Jess Franco: The World's Most Dangerous Filmmaker

This is a very poorly written book that offers shallow analysis of a random selection Franco's films. It reads like a series of blog posts by a pompous fanboy. It offers zero value for critical evaluation or fresh insight into Franco's work. Waste time and money.

I love the author's enthusiasm for Franco. It is a refreshing departure from the usual insulting way that criticism is constructed. With so many Franco films out there, it can be hard to decide which to focus on if you are just starting out, and the book is an immense help in that category.

Passionate analysis of many Jess Franco films and interesting hard to find biographical material for many of Franco's collaborators. Upjohn is clearly a fan, but I found this provides the book with an energy often missing in book length film criticism. Copious illustrations include stills and movie posters. Includes an invaluable filmography for a director whose films often appeared under different titles. A valuable film reference work.

What a waste of money this was. Based on the subject and title, I was expecting a fun, entertaining read on this iconoclastic filmmaker--with lots of photos from his films, posters, etc. What I got instead was egghead, pseudo-academic, boring writing with almost zero graphic content. Worst, the writer either exaggerates or downright invents positives about all of Jess's films--even terrible ones like Lust for Frankenstein. Utterly worthless. Don't waste your money.

This is an enthusiastic appraisal of many of the films of Jess Franco. It doesn't include them all, and the films are not reviewed in order - but this reflect the nature of Franco himself: rarely conforming to any laws. Whilst some points are made more than once - sometimes notes on a film take second place to an overview of Franco's entire career - there is no denying the passion on display here.Jess Franco and his films don't appease the wider audience, and as he pursued his vision, his projects became ever more personal. Defying their low, often minuscule, budget, they increasingly appealed to a narrower audience. Kristofer Todd Upjohn is clearly a spirited member of that audience, as am I, and his book comes strongly recommended.

If you don't know the films of Jess Franco.. but you're curious, DON'T BUY THIS BOOK.If you do know the films of Jess Franco, and want an interesting/informative/entertaining read, DON'T BUY THIS BOOK.If however you want to be bored to tears, or you enjoy pseudo-intellectualising and psychobabble, this is the book for you. This book reads like a university thesis by an author desperate to be seen as an art-intellectual.Jess Franco once said, that he made films to entertain and make the audience happy. This book misses those objectives completely.

Nice compact edition

Jess Franco hat so manche Perle geschaffen. Seinen Ruf als Meister des schlechten Geschmacks verdankt er dem Umstand, dass sich seine Schmuckstücke in einer riesigen Truhe filmischen Schrotts, den er gleichfalls zu verantworten hat, verstecken. Nicht, dass wir uns falsch verstehen: auch seine schrottigen Ergüsse vermögen regelmäßig (zumindest unter voyeuristischen Aspekten) zu unterhalten. Aber man soll die Kinder doch bitte beim Namen nennen und nicht einen hastig runtergekurbelten Sexploitation-Reißer zum Kunstwerk erklären. Jess Franco selbst hat dies nie getan.Anders hingegen der Autor dieses Buches, der nicht müde wird, in jedem dritten Satz Franco mit Sätzen wie „The world needs Jess Franco“ und „The world is a better place with Franco in it“ anzupreisen. Viel mehr hat er nicht zu sagen, denn qualifizierte Sätze oder Kurzweiligkeit hat dieses Buch nicht anzubieten. Die pseudointellektuellen Sprüche mit erhobenem Zeigefinger und subtextuelle Deutungen der besonders abwegigen Art sind eher dazu geeignet, Filminteressierte von Francos Werk fernzuhalten als zu begeistern.Spätestens nach der 700. Lobhudelei – und das dürfte in der Summe nicht einmal eine Übertreibung darstellen – werden selbst Franco-Fans, zu denen ich mich ebenfalls zähle, sagen: Jetzt ist aber echt mal Schluss. Der Mann hat seinen Fans viel Freude bereitet und er lebt auch nach seinem Tod in seinen Filmen weiter. Aber Franco war kein Gott, kein Großmeister, kein Genie. Franco wusste das und hatte stets nur Eines im Sinn: sein Publikum zu unterhalten. Das hat er geschafft. Anders als dieses überflüssige Buch.