mallaverack Review of She Killed in Ecstasy

She Killed in Ecstasy (1971)

So Woeful. So Kitsch. So...it must be a 'cult' movie!

[2/10 · 7 November 2015]

Normally, when scanning my newspaper weekly TV guide, in order to decide on which movies to watch, I am attracted to titles which may indicate the genres which interest me. Dramas, thrillers and biographies are at the top of my list of favoured genres."She Killed in Ecstasy" looked promising when the following rating advice accompanied a brief description of the plot:"Adult themes; Nudity; Sexual references; violence."Knowing only that the plot centred on the revenge killings of those who rejected a woman's much loved husband's medical experiments, I was somewhat startled by the psychedelic music and pop art graphics with which the film opened. Not that long into the story it was evident that the inanity of the dialogue, the director's excruciating use of the zoom lens and the completely inappropriate sound track might be less irritating, being alleviated somewhat by the introduction of 'soft porn' when the nubile Soledad Miranda began to burrow her face into the groin area of her now prostrate and demented husband, played by Fred Williams. But even this titillation was short lived as the promise of a 'classic erotic horror movie' all but evaporated under the weight of unflinching mediocrity of characterisation, ludicrous dialogue, absence of logic and kitschy direction of one, Jesus Franco. The accompanying reviews on this site have proved far more entertaining than the film. Oh, and how people do take things so seriously! I care not a fig how many films Mr.Franco has accumulated in his CV over the years or whether other of his projects have been dubbed cult classics. This movie, apart from its kitsch qualities (lowbrow taste, lacking in style, so false as to engender comical reactions, etc) is so slow, so boring, so childishly predictable, so lacking in atmosphere or characterisation has achieved the effect of my resolution to avoid any other of Mr.Franco's contributions to film. Watch this and cringe!