Quote:
Originally Posted by Justin101  The Bloody Judge (1970) 
When watching Jess Franco films you come to expect a certain unfinished quality and amateur charm however I have to say that The Bloody Judge is a surprisingly adept film. Camera focus is almost never lost, the direction is pretty tight and the pacing is good throughout. The torture scenes are pretty dubious and the plot/script leaves something to be desired but that's a given when you're watching a Eurotrash movie.
My only real gripe is the civil war scenes which probably go on a little too long and with a bit too much smoke machine and you can't make out what's going on 
Good fun! |
I also watched this last night. (Film club! ha,ha.)
What marks
The Bloody Judge and a few other Franco films such as
Count Dracula, Eugenie,
99 Women,
Castle of Fu Manchu and
The Girl from Rio among others out is that they were made in conjunction with British producer extraordinaire Harry Alan Towers under his company Towers of London.
All Towers productions had fabulous production design and often glorious location work in exotic countries. As he was also a producer for ITV he was never going to be ultra sleazy in the required Franco way so whilst the Franco / Towers films will always look good they often don't feel like a Franco film in style or substance. Mainly as they are much tamer beasts than he normally offers us. Another way of telling if a film is a Towers piece is to check the cast. If the gorgeous Maria Rohm appears (She was Towers wife) then there's every chance.
It's odd you mention the lack of blurry zoom shots. There are one or two. Mainly in the lesbian prison sequence as Rohm licks and kisses the bound girl. This was filmed by Franco for other European markets and wasn't intended for UK/US consumption.
Also note the scene where Christopher Lee's Judge Jeffreys fondles Rohm. You hear Lee's voice and see someones hands but Lee is never in the shot. Again it's another added scene that Lee refused to appear in.