BARE BREASTED COUNTESS with Jess Franco Live

Rated R; 82min; Director:Jess Franco (1973)

Location: Alamo South Lamar

This show is a part of the Fantastic Fest Signature Series, Click to See More

TThis year Fantastic Fest welcomes hugely prolific auteur Jess Franco, a man who has carved out a special place in film history with his wholly unique oeuvre of sex films.We will show a selection of Mr. Franco's films during Fantastic Fest and present him with our first Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by Ain't It Cool News.

With Jess Franco and star Lina Romay Live!

By 1973 when this film was made, Jess Franco had made over 50 feature films. In that year alone, he made 10. He was becoming hyper-prolific, which had the effect of making his entire output like a single fascinating saga of nymphomaniacs, vampires, amazons, undercover strippers, tragic gangsters, sexy nuns and the like. Also by this time, his mastery of the technical side of film was so polished, and his sense of story so acute that he could make a film on almost no budget - mostly just a travel allowance and the film cost. THE BARE BREASTED COUNTESS is one of the best films of this period. It has a small cast, only a few locations and very apparent technical limitations. Some critics of Franco take this movie to task for what they consider an overuse of the zoom lens. But a sharper-eyed viewing shows Franco's zoom use to be a brilliant new form of cinematic expression, different but similar to the way Robert Altman and Richard Rush were using the telephoto lens in the U.S. The film's overriding visual asset is the teenage actress Lina Romay, who became Franco's cinematic muse following the death of actress Soledad Miranda. Romay burns up the screen, and Franco wisely gives her the room to do it. It is, finally, a cinematic record of the tremendous sex appeal of a beautiful actress. The screen action, such as it is, is a pas de deux between Romay's Countess Irina Karlstein, a vampire who extracts the love juice of her victims, and Franco regular Jack Taylor's Baron von Rathony, who feels imperceptibly drawn to the Countess until they are finally together in the most intimate way possible. Structured as a surreal tone poem accompanied by the unforgettable music of Daniel White, this is a film like no other. (Lars)

Kid Policy: 18 and up; Children 6 and up will be allowed only with a parent or guardian. No children under the age of 6 will be allowed.

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