Best to worst movies of Jess / Jesus Franco
Jesus Franco was a very productive director of (s)exploitation movies. The movies are usually rated low because of explicit erotic/ tasteless scenes. Because we fans like these movies I offer a guide line for (beginning) Franco lovers. I prefer his horror movies and cinematic masterpieces.
Some movies seem to be impossible to add to a list: "The Portrait of Doriana Gray" aka "Die Marquise von Sade"/"Das Bildnis der Doriana Gray" should have been on number 17, "Nightmares come at Night" on number 20, "Mädchen im Nachtverkehr/ Girls in Night Traffic" on number 27, "The Sexual Story of O" on number 43 and "Female Vampire" on number 36.
See also my other lists:
Best to worst horror movies of the 80s
Best to worst universal monster / horror movies (1923-1960)
The 150 best horror movies of all time
Some movies seem to be impossible to add to a list: "The Portrait of Doriana Gray" aka "Die Marquise von Sade"/"Das Bildnis der Doriana Gray" should have been on number 17, "Nightmares come at Night" on number 20, "Mädchen im Nachtverkehr/ Girls in Night Traffic" on number 27, "The Sexual Story of O" on number 43 and "Female Vampire" on number 36.
See also my other lists:
Best to worst horror movies of the 80s
Best to worst universal monster / horror movies (1923-1960)
The 150 best horror movies of all time
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61 titles
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsEstella BlainMabel KarrHoward VernonWoman seeks to avenge her father's death by using a local dancer, with long poisonous fingernails, to do her bidding.Very good second sequel of the Awfull dr Orlof.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsSoledad MirandaPaul MullerAndrea MontchalAfter a bashful young woman discovers that her famed wordsmith stepfather is a psychopathic deviant, she becomes an accomplice in his murderous sex games.Dreamlike atmosphere in this erotic tale. Even better then the 1969 version of Eugenie
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsHoward VernonPerla CristalRicardo ValleDr. Orlof, a former prison doctor, abducts beautiful women from nightclubs and tries to use their skin to repair his daughter's fire-scarred face.Aka The Awful dr Orlof
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsKlaus KinskiJosephine ChaplinHerbert FuxA serial killer whose mother was a prostitute starts killing streetwalkers as a way of paying back his mother for her abuse.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsDyanne ThorneLina RomayAngela RitschardAfter the mysterious disappearance of her sister, a desperate young woman infiltrates brutal warden Ilsa's mental health facility for sexually deviant women. Will she escape the hellhole and live to tell the tale?One of Franco's best Woman in Prison movie
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsKlaus KinskiRomina PowerMaria RohmPenniless and separated from her sister, a beautiful, chaste orphan must endure an endless parade of villains, perverts and degenerates who covet her virtue and life.Very good produced soft erotic tale
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsPamela StanfordGuy DelormeLina RomayA man is tormented by an ex-lover, Lorna, who posseses a strange power over a women, including the man's daughter.Aka Lorna, the Exorcist.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsMartine FlétySarah StrasbergDagmar BürgerNightclub owner and erotic dancer Rita Blue uses her place as a front for working undercover as a spy. Motivated by her vehement hatred of men that stems from having been sexually abused as a child, Rita and her seductive female cohorts not only gleefully torture guys as a means to obtain vital information, but also manhandle wealthy men in order to make them hand over their fortunes to them.Funny ideas with a great load of eroticism.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsJanine ReynaudJack TaylorAdrian HovenA performer at an S&M nightclub begins to lose her grip on reality, and is plunged into a nightmarish mental landscape.Aka Succubus
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsSoledad MirandaFred WilliamsPaul MullerAfter a doctor commits suicide when his research using human embryos is terminated, his widow seduces then kills the four physicians she holds responsible for his downfall.Aka She Killed in Ecstasy
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsAna CastorHoward VernonPaula MartelWhen violent crime strikes a tiny hamlet, the townsfolk suspect the distant relative of a sadistic 17th century baron who cursed the village.Aka The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsLina RomayPaul MullerMonica SwinnWomen's prison tale, with Lina Romay as Maria who is jailed after killing her father, played by director Jess Franco, who tries to rape her. Lesbian wardens, torture, nudity, sex, insanity and conspiracy round out the formula.Barbed Wire Dolls is much better with German dubbed vocals and English subtitles. The English dubbed vocals makes this a silly movie.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsMaria RohmMarie LiljedahlJack TaylorAn innocent girl spends a weekend on the private island of a libertine woman and her stepbrother, but soon finds herself entangled in a web of sadistic sexual experiments.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsAjita WilsonAndrea GuzonUrsula BuchfellnerA newly-wed couple in love finds a seemingly desolate place to park the car and make love. Soon, they will face the fearsome warden Magda Urtado's cruel reality.Woman in Prison movie with maximum nudity.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsSusan HemingwayWilliam BergerHerbert Fux16-year-old Maria is forced into Serra D'Aires convent, secretly run by Satanists.Very good nunspoitation
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsLina RomayMichael MaienNanda van BergenMargarita, the only witness of a brutal murder, has temporary amnesia due to shock. She's sent to a psychiatric clinic where a masked man rapes her and kills another woman. She must piece her memory back together before he returns.Aka Wicked Woman. Deranged story in an woman asylum.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsChristopher LeeMaria SchellLeo GennIn 1685 England, an overzealous Lord Chancellor condemns various rebels and "witches" to satisfy his political and sexual whims, ignorant of the true consequences of his actions.Aka The Bloody Judge. Upon a second view I came to the conclusion to put this one higher on the list.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsJames DarrenBarbara McNairMaria RohmA jazz trumpeter becomes obsessed with a beautiful woman whose corpse he discovers on a beach, after which she seemingly returns to life to take revenge on those responsible for her death.Aka Venus in Furs
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsAlice ArnoRobert WoodsHoward VernonAfter her recent release from a deep psychiatric care institution, a Libertine-styled countess goes back to her very evil ways and fixes her eyes on a pretty girl with the intention to destroy her after fully corrupting her body and soul.A movie based on the writing of Marquis de Sade (like Eugenie).
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsLina RomayCatherine LafferièreJesús FrancoA madman conducts a private inquisition to exorcise demons by torturing women to death.Aka Exorcism / Demoniac
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsSusan HemingwayKarine GambierHoward VernonSomewhere in the jungles of South America mercenaries stop a truck which has allegedly loaded fruit. The cargo turns out to be six young women. Apprehended and handed over to the custody of the local women's prison.In the same vein as Lisa, the Wicked Warden and Barbed Wire Dolls: another good Woman in Prison movie.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsAlberto DalbésDennis PriceHoward VernonDr. Frankenstein and his assistant Morpho are killed just as they bring their creation to life. The monster is taken by Cagliostro and he now controls the monster and plans to have it mate and create the perfect master race.Horror tale. Aka The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein / Curse of Frankenstein
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsMartina DomingoJesús FrancoRoman HuberIn Puerto Rico, a down-on-his-luck private detective is hired by a woman to take photos of her husband, a notorious nightclub owner.With Jesus Franco as detective Al Pareira operating in the sexy underworld.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsEddie ConstantineFrançoise BrionFernando ReyA mad scientist uses his army of mechanical monsters to control people who have Type O blood.Attack of the Robots / Cartes sur Table is a James Bond copycat. Casino's, beautifull woman, car chases and technical gadgets: they are all present.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsHugo BlancoAgnès SpaakPerla CristalA mad scientist creates a hideous monster to carry out his murderous plans.Aka Mystresses of Dr Orloff / Monster of Dr Orloff