Box Cover | |||
| director = Jesús Franco | |||
| producer = Adrian Hoven<ref name="bfi-credits" /><ref name="portal" /> | |||
| writer = Pier A. Caminnecci<ref name="bfi-credits" /> | |||
| screenplay = | |||
| story = | |||
| based on = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} --> | |||
| narrator = | |||
| starring = Janine Reynaud<br>Jack Taylor<br>Howard Vernon<br>Nathalie Nort<ref name="bfi-credits" /> | |||
| music = | |||
| cinematography = Franz X. Lederle<br>Jorge Herrero<ref name="bfi-credits" /> | |||
| editing = Fritzi Schmidt<ref name="bfi-credits">{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/43911?view=credit|work=British Film Institute|accessdate=November 23, 2012|title=Credits|location=London}}</ref> | |||
| studio = Aquila-Film<ref name="bfi" /> | |||
| distributor = | |||
| released = April 19, 1968 (West Germany) | |||
| runtime = | |||
| country = West Germany<ref name="portal" /><ref name="bfi">{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/43911|work=British Film Institute|accessdate=November 23, 2012|title=Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden|location=London}}</ref> | |||
| language = | |||
| budget = | |||
| gross = | |||
}} | |||
''For other uses of the word [[Succubus]], see [[Succubus (disambiguation)]].'' | |||
'''''Succubus''''' ({{lang-de|'''Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden'''}}) is a 1968 West German horror film directed by Jesús Franco. The original German title translates as ''Necronomicon - Dreamt Sin''. The film stars Janine Reynaud as Lorna Green, a performer a nightclub who performs acts that involve eroticly charged sadomasochistic murders. It is suggested that Lorna may be under mind control by a man who might be actually be Satan (Michel Lemoine) which draws her to a night in the future when she actually begins to kill people. | |||
''Succubus'' was Franco's first film made entirely outside of Spain. During production, the German backers for the film fell out leading to the producer contacting Pier A. Caminnecci to finance the film. | |||
| Line 45: | Line 72: | ||
== Plot Summary == | == Plot Summary == | ||
This strange, surrealistic German horror film from cult director Jesus Franco stars Janine Reynaud as Lorna Green, who performs a pseudo-snuff nightclub act involving erotically staged S&M murders. Lorna's mind is controlled by a man who might be Satan (Michel Lemoine), and she slowly loses her tenuous hold on reality, moving increasingly closer to the night when she begins to really kill. Lorna's nightclub act and the final scenes -- involving a wild orgy where Lorna viciously murders a man named Bill Mulligan (Jack Taylor) -- were cut drastically in some of the film's several release versions. | This strange, surrealistic German horror film from cult director Jesus Franco stars Janine Reynaud as Lorna Green, who performs a pseudo-snuff nightclub act involving erotically staged S&M murders. Lorna's mind is controlled by a man who might be Satan (Michel Lemoine), and she slowly loses her tenuous hold on reality, moving increasingly closer to the night when she begins to really kill. Lorna's nightclub act and the final scenes -- involving a wild orgy where Lorna viciously murders a man named Bill Mulligan (Jack Taylor) -- were cut drastically in some of the film's several release versions. | ||
==Release== | |||
{{Quote box | |||
|quote = ''Necronomicon'' was the first opportunity I had to make a film the way I wanted to make it. I'm rather astonished that the film did as well as it did. | |||
|source = Director Jesús Franco on working outside of Spain for ''Succubus''<ref name="Shipka187" /> | |||
|width = 40% | |||
|bgcolor = | |||
}} | |||
''Succubus'' was released in West Germany on April 19, 1968 and was a financial success.<ref name="portal">{{cite web|url=http://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/necronomicon-getraeumte-suenden_ea43d4a750c45006e03053d50b37753d|work=filmportal.de|title=http://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/necronomicon-getraeumte-suenden_ea43d4a750c45006e03053d50b37753d|accessdate=November 23, 2012|title=Necronomicon - Geträumte Sünden}}</ref><ref name="Shipka187" /> The film was later released in the United States under the title ''Succubus''. To promote the film, a phone number was offered for audience members who did not know what the title [[succubus]] meant.<ref name="Shipka187" /> The film was shown as Fantastic Fest in 2009 with Franco in attendance. The print of the film shown was borrowed from American director Quentin Tarantino.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fantasticfest.bside.com/2009/films/succubus_fantasticfest2009|work=Fantastic Fest|title=Succubus|accessdate=November 21, 2012|author=Lars}}</ref> | |||
