SNAKEWOMAN
Directed By Jess Franco
Spain/2005 – 96 Minutes/Widescreen

DR. WONG’S VIRTUAL HELL
Directed by Jess Franco
Spain/1998 – 97 Minutes/Widescreen
DVD Provided by SRS Cinema
Article written by Douglas A. Waltz

Carla Berkovitch (Fata Morgana) is being sent by her employers to the Balasz estate to discuss financial matters with the descendants of Oriana Balasz. It seems that she was a famous singer and composer at the turn of the century whose sexual appetites left her a mockery and recluse. Now Carla’s company wants to get hold of all of her artistic endeavors to bring her genius to the world. Unfortunately, the Balasz clan seems a little tight lipped concerning a final film that she made and don’t want to release Oriana’s art to the world.

Carla is slowly becoming enamored with the grand daughter of Oriana who is also named Oriana, a striking woman with a huge, full body tattoo of a snake across her supple flesh. Carla is attracted to Oriana in a way she didn’t see as being possible. But, is Oriana really the grand daughter of the original or something else entirely?

With SNAKEWOMAN, Jess Franco reexamines themes that were prevalent in some of his earlier works. Oriana Balasz (Carmen Montes) is an amalgam of Countess Nadine Carody (as played by Soledad Miranda) from VAMPYROS LESBOS (1971) and Countess Irina Karlstein (as played by Lina Romay) in LES AVALEUSES (AKA THE BARE BREASTED COUNTESS) (1973). She is dark and mysterious like Countess Carody. She even has a manservant named Morpho. But her sexual appetite is more like Countess Karlstein, even to the point that she feeds at people’s sexual organs from time to time. The interesting twist Franco brings to the character of Oriana is that she seems so laid back and genuinely happy from time to time. She has discovered her human feeling with her love for Carla. The two countess were usually sullen and morose and never really happy. Oriana has embraced her identity and enjoys who she is. The film is a journey for both characters. Carla comes to terms with her true sexuality and Oriana realizes that she cannot be happy without Carla in her life, regardless of the fact that she’s a vampire.

Franco does a splendid job with the limitations of shooting on video. The scenes are framed beautifully and each shot is a wonder to behold. He uses a few camera tricks to good effect, especially with his shots of flamingos that make the bird almost seem like some sort of alien creature. It’s like Carla has crossed over into a new realm when the birds are shown. Franco’s obsession with water and the female genitalia are in full evidence in the picture. There are not nearly as many languid shots of the ocean, as in more recent Franco fare, but they are there. His repeated shots of the female genitalia are actually quite beautiful and he even goes so far in one scene as to black out the entire top half of Carla, focusing solely on the place that Oriana will soon feed.

Fata Morgan exudes a warm, sultry sensuality on the screen. She always seems to be taking her time and carefully weighing all decisions she makes, and it turns the character from a stereotype into something unique. And then there is the titular star of the film. Carmen Montes might well be Jess Franco’s singular contribution to his film history for this new millennium. The woman loves the camera and video detracts nothing from the comfortable sexual presence she brings to the role of Snakewoman. A lot of her scenes are her confronting the camera. Even when she is speaking to other people, Franco has transformed the camera into the other actor. She is talking to us and reacting to us. It makes us a part of the film and the ease in which she is able to do this is incredible. You can try to take your eyes off her and it won’t do much good. And I don’t mean because she’s naked either. Some of her more powerful scenes are nothing more than head shots where she is supposed to be talking to Carla, but the camera is standing in for Carla. We are Carla for those brief moments and its movie magic at its best. Hopefully, Carmen Montes won’t be one of the actresses we won’t see again. That would be a real shame.

The DVD has still galleries and as a bonus…another Franco film! The delightful farce DR. WONG’S VIRTUAL HELL is a 1998 production and just a great little slice of cinema. Jess has given us a satire of the Dr. Fu Manchu films that he made back in the late sixties. Using actual word balloons and some wild lighting along with a great, funky title song, Franco has crafted a spoof that makes the Austin Powers series seem weak in comparison.

Jess plays the title character of Dr. Wong. Recently defeated by the wizard Cagliostro, he has decided to end his life. At the last minute he is stopped by his wicked daughter Tsai Ming (Lina Romay) and her personal executioner Loba (Ivalia Ivars). They have a plan using virtual reality to kidnap a wealthy businessman’s daughter (Rachel Sheppard) and ransom her for millions. The businessman is desperate so he calls Dr. Wong’s arch enemy Nelly Smith (Candy Coster, who is actually Lina Romay in a wig) and her sidekick Doc Petrie. They have to stop Dr. Wong before his virtual reality hell consumes the young woman forever. And what of the long dead wizard Cagliostro who has been plaguing Nelly’s dreams of late? How can he help?

DR. WONG’S VIRTUAL HELL is comedic genius from the odd, high-pitched accents that are used throughout to the kooky, lenticular eyeball glasses that are used to represent the virtual reality experience, but only succeed to giving the characters a disjointed look. It’s similar to MARI COOKIE AND THE KILLER TARANTUALA (1998), but the tongue is definitely placed further in the cheek. Thankfully, it’s usually one of the curvaceous cheeks of Ivalia Ivars, who is always up for some decadent Franco goings on. As a double feature, this is prime Franco and is probably his best work in some time. My only true complaint would have to be that the description on the back of the DVD case is some of the worst English I have ever seen. This is bad since there is a quote from Franco on the inside of the DVD jacket that is pure Shakespeare in comparison. Overall, a small complaint for a true treasure from Jess Franco.