She Killed in Ecstasy

This is the second film of Jess Franco I got to see. I have to admit that he is watchable on the level that his film are so different styled, that are indeed interesting. Better in the idea and plot from legendary "Vampiros lesbos", filmed in the same year , it fails a bit in camera work and photography. If you liked Vampiros Lesbos, go see it.

Featuring the beautiful brunette Miranda, this film scores better as a softcore porn rather than a thriller. Whatever the case, it just ain't the typical atmosphere you would expect in such a film. And of course this is recommended to all fans of sexploitation films. This even got enough style to make interesting viewing.

Dr. Johnson (Fred Williams) is happily married with his beloved wife Mrs. Johnson (Soledad Miranda) and is researching human embryos using animal cells. When he brings his findings to the Board of the prominent Dr. Franklin Houston (Paul Müller), Prof. Jonathan Walker (Howard Vernon), Dr. Crawford (Ewa Stroemberg) and Dr. Donen (Jesus Franco), the committee rejects his researches and destroys his laboratory. Dr. Johnson has a nervous breakdown and commits suicide, and the disturbed Mrs. Johnson seeks revenge, seducing each member of the Board and killing one by one while having sex with her victims.

"Sie Tötete in Ekstase" a.k.a. "She Killed in Ecstasy" is a movie of revenge that uses a storyline very similar to François Truffaut's "The Bride Wore Black" with a grieving woman seeking revenge on the responsible for the death of her beloved lover. However, this film follows the usual style of the director Jesus Franco, with kinky sex, nudity, lesbianism and murders. The hot Soledad Miranda is very beautiful and sexy. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Ela Matou em Êxtase" ("She Killed in Ecstasy")

Jess Franco regarded the late Soledad Miranda as his muse and was devastated by her tragic death in 1970. The two made a handful of extraordinary movies released in 1970-71 with Miranda billed as "Susann Korda", including the legendary 'Vampyros Lesbos', arguably Franco's finest achievement. I've seen four of the Franco/Miranda collaborations to date, the others being 'Eugenie De Sade', which is almost as great as 'Vampyros Lesbos', and 'The Devil Came From Akasava', a campy (but entertaining) potboiler. 'She Killed In Ecstasy' is definitely better than 'Akasava', but not quite as impressive as the other two. I'm not exactly sure, but I get the impression that some of them were shot simultaneously. They share the same visual style, groovy music, and similar casts. Miranda plays the wife of a scientist (Fred Williams) who suicides after his experimental research is rejected by the medical establishment. She gets her revenge by seducing and murdering the four committee members involved with the decision one by one. They are played by Franco regulars Howard Vernon and Paul Muller, 'Vampyros Lesbos' co-star Ewa Stromberg and Franco himself. The cast also includes Horst Tappert who was in 'Akasava' playing a policeman. I've seen something like twenty Jess Franco movies to date, which is only a fraction of his 180+ output, but it's enough to know that I'm hooked. I find it to be difficult to be objective about his work, as even his lesser movies contain bits of genius. He is a frustratingly uneven director, capable of making astonishing movies when he really tries, but too often content to release seemingly rushed and unfinished films. 'She Killed In Ecstasy' is probably not the best place to start if you are a Franco neophyte, but I'd certainly rate it among his better films, and the utterly beautiful Soledad Miranda is always mesmerizing to look at. Newcomers are still recommended to start with 'Vampyros Lesbos', but if you get the chance to see this film, don't hesitate.

Jesus Franco has made so many movies that it's almost inevitable that he will occasionally get one right. This is one of those movies where his bizarro and repetitive plots, his pan-and-zoom-happy cinematography, and his obtrusive jazz score all manage to gel for a pretty dumb but thoroughly enjoyable movie. It helps, of course, that this was one of only four films he made with the incredible Soledad Miranda before her untimely death in the early 1970's. There's no denying that Franco's regular collaborator (and wife), Lina Romay, was a very sexy actress in her prime and has become something of a legend in her own right, but she is a pale shadow of Soledad Miranda, who was if anything even more beautiful and had a kind of class and talent that none of Franco's later actresses could ever hope to emulate.

The plot is about as simple as you get--this is yet another Franco knock-off of "The Bride Wore Black" with Miranda avenging herself on the scientists who drove her husband to suicide by censuring his morally dubious embryo research. Of course, this involves getting them all in bed (including the one woman, who is naturally a lesbian). This makes for some interesting (and sometimes disturbing) scenes--a nude woman being smothered with a see-through plastic throw pillow, a single trickle of blood running down Miranda's bare thigh after she stabs one poor guy in the back (while he is apparently licking the lint from her belly button), and, perhaps most disturbing of all, Howard Vernon, Dr. Orloff himself, in the altogether(shudder!). Like any good Franco movie this film is deliciously perverse. Miranda's murderous campaign against these hapless souls is every bit as morally questionable as her husbands grisly experiments. She manages to achieve an uneasy combination of touchingly sympathetic, voraciously sexy, and frighteningly psychotic. Her last two victims (one of who is Franco himself) realize exactly who she is and know she is going to kill them, but they can't resist her anymore than a male praying mantis can resist the female who is going to rip him apart and eat him.

Is this is perfect movie? Well, no. The whole premise is completely ridiculous and it has the most unconvincing fatal car crash in cinema history near the end. But it sure is a lot of fun to watch.

Jess Franco is not known for telling a great story, but he sure knows how to show flesh and he shows it very well in She Killed in Ecstasy.

Dr Johnson is happily married to a beautiful woman (Soledad Miranda). He is conducting experiments on human embryos that he keeps jars in his lab. When he shows his findings to a medical board, they are outraged by what he is doing. They call it blasphemy and immoral. They strip him of his medical license and destroy his lab. This drives him over the edge and he commits suicide. His wife distressed decides to take revenge against the doctors who ruined his life and killed him. She speaks to her dead husband's corpse and promises to get those who did him wrong. She seduces all the doctors including a woman to get her revenge. She finds they are not as moral as they appear to be.

She Killed in Ecstasy is Jess Franco's follow-up to Vampyros Lesbos and features many of the same people who worked on Lesbos, including the late Soledad Miranda as Ms. Johnson. She is breathtakingly seductive as the woman who will do anything to avenge her husband's death. The film has a faster pace than Franco's usual offerings and not to hard to take, as the film does not run to long, plus Soledad's body is easy on the eyes.