Mjeteconer Just perfect...

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Red-Barracuda The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus is a very early Jess Franco film. It comes from a phase in which he worked in black and white productions. It's about the legend of a long dead, sadistic 17th century Baron who rises from a swamp to kill women. Naturally, in the present day, a series of murders ensues in the vicinity of his castle.This one seemed to stand out for two reasons for me. Firstly, it was nice to see a Franco production sporting such lush black and white cinematography. It really adds a layer of class to proceedings and Franco is not always a director who you would associate with good taste! Secondly, and perhaps more typically of this director, it contained an S&M scene that must be the raciest soft-core sex scene I have seen from a film this old – its full-on topless nudity and kinkiness all the way here and that was rather fun to behold in a film of this vintage. Aside from these two differentiating factors this is a somewhat plodding and overlong murder-mystery that most probably falls under the bracket of the German Krimi sub-genre. It stars Franco regular actor Howard Vernon who once again stands head and shoulders above everybody else from a thespian perspective. All-in-all, an interesting if flawed early Franco.

christopher-underwood I'm not sure if I saw this in the distant past on some rough video or not but recalled nothing of it and decided, following Franco's recent demise, to watch my recently acquired Image release and it's a revelation. I had certainly never seen the most vigorous cellar sequence before but was most impressed with the whole film. It is a little slow but it always looks so good with the marvellous cinematography, presumably by the director himself, and most of it shot outside with great evocative locations. Howard Vernon is his usual splendid self, appearing as guilty as hell and provided you don't expect a breakneck pace this is a highly recommended watch with an absolutely stunning and ambiguously shot, aforementioned cellar scene.

MARIO GAUCI My last-viewed Jess Franco movie had been the supremely silly CELESTINE, AN ALL-ROUND MAID (1974); I was therefore relieved to catch something from his initial black-and-white phase, not that the end result proved exactly satisfying (especially since, at 95 minutes, it tends to drag somewhat). Incidentally, since I missed out on celebrating the notorious Spanish director's 80th birthday last year, I was ready to make amends now with as many as 15 Franco titles scheduled for this month (10 of them will even be first-time viewings) and 5 more that are in a way related or somewhat similar in theme and approach! This pretty much evokes the same mood as the superior THE DIABOLICAL DOCTOR Z (1965): in fact, I think his style kept improving or, if you like, gradually became more polished and reached its zenith in that film before he turned his attention to color and, with the new-found permissiveness, his erotic concern also came to the fore (which, in my book, was not a good thing but that argument is better left for another day and another film). By the way, even if these early efforts were officially Spanish productions, they are easier to come by in their slightly-altered (emphasizing the nudity quotient, sometimes gratuitously so, which on its home ground would have been repressed by the State Censorship Board!) French versions via the Eurocine company; thankfully, this copy retains the French dialogue which is (by far) superior to the English dubs…though the original Spanish title, which translates to THE HAND OF A DEAD MAN, is decidedly classier than the one it got stuck with here!The narrative is quite typical and, in fact, his later Dracula'S DAUGHTER (1972; no relation to the 1936 Universal horror classic) makes for a direct remake of it: if anything, Franco frequently ingeniously (or is that ingenuously) revamped a plot that he felt a particular affinity with or, perhaps to put it more crudely, a formula that seemed to work – personally, I find his most interesting double-feature in this vein to be the blood-sucking combo of COUNT Dracula (1969; which I will be revisiting presently since I have only caught it thus far in the slightly extended but unsubtitled Spanish-language version) and VAMPYROS LESBOS (1970). Anyway, this is not bad but it does not reach any great heights either: we have a series of murders which seem to be tied to one particular family and, apparently, are a reprise of a killing spree perpetrated by an ancestor. The obvious suspect is the new head of the family (played by the sinister-looking and Franco regular Howard Vernon) but, as it turns out, it is someone else who had so far been depicted as reasonably sympathetic and virtuous – that said, there are clues to his true nature when he barely bats an eyelid over the death of his mother…unless this was a combination of bad direction and listless acting (with Franco, you are never really sure)! In the end, he voluntarily joins his progenitor into the swamps (again, foreshadowing a subsequent picture by the director, namely A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD {1971}).The film contains elements which would soon become trademarks such as the dysfunctional family unit, the cabaret act and the Police procedural, yet Franco is most inspired when he tries to emulate his idol Orson Welles – particularly a night-time chase through the streets marked by tilted camera angles! As I said, on the other hand, the would-be titillating inserts do not really add anything to the proceedings or the film's overall assessment: indeed, these so-called "Continental Versions" were never more than sensation-seeking exploitation ploys and, at this juncture, come across as mere curiosities!

Witchfinder General 666 Too often is the prolific Spanish Exploitation-deity Jess Franco dismissed as a producer of nothing but sleazy trash. Fact is that the man's impressive repertoire of over 190 films, especially his earlier work, includes several creepy, elegant and downright brilliant films, such as "Gritos En La Noche" ("The Awful Dr. Orloff", 1962) and "Miss Muerte" ("The Diabolical Dr. Z.", 1966), just to name the two most outstanding examples. While "La Mano De Un Hombre Muerto" aka. "The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus" of 1962 is not nearly as great as the aforementioned two film, it is yet another good example for the stylish creepiness of Franco's early Horror films, and the man's well-deserved status as a pioneer of European Exploitation cinema."The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus" is set in a German village the residents of which are still haunted by its past. Once, their ancestors had suffered from the evil deeds of a sadistic Baron, who terrorized the area. When a young girl gets brutally murdered, the first suspect is the Baron's descendant (Howard Vernon), who happens to be the spitting image of his murderous ancestor...Franco creates a morbid and creepy atmosphere by employing the typically elegant black-and-white cinematography, eerie settings and macabre set-pieces of his early films. Most of the film is set in gloomy alleys, a dark forest, Gothic castles, tombs and other eerie places. Franco also delivers pioneering Sleaze - the film features female nudity as well as sadistic sexual perversions, which was not exactly the norm in 1962. Franco once again employs the great Howard Vernon, the most regular leading-man of his early films and a true master of sinister roles. The film drags a tiny bit in the middle, but the second half is truly intense. Overall, Franco's second Horror film is not as essential as the masterpiece "The Awful Dr. Orloff", which was released shortly before, but definitely a very good Horror film and early Euro-Exploitation effort that my fellow Franco-fans can not afford to miss. 7.5/10.