Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Bezenby Whereas Felini is content to betray his films to almost coherent plot and the shameful act of playing his hand too early, Jess Franco smothers his visual media idiom with layers upon layers of fantasy and dream sequence. Not only does the main character, whom I refuse to give a name to, tip-toe through the film's haze in a daze of somnambulant wonder, but her steely stare and enigmatic dialogue can almost conjure up feelings of confusion. We are watching a film where the protagonist almost has no identity at all, so should we feel guilty for feeling that the film has no plot at all? I think Franco achieves his aim here, for Succubus is a barrage of buzzwords all done with smoke and mirrors. I was so impressed I almost kicked the television in through sheer jealousy.His artistic vision is such that his contempt for his audience is to be commended. Why else would he insert a party sequence where a dwarf and a transvestite dance, a girl asks for her doll back, and a man in a suit reads beat poetry? It was only logical that everyone started acting like dogs, for here Franco is showing us that we are all animals at heart. In a show of unison, I was foaming at the mouth at this sequence, like a rabid dog. In this magical scene, Franco relentlessly throws pretension in our faces until we are left with nothing but animalistic feelings of rage and hate.The scene with the dummies is also of note. Here, Franco is clearly, blatantly showing us that we, that is those who paid money for Succubus, are the real dummies. The performance art, where people are chained to posts, is also an obvious metaphor. Franco is the one holding the knife (representing this film), and we, the audience, are the ones tied to the posts, helpless, enduring the torture. Truly, this man cannot but stand head and shoulders above his contemporaries.I may be beneath such a visionary, because I don't quite understand the technique Franco employs to actually stretch time within a film. The back of the DVD said this film was about 72 minutes long, but somehow, probably because I was lost in such a fantasy world before me, this film seemed to last twice that length. Franco is so good at his art that even time cannot withstand his power.Succubus doesn't quite reach the heights of White Cannibal Queen (amazing parable of man's fight against technological progress – why else would the jungle be so obviously set in a park), or The Devil Hunter (words fail me with this one – the struggle of the African man against the white invader – If you don't get that by Al Cliver fighting a naked, circumcised man then you simply aren't watching), but I think here, by riddling the dialogue with pop culture references, Franco truly makes a film that is beyond criticism.I give this film a one. Franco has no need for ratings. His films are beyond ratings. And what's beyond the beyond? Nothing. Therefore: Jess Franco's films should get ratings of 0.

Woodyanders Nightclub striptease artist Lorna Green (ravishing redhead Janine Reynaud in peak sultry and enigmatic form) performs a racy S&M act that threatens to become a deadly reality. Pretty soon Lorna is having trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality. Is Lorna some kind of agent for Satan? Or is she just going mad? Director Jess Franco, working from an oblique, yet intriguing script by Pier A. Caminecci, delivers an artful blend of elegance and decadence that along with the languid pace, tasteful, but still highly arousing nudity and kinky sex stuff, a supremely hip and groovy jazz score by Friedrich Gulda and Jerry van Rooyen, a nifty array of eclectic literary and cinematic references, and an extremely abstract narrative that keeps you guessing right up until the end exactly what is going on all combine together to create a heady and hypnotic mind trip that casts its own singularly off-kilter spell and radiates its own heavy and unique psychedelic vibe. This movie is a true work of boldly unconventional and experimental avant-garde cinema that plays by its own decidedly obscure and esoteric rules, with a wealth of gorgeous visuals courtesy of the vibrant color cinematography by Jorge Herrero and Franz Xavier Lederle and such inspired moments of sheer weirdness as a bunch of people at a posh party acting like dogs and mannequins that for some inexplicable reason come to creepy life. The insanely lovely Reynaud looks positively smashing in fancy dresses and even better in the buff. Moreover, there are fine performances by Jack Taylor as Lorna's suavely evil manager William Francis Mulligan, Adrian Hoven as concerned psychiatrist Ralf Drawes, and Michel Lemoine as the sinister Pierce. Howard Vernon briefly pops up in a neat bit part as the flaky Admiral Kapp. An admirably bizarre and uncompromising little curio.

The_Void I've come to realise from watching Euro horror, especially films made by cult luminary Jess Franco, that you can't expect a plot that makes much sense. However, Franco has gone overboard with this film; and despite a surreal atmosphere, and the film's reputation as one of the director's best - Succubus is unfortunately is a truly awful film. I've got to admit that I saw the American cut version, which runs at about 76 minutes; but unless it was just the logic that was cut, I'm sure the longer European version is just as boring. The plot has something to do with a woman marauding around; practicing S&M and talking rubbish, and it's all really boring. There's no gore and the sex is dull, and most of the runtime is taken up by boring dialogue and despite the fact that this is a short film; I had difficulty making it all the way to the end. I have to say that the locations look good and Franco has done a good job of using his surreal atmosphere; but the positive elements end there. Jess Franco is definitely a talented director that has made some classic trash films - but this looks like it was one he made for the money, and overall I recommend skipping it and seeing some of the director's more interesting works.

Coventry Even though there's a repertoire of over 180 films to choose from, this 'Succubus' is often named as THE best Jess Franco film. Heck, even the legendary filmmaker Fritz Lang counts 'Succubus' among his personal favorites. So, maybe it's me but I thought this was a dreadfully boring and overly confusing movie. The opening is great, though, and shows Janine Reynaud performing an SM act on stage. It's all downhill from here, unfortunately. Reynaud's character is a maneater who eventually kills her lovers in some sort of trance. Franco had a decent budget to work with and spends it well on nice locations, beautiful photography and a mesmerizing musical score. This COULD have been his greatest film indeed, if it wasn't for the lame and uninteresting story. It's supposed to be psychedelic but I'd say sophomoric is a better term to describe what's shown here. Half of the time, you don't have a clue what's going on or what exactly is said so even the short running time of 80 minutes seems to last ages. This most certainly isn't Franco's best film according to me. I wouldn't even recommend it to die-hard exploitation fans. If you're looking for more superior Jess Franco film, try to get your hands on 'Las Vampiras', 'The awful Dr. Orloff' or 'Female Vampire'.