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Hello, my name is Jess Franco.

I am a director of Spanish origin, as people say in France.

I have done most of my films outside of Spain.

I have been making movies for a long time

which means that I have made movies throughout General Franco's regime.

As a director, I have made movies just about everywhere

in England, France, Germany, Italy, the United States

sometimes under various aliases.

Hello, my name is Lina Romay.

I am an actress, originally from Spain.

I have been in quite a few movies, not especially in Spain and maybe this is

the reason why you haven't heard much about me.

I too have worked under different aliases.

I am very happy to be watching this film.

So then, what can I tell you?

You are seeing the first images, here under the credits.

I made this movie about twelve, fourteen years ago, right?

Yes, approximately.

We shot the film in Paris.

It's a French film.

It is not a Spanish co-production.

The producer was Mr. Rene Chéateau who wrote the script.

He was credited as Fred Castle, scriptwriter

but he is the same person, Mr. Rene Chéateau.

We shot the film in Paris in six weeks, also in the suburbs of Paris.

And in the middle of the winter.

As you can see it's Christmas in Paris.

That's because it was really Christmas when we shot the film.

I had a great cast for this film.

As you can see, the actors are well known,

really great people,

We also had a large crew, something that I don't usually have.

There were even some technicians whom I did not know.

And I would see people on the set, that I didn't even know.

Because René Chateau didn't want to have a big production

because he was used to it at the time

when he was in partnership with Jean-Paul Belmondo

and he made huge budget films with him

he made big movies with Henri Verneuil or directors of that caliber.

His films were commercial films, but they were well made.

And so I decided to make this a smaller production because

it put me more at ease.

I like it when I know everyone is the film, and what everyone does.

But that was not the case here.

What is more, René was very nervous during the shoot.

It was his first time as a solo producer.

And so he was full of doubts, he could not sleep.

He would call in the middle of the night to tell me

let's fire this guy, let's change that, etc. He was really hysterical.

But in spite of all this, the film turned out quite well.

For example, the director of photography did a superb job.

Maurice Fellous is a great director of photography

he was also very nervous

yet he was very logical and very good.

The crew was all very, very good.

The only problem was that, with René being anxious

we changed technicians, almost every week,

but other than that, most of the team did not change.

The composer was Mr. Romano Musumarra

an Italian composer who has written pop themes

who was going to write the rest of the soundtrack.

However, when he saw a first edit of the film

he was afraid because he thought it was a horrible film, dreadful

he could not even look at the screen.

And so he decided, finally, together we decided

that we would keep his songs, his pop music

but for the rest of the soundtrack

Daniel White and I would write our own music

mostly for the dramatic and horror scenes.

Nevertheless, I am not 100% happy at how the film turned out

I think we spent too much for some things and not enough for others.

At the beginning, the special effects were fine

but Rene Chéateau wanted to prepare them as we were shooting.

I was used to the American way of doing things

which is to shoot the movie first, and then

to create all the effects in a studio after.

But he was afraid that the special effects would not match the sequences.

And so we lost a lot of time

and even the quality suffered

because if they go out, if the special effects men work in their studio

they have all the elements all the things that they need to do a good job.

But if they have to work on location, where the film is being shot

and most of the time we were in real settings, real places

it's not the same for them.

But it was fine as far as I was concerned.

I did not mind going along with what René Chateau wanted to do.

[LINA] But if there's a tiny problem, even something small

you have to stop shooting and that's it!

They do not have all the equipment they need to do it, to make corrections.

[JESS] As far as I am concerned, after all these years

I like this film a bit more.

I detested it when I finished making it

because of all these irritations, these problems.

I didn't do the editing.

I was there because I wanted to be there

and René Chéateau did not want me to be there

maybe he wanted to direct the editing himself.

I believe the end result is quite good; it lacks originality

it's not particularly classy, but

it is professionally well-made, sturdy.

That's really all I can tell you.

[INT] Could you tell me a little about the actors in this movie

the stars such as Helmut Berger, Brigitte Lahaie and others?

[JESS] Well, René and I made the decisions;

First we discussed them

because he wanted some actors that maybe I did not want, etc.

But in principle, we agreed very easily about the leading actors because

for example

if someone proposes Stéphane Audran for a role in the movie

you say yes right away

because it's a privilege to have an actress like her

for what is practically a secondary role, your know?

Helmut was for us- for me and for René- ideal for the part.

His agent was difficult however and we had a problem, Rene and

with Helmut's agent, but in the end we were able to get him

and that was good.

At the time, Helmut had the reputation

of being a very difficult actor to work with

he was very difficult because he would disappear

he would leave in the middle of shooting, things like that.

But as far as I was concerned

he went out only one night during the shooting of the film.

The following morning he wasn't there

no one knew where he was,

but by 2 PM, he got there.

He hadn't shaved but that was all, you know?

He was really adorable.

Now, about Brigitte Lahaie.

Brigitte Lahaie is someone I already knew well,

I had made three films with her.

