Skip to content

SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY

Written By:

John Knott
shekilledinecstasy

If we were to be so bold as to suggest Jesús Franco might just be Germany’s greatest living auteur, you could be forgiven for finding this view somewhat contentious. At the very least, you’d point out he was Spanish. You might also point out that he’s been dead for two years. They’re pertinent points so who could blame you? But you might also pause for breath and say, “Wasn’t he the bloke who made about two million zero-budget sexploitation movies with vampires in? Wasn’t he, if you’ll forgive me, a bit rubbish?” It’s certainly a valid point of view.

But consider the shattered continuity of his oeuvre: She Killed in Ecstasy was made within weeks of Vampyros Lesbos with much of the same cast and what appears, to the untrained eye, to be the same locations. But Jesús is the tricksy one for much of his vision is subtlety altered. While there are still lesbians, vampires are always more noticeable by their absence and our expectation is being cleverly subverted. Instead, his then-muse, Soledad Miranda portrays the widow of a medical genius whose experiments with human embryos cause difficulties for the neo-orthodox medical establishment. Their cruel rejection leads to him taking his own life and his wife’s obsession to kill the four doctors responsible. Four doctors? Jesús, you old rascal . Right from the off, Jesús wrong foots us like a five-legged fox by repeatedly showing us those tragic human foetuses in jars while we are treated to the staggeringly inappropriate funk soundtrack. The genius of that groove is repeated throughout: whenever we should not be hearing funk, Jesús punctuates the mise-en-scène by defiantly giving us funk. As Miranda removes the penis from her mercifully dead yet masochistic first victim? Yes, get down because it’s time for more red-hot funk.

But the continuous continuity is preserved as Miranda continues the previous film’s seemingly doomed lesbian relationship with Ewa Strömberg. While Strömberg was only seemingly stalked before, this time she really is the prey as Miranda kills her at the height of passion with a transparent inflatable cushion. Savour that image. As Strömberg gurns through the suffocating plastic of fashionable soft furnishing, it is impossible not to raise a smile. The grotesque is being destroyed by merciless modernity. We are celebrating the arrival of the new decade and yet it is killing her just as the monstrous architecture and unspeakable interior design of the ‘70s is slowly eating our souls. What kind of hell is this?

But Jesús tops it all by casting himself as another masochist in the climatic murder that sees them both in ecstasy by duel means as he is tortured and butchered in pleasure and pain. He seems almost to be screaming “I’ve worked with Christopher Lee, dammit! Why won’t anyone give me a decent budget?!” We cannot help but reach out to poor Jesús who is, like Eleanor of Aquitaine, pitiful and yet pitied by no one.

We are left with a single question: this is tosh, but what kind of tosh is this?

Special Features: Four interviews (Jesús Franco, Paul Muller, Stephen Thrower, and Soledad Miranda historian Amy Brown) / German trailer

SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY (1971) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JESÚS FRANCO / STARRING: SOLEDAD MIRANDA, FRED WILLIAMS, EWA STRÖMBERG, PAUL MULLER, HOWARD VERNON, HORST TAPPERT, JESÚS FRANCO / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
 
 

John Knott

You May Also Like...

chinese remake of anaconda drops trailer

ANACONDA Trailer Grants First Look At Remake Of 1997 Horror Flick

Three sequels and a spinoff-crossover film wasn’t enough for the 1997 creature feature Anaconda, which not only has a new movie in development, but is getting a Chinese remake! From
Read More
black widow star scarlett johansson in talks to lead new universal jurassic world film

Scarlett Johansson In Talks To Join JURASSIC WORLD Film

Another MCU star appears to be taking up the reins for Universal’s new Jurassic World movie: two-time Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson is reportedly in talks to lead the franchise that
Read More

Exclusive Reveal! Titan Comics to Deliver Prehistoric Hysterics in First 2 DUMB DINOS Collection

Titan Comics have exclusively revealed to STARBURST that they’re gearing up to publish the first-ever collection of the hilarious cult digital comic strip 2 Dumb Dinos, and we’re not the
Read More

New Dates For Lovecraftian Key of Dreams

Key of Dreams has announced new spaces for its titular immersive luxury horror event. The critically acclaimed company is known for its overnight experiences that dunk you into a strange
Read More

FAB Café to Host Free Film Screening of New Indie Comedy SECRETS OF A WALLABY BOY

We’re well known for our championing of truly independent filmmakers here at STARBURST, so it’s doubly exciting to be writing about one of our own! After joining the crew in
Read More
colin farrell returns as oswald cobblepot in the penguin series trailer

Colin Farrell Returns In THE PENGUIN Trailer

Colin Farrell returns as Gotham City’s answer to Tony Soprano in the first trailer for Max series The Penguin, which spins out of the world of the 2022 DC film
Read More