Jesus "Jess" Franco died on Tuesday, April 2nd. When I heard of his passing, I was instantly upset but I wasn't too sure why. I had never met the man and it's only been about a year and a half ago since I've really started digging deep into his endless pile of work. In that short amount of time, however, I came to view Franco as a man who truly loved everything about cinema. So long as he had a camera in his hand, he was unstoppable. Following the death of his longtime lover and muse Lina Romay back in February of 2012 and preceding his own demise, Franco was able to turn out one last sleazefest in the form of Al Pereira vs. the Alligator Ladies; proving true his statement that death would be the only reason he would stop making films. Franco directed over 180 films in almost every genre with works that range from the mezmorizing, to the average, to the shitty; but every single one of his films has that unique Franco touch. Franco was a master of horror and eroticism, and the combination of these two thematic elements created some of his greatest works. From Venus in Furs to A Virgin Among the Living Dead to Vampyros Lesbos to Lorna The Exorcist, Franco could create truly delirious, memorable, shocking, beautiful, exploitative, and artistic images all within the same film to the point where I've questioned if what I had just watched was good or bad. There are times where I've watched a Franco film more than once and have had completely different reactions with each viewing. I feel that's what a true artists' work should do. From gothic masterpieces like The Awful Dr. Orloff, to erotic morality tales like Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac, to the truly bizarre like The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein, Jess Franco was a man who lived every moment of his life for the sake of cinema. His loss is a great one but at least he made sure that we'll have more than enough to remember him by. Wherever Jess Franco is, I hope he's finally shooting a long over-due lesbian vampire epic with both Lina Romay and Soledad Miranda as his seductive countesses. Thanks for the movies Uncle Jess.
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