One was Dark Mission

with Chris Mitch um,

where she had an important part and played it quite well.

I knew her from the time she was in erotic or porno movies

or whatever you want to call them.

Personally, I don't like to use the word "porno”

not because I am afraid of it

because people don't really know what the word means.

So, if you say something is porno, it's like a label

you are classified "X"

and, of course, I hate being classified.

Brigitte is a true actress very charming

pleasant and cooperative.

All I can tell you is that, as we were shooting the film

it was very easy to work with her.

Additionally, as an actress she played her part to perfection.

Even Helmut, who is generally used to working with great actors

loved her very much, found her a fine person.

There were other roles

played by Chris Mitch um and Telly Savalas.

These are well-known highly quoted actors who had important roles

although not leading ones.

We formed a group all together, more or less.

Anton Diff ring, same situation.

Caroline Munro, I had wanted to work with her for a long time

and I was lucky when I thought she could play this part

I don't remember if it was Rene

who said the name Caroline Munro first or if it was me

but it does not matter. We both agreed to have her

since the beginning.

She was a wonderful girl, and I think she was superb

in the way she played her character.

As far as production was concerned

I have no criticism. I found it very, very good.

The only comment I would like to make is literary.

What I mean is that FACELESS, at the beginning

Is Gritos en la noche also [1962] - a.ka. L'Horrible Docteur Orlof

It's the same plot.

You may say it is also like Les Yeux sans visage

perhaps it was heavily influenced by Les Yeux Sans Visage,

But I can tell you is that I made Gritos en la noche

exactly around the same time

Franju [Georges Franju - 1912-1987] was making Les Yeux sans visage.

I was shooting the film in Madrid

he was in Paris, but we didn't have any connection.

We both didn't know about the other film

and I am sure that Franju didn't either.

You know, ideas are born in the belly.

Since our ideas came from the same source

it's Edgar Wallace

who created the story.

I always loved Edgar Wallace's work although it isn't well considered.

He's a writer with crazy good ideas.

One of his best was the body snatcher novel

which is the same departure point of Faceless.

My name isn't on the script.

Or in the credits, but I worked on it.

I didn't work as much as the co-writers

but like John Ford and Howard Hughes.

They all worked on the scripts they filmed

but they didn't sign the script.

Since I was not very proud of the script,

I didn't ask to have my name in the credits.

Of course, I helped develop the script.

In the end, about thirty people did!

I don't really know how many because,

every week, Rene would call a new author and ask him to help,

to add, or to take out things.

But, when all is said and done, I think the end result is clear enough,

the story Is clearly written, it's O.K.

[INT] Were you satisfied with Telly Savalas

and Chris Mitchum's performances?

Were they very professional or not?

[JESS] Perfect, perfect. I have absolutely no criticism.

You know, the more important the actor is

the less problems he gives you.

There are exceptions, of course, but generally speaking

Telly Savalas, for example,

he inspected his costumes, his make-up, and was very professional.

He arrived on time, and he knew everything that he had to know.

He was always near the set, always nearby.

Now this is normal for Americans but in Europe it's more difficult.

The actors finish a scene and then want to have a drink,

or they take a stroll and you don't know where they are.

On the other hand, American actors, at least my experience with

classy actors such as Jack Palance or George Kennedy.

George Kennedy would ask my permission to go to the bathroom!

And Telly Savalas belonged to the same generation,

by which I mean to say that they were super professional.

As far as Mitch um is concerned, he's a buddy,

we have known each other for a long time and we are close friends.

He is a wonderful guy.

[INT] Telly Savalas made films in Europe, in Italy and in Spain.

He is not part of the American "studio system" only

he also has a European method

[JESS] Yes, of course, because in any case,

this film was not very European in that sense,

because Rene Chateau is a great admirer of classic Hollywood,

and so he followed the American way of doing things.

I am also happy because as far as production is concerned

I have no criticism,

American films are among the best films in the world.

Americans have a great sense of organization.

No, there was no problem in that area, or maybe very small problems

between Rene and myself,

but they were never about actors or about the shooting.

The problem is that at times he would become a bit hysterical,

because he was afraid we might go over the budget

but that was not the case.

I have almost 200 movies under my belt

and I don't think I ever went over the budget once.

I would say no, that I cannot shoot the film,

but I think we directors ought to remain on budget,

and he felt te same, but at the same time,

it was his very first production, and he had personal issues.

[INT] Tell me, all the locations of this film,

were they shot in Paris or in a studio?

[JESS] No, we shot only a few scenes in the studio,

only for some things.

But in general we shot in natural settings.

Of course, we scouted the outdoor locations for about two months,

and then we shot the entire film in Paris;

either in the city or the suburbs, but not farther than that.

And we shot everything we needed and it was perfect,

because Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Being able to make a film on location in Paris is really a special gift.

[INT] In all the indoor scenes, there is a natural atmosphere,

as if it the scenes were not shot in a studio

Yes, that's right, because we shot very few scenes in the studio.

