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DouglasWaltz |
A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD |
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This is, without a doubt, my favorite Franco film. The lead is so stunning and the whole scenario is true, bizarre Franco. Anne Libert is gorgeous in it.When I
met Jess Franco I told him it was my favorite film and he seemed delighted. We talked about where it was shot and other things. I chewed his ear for about an
hourin Chicago.
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bobmonel |
#1 | |||
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Doug, where did Jess say it was shot? I assumed Portugal. Is that correct? Thanks. I've got about 8 different versions of this.
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DouglasWaltz |
#2 | |||
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He did say it was Portugal and he went on and on about how beautiful the location was. It's funny, I have the horrid version with the Jean Rollin inserts.
I also have a gray market tape that has English subntitles and what I believe to be a French soundtrack. I wrote this in depth article on the film and wathced
it like seven times in a row. This is my definitive version of the film. Then I got the cleaned up DVD presentation form the Eurohorror Collection and
can't stand it. The voices are all wrong and it grates on my nerves. Sure, the picture is ten times better, but I still would rather watch my gray market
VHS tape than the DVD. Weird, huh?
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bobmonel |
#3 | |||
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Doug, which version do you have? Does it have the orgy sequence with Alice Arno watching from a throne? I like that sequence, not by Rollin, but by another
Eurocine director. I hate the Rollin inserts. Also some versions contain interesting dialogue not in others, like the IMAGE, which may be too short. How long
is your version?
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bobmonel |
#4 | |||
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Here's a screenshot from my favorite scene in the film: Christina's final descent into Styx.
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jriddle73 |
#5 | |||
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This is, without a doubt, my favorite Franco film.
It's a really great piece of work, there's no doubt about it. I went into it hearing all sorts of great things, and it still managed to exceed all of my expectations. Franco does that quite frequently, actually. My first exposure to it was last year via the U.S. DVD release. I remember seeing, in a local video store in the 1980s, the VHS box for what I assume was the version with the Rollin dream-sequence inserts. Great cover art (and, if I recall correctly, displayed across the front of one of those oversized boxes), but, for some reason, I never watched the movie. It's probably just as well. I wouldn't have understood Franco back then anyway. As to the matter of favorites, I think about this every time I start to write about his work, and I've finally decided that I can't pick a favorite Franco. There are too many of them that are too good, and that are too different to compare, even when they're telling exactly the same story. I can prefer one to another, but I always feel as though I'm unfairly slighting the one I don't denote as a preference. I've stopped trying to pick a favorite. I am a Franco fan. That's enough for me. That leads me back to something about which I tried to start a thread when I first came here (still haven't figured that one out). I doubt I have to sell anyone here on the merits of Franco's work. His shortcomings are always radically overstated by his critics. Something I've discovered, through my increasingly extensive delvings into that work, though, is that those shortcomings have probably also been radically overstated by his admirers. You find reviews all over the place hailing a given Franco film, but prefacing laudatory remarks by saying something like "most Franco movies are worthles drek, but this one...." I'll be the first to acknowledge Franco can churn out a complete waste of cinematic space with no redeeming value, when he's at his worst (OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES, I'm callin' you out!), but I've come across a lot fewer examples of this than what most commentary on his work suggests. His resources are limited, but he really is a top-notch filmmaker, and, in context, the pooches in his pound come across as simply the inevitable consequence of having made so many movies for so many years, and for so little money. No one can be at the top of their game that often and under those circumstances. It would, in fact, be a remarkable credit to his skills as a filmmaker if he'd only managed to turn out even two or three really good flicks at the impoverished budget levels and breakneck pace at which he worked for decades, but he has dozens of bona fide classics under his belt. I think he's been terribly underestimated, even by many of those of us who admire him. |
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jriddle73 |
#6 | |||
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Here's a screenshot from my favorite scene in the film: Christina's final descent into Styx.
Watch that ending: http://www.praeraffaeliten.de/bilder/Waterhouse-Hylas-Nymphs.jpg |
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wearethedead6 |
#7 | |||
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Yes, a beautiful film. Probably my favorite Franco and definately the one which led me to his cannon of works. it's mood and cinematography, Nicolai score,
etc. Beautiful cast and great weirdness throughout. It's great to find this film has affected so many others as well.
