Voodoo Passion — Voodoo Passion(Blu Ray)
From the late 70’s Voodoo Passion is a mystery-edged slice of softcore sleaze from prolific Euro cult director Jess Franco. It regards the wife of a British consular- who goes to visit him in Hati and starts having dreams about being part of voodoo rituals & murder. The film mixes mellow jazz to ritual percussive scored erotica, is she-going-mad- or-not mystery, and moments of unease/disquiet. Here from Full Moon is a region-free Blu-ray release of the film.
Voodoo Passion( aka Der Ruf Der Blonden Göttin, Call Of The Blonde Mystery, Porno Shock ) is from the year 1977. It was a Swiss production originally filmed in the German language- it's one of a few films Franco made with infamous producer Erwin C. Dietrich. Been mostly filmed in various places around Portugal- with stock holiday footage of Hati to sell its meant-to-be location. It’s one of eight films Franco released in 1977- these take in Ilsa, the Wicked Warden, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, Kiss Me Killer, Golden Jail, Sexy Sisters, Love Camp, and Blue Rita.
The film kicks off with Susan(Ada Tauler) a thirtysomething brunette getting off the boat to be met by Inês(Vicky Adams) the half-Haitian/ white housekeeper of her husband. She arrives at the grand -shadowy oak interior of the consular’s mansion- first met by the rather shifty/ unhelpful staff of the house. Finally, she is led to her bedroom- and laid out naked on the bed is Olga(Karine Gambier) the bright white bleached blond sister of her husband. As things unfold, we meet the consular Jack- played by Franco regular Jack Taylor. The pair have passionate sex- as Olga rolls around moaning ‘n’ groaning next door with a wine bottle.
Susan starts having seemingly very real nightmares- first, they regard her going to some ruins in a tropical forest with a nude Inês- to take part in a ritual drum-led ceremony- where chicken necks are cut- first in a bowl, then all over her gyrating in the dirt nude body of Susan. Then two occasions where she goes into the rooms of her husband's colleagues- believing she murdered them…though we see no killing or blood.
The features fairly lengthy softcore scenes- blending women & men, and woman-on-woman action- these are shot well enough, and at points have a sweaty intensity to them. We get a few moments of uneasiness/ disquiet- these feature eye close-ups, pin-covered voodoo dolls, and sinisterly dreamy encounters. We get good use of mirrors- be the attention be erotic, or atmospheric
Acting wise Tauler is passable as our lead- really throwing herself into some of the more fevered erotic scenes. Gambier is a fairly cliched nymphomaniac - who constantly wants to help Susan in the bath. Taylor is to his normal standard- though it was surprising to see him in some of the nude romping scenes. But I think the most effective/ memorable performance comes from Adams- as the film's housekeeper, switching between being polite & posh, and mystery, moody, & nude. We get a decent score which blends rapid ethnic percussion, mellow jazz/ fusion, and more sinister/off-angled electronics.
Voodoo Passion very much sits between fairly standard euro softcore and more skewed atmospherics- be they tribal rhythmic driven, or more sinister brooding. The thing is it mostly sits in the softcore side of things- with not enough Franco trademarks/ elements in place. So as a result it certainly has some effective moments/ elements- but ultimately you come away from it feeling somewhat underwhelmed….but I guess at the end of the day his main focus was meant to be sleaze, as that would have been what producer Dietrich would have wanted.
The region-free disc features a nice bright and bold scan. We get an English dub of the film- this takes in a selection of very British-sounding dubbing actors- who are largely rather flat.
Aside from the Franco trailer reel, and the German trailer for the film to hand. The only extra we have here is Franco, Bloody, Franco (40.24) this is a French language( with subtitles) interview with Jess Franco- it dates from 1976 taking place in Zurich. It starts off with talking about his version of Jack The Ripper, filming it in Zurich, and Klaus Kinski. Moving on he talks about his film work in general, his own favourite work by others, his dislike of Hammer films, and his other films. So- well worth a play if you’re a Franco film.
It's always nice/ good to get reissues of Jess Franco's work, and while Voodoo Passion isn't in the upper ranks of his 70’s output- it’s not bad, and will certainly have appeal for hardcore Franco fans, and those looking for 70’s softcore with a few odd edges.