The film was originally released on DVD on October 27, 1998 by Anchor Bay Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/succubus-v129287/releases|work=Allmovie|title=Succubus|accessdate=November 23, 2012|title=Succubus (1967) - Releases}}</ref> It was released again on July 25, 2006 with an interview with director Jesús Franco and actor Jack Taylor as bonus features by Blue Underground.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blue-underground.com/product.php?product=89|work=Blue Underground|title=Succubus|accessdate=November 23, 2012}}</ref> | |||
==Reception== | |||
In 1968, Vincent Canby wrote a review in the ''New York Times'', noting that the film could not decide if it wanted "to be a bare-breasted exploitation movie or a nice, erotic horror story about a demented lady of bizarre sexual tastes" referring to the film as "being a bit of a drag".<ref>{{cite web| | |||
url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A05EEDC123AEE34BC4E51DFB2668382679EDE |title=Succubus (1967) Screen: 'Succubus,' a German-Made Fantasy on Sex|accessdate=November 23, 2012|authorlink=Vincent Canby|author=Canby, Vincent|date=April 26, 1969|work=The New York Times}}</ref> In a review for the Umberto Lenzi film ''Orgasmo'', Roger Ebert critiqued ''Succubus'' as one of the worst films of the year, referring to it as "a flat-out bomb. It left you stunned and reeling. There was literally nothing of worth in it. Even the girl was ugly."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19690820/REVIEWS/908200301/1023|work=Chicago Sun Times|title=Paranoia|author=Ebert, Roger|authorlink=Roger Ebert|date=August 20, 1969|accessdate=February 11, 2013}}</ref> | |||
== Critical Review == | == Critical Review == | ||
The following review was taken from the [http://us.vdc.imdb.com/title/tt0062032/usercomments IMDb] | |||
Rating: 3/5 | *Rating: 3/5 | ||
This was an early color film for Franco but he seems to have mastered the new process with relatively little problems, here utilizing a decidedly Bava-esque palette (the famous scene with the mannequins, for instance). SUCCUBUS is considered a transitional film for Franco because, from here on in, the emphasis on eroticism will become much more pronounced until it almost turns into pornography sometime during the next decade. I haven't watched any films from the latter category but this film certainly pushes the issue as far as it was permissible at the time! Here, too, because of its dream-like nature (as was also to prove the case later with A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD [1971]) the film's narrative lapses and general 'incoherence' are easier to accept than in, say, EUGENIE DE SADE (1970) where one does not really expect to find such liberties – though I am beginning to realize that, with Franco, virtually anything goes! | This was an early color film for Franco but he seems to have mastered the new process with relatively little problems, here utilizing a decidedly Bava-esque palette (the famous scene with the mannequins, for instance). SUCCUBUS is considered a transitional film for Franco because, from here on in, the emphasis on eroticism will become much more pronounced until it almost turns into pornography sometime during the next decade. I haven't watched any films from the latter category but this film certainly pushes the issue as far as it was permissible at the time! Here, too, because of its dream-like nature (as was also to prove the case later with A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD [1971]) the film's narrative lapses and general 'incoherence' are easier to accept than in, say, EUGENIE DE SADE (1970) where one does not really expect to find such liberties – though I am beginning to realize that, with Franco, virtually anything goes! | ||
| Line 61: | Line 104: | ||
Obviously, I would love to see the original full-length German-language version of the film released as a SE DVD, but one wonders whether that will ever come to pass. At least, my VHS copy was a one-up on the now-OOP R1 Anchor Bay DVD, as the film was presented in its correct (I assume) widescreen ratio! The film's silly pan-and-scan theatrical trailer (for the U.S. version) was also included. | Obviously, I would love to see the original full-length German-language version of the film released as a SE DVD, but one wonders whether that will ever come to pass. At least, my VHS copy was a one-up on the now-OOP R1 Anchor Bay DVD, as the film was presented in its correct (I assume) widescreen ratio! The film's silly pan-and-scan theatrical trailer (for the U.S. version) was also included. | ||
==Notes== | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
===References=== | |||
* Shipka, Danny. ''Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980''. McFarland & Company, 2011. ISBN 0786448881. | |||
== External Links == | == External Links == | ||
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succubus_%28film%29 This film at Wikipedia] | |||
*Succubus 1967 at the [http://us.vdc.imdb.com/title/tt0062032/ IMDb] | *Succubus 1967 at the [http://us.vdc.imdb.com/title/tt0062032/ IMDb] | ||
*Succubus 1967 at [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/succubus/ Rotten Tomatoes] | *Succubus 1967 at [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/succubus/ Rotten Tomatoes] | ||