A filmmaker as notorious as his output, Jess (Jesús) Franco made at least 173, and maybe more than 180, films and was a workaholic pumping out as many sexploitation, horror and sexploitation-horror films as he was able and allowed to. Most often working with little to no money, Franco is famous for recycling actors and footage in his productions, to the extent where cast members would be surprised to see themselves and their name crop up in another one or two films atop the one they were actually hired for, and his fans would recognise footage in his latest feature from one of his previous ones!
 
This was not done out of laziness or for financial gain though. Franco had a true love for movies and stories and said that he was no “false intellectual”, but rather just wanted people to see his films and enjoy them. Not that he enjoyed them himself! Franco is quoted as saying: “I don't think I've done anything important or magnificent. I'm a worker and the thing I prefer in my life is cinema. When I'm working in cinema, I'm happy. And that's all, you know?”
 
11 out of 180 isn’t bad and our Jess Franco collection aims to give an all-encompassing view of his output, touching on many of his favourite subjects: lesbianism, vampires, zombies, and sadomasochism and the works of the Marquis de Sade, in films like Vampyros Lesbos, Female Vampire, Oasis of the Living Dead, The Sadistic Baron von Klaus and Eugenie De Sade.
 
We have even included Zombie Lake, which Franco was going to write and direct until he dropped out following an argument with the film’s producers over the paltry budget and the film was promptly turned over to our old friend Jean Rollin (check out our Fantastique Collections of his work if you haven’t already). The Rollin-Franco connection doesn’t stop there, as Jean was also later hired to film new footage that was added to a re-release of A Virgin Among the Living Dead!
 
So kick back and prepare to binge a collection of films that push the boundaries of taste and decency in all the best and most fun ways and will leave you easily able to spot any of his 169 other films a mile away.