| Kiss Me, Monster (1969) 78 min |
| aka Besame Monstruo Castle of the Doomed KuB Mich, Monster Das SchloB der Gehenkten |
| Jess Franco's sequel his own Two Undercover Angels is extremely lite compared to his usual material. He works surprisingly well under these conditions though; Kiss Me, Monster is a ton of fun! The plot is silly, even for a Franco film. It's a loving parody of spy films that predates Austin Powers by almost 30 years! |
| The two leads from Two Undercover Angels (Janine 'Succubus' Reynaud and Rasanna Yanni) return and almost immediately become tangled up in an incoherent mess of a mystery. They recieve some musical notes from a messenger who was stabbed in the back and before you can put together what's happening are performing strip teases and getting kidnapped by island lesbians. I know this sounds like typical Franco, but it really is different. It's more campy than sleazy and there is far less gratuitus nudity than usual. Anyway, the action is always as fun as it is incoherent. They continue probing the mystery and people wind up dead every few minutes. There are so many plot twists that they become difficult to keep up with. |
| While this is by no means family fare, it is still one of Franco's most accessible films. The jazzy musical score, attractive leads, and quick pace make this one a great group watch. I could see people who aren't generally fans of Franco's work having a good time with this. It's so harmless when compared to Vampyros Lesbos or Ilsa, The Wicked Warden that I coudn't imagine it offending anyone but the most prudish of viewers. |
| This is high camp at its best (or worst, depending on your viewpoint). Franco is such in interesting director in that he can go from features like this to the raunchy-as-hell Lina Romay collaborations to something like Oasis of the Zombies! While he doesn't always hit the mark with his films he has a track record that makes us here at The Horror Show proud with over 175 offbeat directorial efforts. I salute Franco for being one of the most versatile, prolific, and enduring autuers of our time. |
| Unfortunately for Franco fans though, this is one of Anchor Bay's more embarrassing early releases. I acknowledge that they have gotten their act together as far as DVD releasing goes, but this release still leaves much to be desired. The good points are that is in it's original aspect ratio (1.66:1) and the trailer is included. The major setback is that this release is CUT! I haven't seen any other print, but seeing as this is not a very explicit title I have a feeling the cuts aren't that severe. It is a good amount of time though, reducing the film from 85 minutes to 78. I don't know if this film will warrant a revisiting like the Evil Dead series, Hellraiser, or Zombie but the royal treatment would be nice. |
| I give this one 3 1/2 savage lesbians out of 5! |
| review by Joe Canistro 02/22/2002 |
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