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bobmonel |
#8 | |||
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Watch that ending:
http://www.praeraffaeliten.de/bilder/Waterhouse-Hylas-Nymphs.jpg Thanks for the link, looks like fun. What's the image from? |
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DouglasWaltz |
#9 | |||
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I don't have the one with that orgy sequence. I do believe that my grey market tape is all Franco. That's the one that I prefer of all the versions I
have seen, but I think it's because that's the one that I have seen the most. The US DVD release annoys the Hell out of me because the voices sound
horrid in comparison to the one that I'm used to. The picture quality is better, but I can't get past the voices.
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jriddle73 |
#10 | |||
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What's the image from?
That's "Hylas and the Nymphs," a John William Waterhouse painting from 1896. I think it reminiscent of the last scene of "A Virgin Among the Living Dead." Someone else actually deserves the credit for pointing it out to me some time ago, but I can't remember where, in this big ol' internet, they did it. |
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Martirio |
#11 | |||
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Hello, I am Pedro from Portugal, I am a cinema student (theory over practice), this is my very favorite Franco film, but I am very disappoited with the film
version that I have, it's the Manga Films release, I guess it has a lot of cut material that never shows up, do you have any infos on this? or where I can
get a good copy, or perhaps someone would be generous enough to duplicate one of the versions? I don't know.. let me know! all the best
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bobmonel |
#12 | |||
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Welcome to CINEMADROME, Pedro. How long is the Manga version? The IMAGE version seems to be the one closest to Franco's original intention. You can order
it.
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Martirio |
#13 | |||
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Hello Bob, thanks for the infos, the Manga versions runs for abaout 90 minutes, but sometimes it seems to lack some stuff I've seen mentioned at some
reviews and message boards. I'll look for that Image version, which seems to suit the correct lenght and greatness of this film.
By the way, do you know the running time of this Image version? Thanks again! |
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bobmonel |
#14 | |||
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Pedro, Does the Manga version have any of those zombie inserts in it? The IMAGE runs approximately 79m.
I have versions which last 1hr 45m at least! With Lots of non Franco footage inserted by Eurocine. BTW Pedro, I think VIRGIN was partially shot in Portugal, have you been to the locations?
Last Edited By: bobmonel 05/21/08 14:05:59.
Edited 2 times.
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Martirio |
#15 | |||
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the Manga version has none of zombie footage, but it seems some shots are not complete. I haven't been to the precise location (the yellow mansion), but I
was told it goes in Sintra (near Lisbon); this region has a cult status for ancient magic practices and has always been highly connected to occultism over
centuries. There is a vast lenght of shots at this location, Bava, Ossorio and so on, I guess it was persued by many tourists in the seventies as it held this
esoteric imagery which was so "in vogue" at the time. There is a Monsserat Palace in Sintra which is mentioned in the film.
Anyway, at what purpose were these zombie shots stitched to the film? I guess this Image version as some supressed material for a running time of 79 minutes? Here is a link for the locations with some pictures: http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_tourism/costadelisboa/sintra/indexp.html
Last Edited By: Martirio 05/23/08 03:43:27.
Edited 2 times.
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bobmonel |
#16 | |||
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Thanks for the link and information about Sintra. I'd like to hear more about the ancient legends about it. There are numerous esoteric references in the
film.
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bobmonel |
#17 | |||
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This is my definitive version of the film. Then I got the cleaned up DVD presentation form the Eurohorror Collection and can't stand it. The voices are all
wrong and it grates on my nerves. Sure, the picture is ten times better, but I still would rather watch my gray market VHS tape than the DVD. Weird, huh?
I dug out that gray market version in French and it's interesting. For some reason this works better for me without the perfect pic quality, and I can't stand the English language voice track. It's a free-form horror film, experimental. It's more along the lines of SUCCUBUS/NECORNOMICON. I think Franco had said it was inspired by the Spanish goth writer, Becquer, who is often compared to Poe. But I'm not sure what story, if any. |
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dwaltzwriter |
#18 | |||
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I agree, sir. I was so happy to get a cleaned up print of the film and then the voices ruined it for me. Very disappointing. Maybe if I could run the audio and
subtitles of one on the print of the other that would be a good thing. Not sure how I would accomplish it though. I'll stick with my gray market VHS for
now.
Go to Divine Exploitation at www.divineexploitation.blogspot.com for the truly offbeat!
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bobmonel |
Monteseratte Castle, Portugal | #19 | ||
From VIRTUAL PORTUGAL; thanks to Martirio for the link. The location for VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD and CECILIA.... |
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JeremyRichey |
#20 | |||
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Just wanted to add some more love for the film, one of my favorites from Franco. I find it to be one of the most haunting and resonate of his works and
I'm more and more enthralled by Christina von Blanc each time I watch it. The film is a real masterpiece.
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