|
Succubus
[Blue Underground]
1968; color
Directed by Jess Franco
Starring: Janine Reynaud, Jack Taylor, Adrian Hoven, Howard Vernon, Nathalie Nort, Michel Lemoine & Pier A. Caminnecci
|
|
I'm always down for a Jess Franco flick circa the mid to late '60s / early '70s (also probably one of my favorite film eras in general) so it's kind of surprising this particular one escaped me until recently. Prior to watching it I must admit I was a little fuzzy on the definition of, and differences between, the terms succubus and incubus; to that end, I decided to consult everyone's favorite source for random generally useless information at odd hours of the day or night... yes, the internet. There I learned a succubus is, according to medieval European legend and Wikipedia, "a demon who takes the form of a highly attractive woman to seduce men, in dreams, to have sexual intercourse." An incubus is a male version of said lore by the way, but we'll leave that subject to the Kommandan't entry for this week. Anywhoo, that isn't exactly a definitive explanation of what happens in this movie but since Succubus is only one of the titles attached to the film (and the other, Necronomicon, isn't any more accurate) we won't hold that against the picture as a whole. This movie has a little bit of everything we - meaning, I guess, me - have come to expect from film of this ilk / era (especially from Franco): beautiful women, suspicious looking men, interesting locations, odd camera effects, fabulous outfits, disjointed dialogue and, specific to today's example, a scene in a room full of mannequins that truly needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. Plus a confusing plot riddled with dream sequences that may or may not represent reality. (In my defense I only had time to watch the movie once before writing this. I'm thinking the plot might make slightly more sense if I watch it a few more times. Or at least by that point I will have made up a storyline I could at least partially believe in my head.) As is the case with many of his films, and with the man himself, Succubus has it's fans and detractors. In hindsight I certainly find myself in the former category but honestly, at this point I can kind of tell by the box cover, actors, year it was made and brief synopsis which of his films I will enjoy and which I will attempt to sit through even though I know I will be bored by endless scenes of softcore lesbian sex, often featuring not so attractive women. Obviously, we're making a point of working our way through his available filmography so even the stuff we're not interested in is required viewing for our purposes, but I'd say this would be of interest to the casual fan or anyone else who finds themselves using the term Eurotrash in conversation.
—Bunny
|
|
