''She Killed in Ecstasy'' (german: Sie tötete in Ekstase es, Mrs. Hyde) is a 1971 West German-Spanish erotic

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Jesús Franco Jesús Franco Manera (12 May 1930 – 2 April 2013) was a Spanish filmmaker, composer, and actor, known as a prolific director of low-budget exploitation and B-movies. In a career spanning from 1959 to 2013, he wrote, directed, produced, act ...

. The film's plot borrows elements from previous Franco films ''Miss Muerte'' and ''

Venus in Furs ''Venus in Furs'' (german: Venus im Pelz, links=no) is a novella by the Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, and the best known of his works. The novel was to be part of an epic series that Sacher-Masoch envisioned called '' Legacy of Cai ...

''. The film's productions staff includes many cast members and nearly the same crew as his previous film '' Vampyros Lesbos''.

Plot

Dr. Johnson (Fred Williams) lives in bliss with his beautiful wife (Soledad Miranda) until his unorthodox experiments with human embryos causes a medical committee to reject his findings and orders him to discontinue his work. The unstable doctor slashes his wrists in the bathroom. Devastated, his wife vows to seduce and kill the woman and three men "responsible" for the suicide.

Cast

Soledad Miranda Soledad Rendón Bueno (9 July 1943 – 18 August 1970), better known by her stage names Soledad Miranda or Susann Korda (or sometimes Susan Korday), was an actress and pop singer who was born in Seville, Spain. She starred in several erotic th ...

as Mrs. Johnson (as Susann Korda) * Fred Williams as Dr. Johnson *

Ewa Strömberg Ewa Strömberg (13 January 1940 - 24 January 2013), was a Swedish actress. She appeared in a number of Swedish films before her international career. She is possibly best known for her appearance in a number of films by Spanish director Jesús " ...

as Dr. Crawford (as Ewa Stroemberg) * Paul Muller as Dr. Franklin Houston (as Paul Müller) * Howard Vernon as Prof. Jonathan Walker *

Horst Tappert Horst Tappert (26 May 1923 – 13 December 2008) was a German film and television actor best known for the role of Inspector Stephan Derrick in the television drama ''Derrick''. Biography Horst Tappert was born on 26 May 1923 in Elberfeld ...

as Police Inspector *

as Dr. Donen (uncredited) * Rudolph Hertzog Jr. as Congress participant (uncredited) * Karl-Heinz Mannchen as Congress participant (uncredited)

Production

The film was shot in July 1970 in

Calp Calpe () or Calp () is a coastal municipality located in the ''comarca'' of Marina Alta, in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of and a population density of . The city lies at the foo ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, less than a month after finishing his previous film ''Vampyros Lesbos'' (1971). Franco utilized the same cinematographer, film editor, and film composers as he had on ''Vampyros Lesbos'' as well as some of the cast including

and Paul Muller. The architecture of

Ricardo Bofill Ricardo Bofill Leví (; 5 December 1939 – 14 January 2022) was a Spanish architect from Catalonia. He founded Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in 1963 and developed it into a leading international architectural and urban design practice. ...

features prominently in the film, in particular Xanadu. The film re-uses plot elements from Franco's previous films '' Miss Muerte'' and ''

'' (1969).Shipka 2011, p. 205.

Release

''She Killed in Escstacy'' was released on December 10, 1971 in Germany. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Synapse Films Synapse Films is an American DVD and Blu-ray label, founded in 1997 and specializing in cult horror, science fiction and exploitation films. History Synapse Films was owned and operated by Don May, Jr. and his business partners Jerry Chandler ...

in 2000. It was subsequently re-released by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

in 2004. Both versions are currently out of print.

Severin Films Severin Films is an American film production and distribution company known for restoring and releasing cult films on DVD and Blu-ray. History The label was created in 2006 in Los Angeles, and other offices were founded in New York City and Lond ...

released the film on April 14, 2015 for the first time on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

in the

Reception

The online film database Allmovie gave the film their lowest rating of one star out of five, but noted that "A distinctive visual style, replete with surrealistic photography by Manuel Merino, sets this film apart from scores of similar sex-horror entries flooding the market in the early 1970s." The assistant professor Danny Shipka of

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, referred to the film as "one of Franco's strongest of the 70's", praising actress

opining to it as the "most intense performance of her career". Shipka went on to note that the film contains all the excesses of Franco's filmmaking including "stilted dialogue" and "scenes that stretch out for extra ordinary periods of time".Shipka, 2011. p.220

Notes

References

External links

* {{Jesús Franco 1971 horror films 1971 films Films directed by Jesús Franco Films shot in Spain Spanish horror films German horror films 1970s German-language films West German films Spanish erotic thriller films German erotic thriller films Spanish films about revenge German films about revenge German serial killer films Remakes of Spanish films 1970s erotic thriller films Spanish LGBT-related films German LGBT-related films 1970s German films 1970s Spanish films