Very few.

For example, you see here the clinic, it was no longer in use

but a clinic nevertheless.

So, it was very practical, we worked with the art director,

and we changed what we found convenient to the shooting

but as a matter of fact, it was a real clinic.

The nightclub, it's a real nightclub.

Everything is more or less what is represented in the film.

And it was difficult, for example, for Maurice Fellous to light up the clinic,

because the hallways were narrow

there was not sufficient space for the machinery.

But it worked fine nevertheless.

[INT] So, was it difficult to shoot in a real clinic?

[JESS] No, no, I am used to shooting most of my films

in natural settings.

I know this, and when I go scouting for locations

I always take this factor into consideration.

For example, what you see in that scene is the doctor's house

the interior.

It's a real apartment.

We found it in a marvelous, fantastic corner of Paris.

At the time I had no problems because Rene Chateau knew that

for example, we had to spend good money to have beautiful settings

to rent them.

That's how it was.

[INT] Could you talk a little about the special effects on Christiane Jean's face

was it difficult to make?

[JESS] It took a long time.

It was terrible.

At the minimum, it took from two to three hours of makeup each time.

[INT] Was she pleasant

even with that horrible makeup on her face?

[JESS] Well, she was not happy because she is a very pretty girl.

That's my experience about women with good faces

who must play the role of ugly women even if they are not.

I do not know of a single actress who likes to be sabotaged.

Not one.

[LINA] But it was you also, sometime her makeup was already--

[JESS] There's Lina, can you tell?

It's Lina Romay.

She plays the role of the sweet Mrs. Orloff.

[LINA] I am supposed to be eighty.

[INT] That's serious. [LINA] Yes.

But having had very good surgery...

[JESS] Yes, because she was operated on by her husband.

And Howard Vernon, who plays Dr. Orloff, is superb as usual,

but it was not the great role that he has always deserved.

He deserved to have a more important career than the one he had

because after The silent sea [1947]

with Jean-Pierre Melville

where he was wonderful and received many prizes for it,

he could have had a sensational career but he refused to.

He preferred to be independent and to lead his own life

to have a life, that's what he wanted

and so he accepted the roles that commercial actors

or agencies prefer.

Finally, I think he was right.

[INT] He was one of your most unusual and favorite actors, right?

[JESS] Yes, of course, after making the first film with him

THE AWFUL Docteur Orlof [1962],

I picked him for a lot of films because I thought he was superb.

And I want to say right away that I met Howard thanks to a producer

with whom I made many films that sometimes I was not too happy about.

In any case, he introduced Howard to me as a possible choice

for the first Docteur Orlof.

I was really happy because I had already heard of Howard Vernon

from the other French films he made

starting with Le silence de la mer.

But after that he made other films where he was superb

he worked with Bernard Borderie for the Eddie Constantine vehicles.

He was superb, for example in Godard's Alphaville [1965].

[INT] That photograph, was that you, Lina?

[LINA] Yes. [JESS] It's Lina, yes, yes.

[LINA] It's me, yes. I had to go one day for the photos.

What I wanted to say is that Howard was not only a wonderful actor

but also an extraordinary human being.

He was very pleasant and had a brilliant sense of humor.

And he was very kind, spoke several languages,

and for me it was a pleasure to work with him, as I did, many times.

[JESS] True, Howard was really a great guy.

Also very intelligent.

I don't know whether you are aware of it

but he was Fritz Lang's assistant.

[INT] Really? [JESS] Yes.

Yes, and also the assistant to Jean-Pierre Melville.

So I know that he's a guy who knows his trade perfectly.

He also wrote very well, both in English and in French.

What's more, he was an exceptional photographer.

He published some books of photographs taken in Switzerland

and in France.

And so he was a real man, you know, a really swell guy.

Extraordinarily classy and full of human qualities.

[INT] He had very small, tiny roles in films,

such as this one and the films of Walerian Borowczyk, etc.?

[JESS] Yes, he was in a lot of movies.

The truth is that he chose his own freedom

and one cannot blame him for that.

I myself have chosen my own freedom

and while I never worked for MGM, I am happy.

[INT] Is this the same clinic?

[JESS] Yes, yes, it's the same clinic.

We shot all the scenes that take place in the clinic right there.

As for the other scenes, we used Helmut's private apartment

which was not too far.

[INT] These scenes, do they take place in the clinic?

[JESS] Yes, yes, it's in the clinic.

Of course, our art department did some work adding things, tricks, etc.

Usually, at the end of each day after we finished shooting

I would go with my assistant and my director of photography,

the boys from the art and decoration department,

to see the setting for the following day and put all the details in place.

Sometimes we added things,

but generally speaking, the film was an easy one to make

as far as sets were concerned.

Very easy.

[INT] Was Zalcberg your assistant in this movie?

Was he your assistant on this film?

[JESS] Who's that?

[INT]The actor, Zalcberg was he?

[JESS] No, no.

No, no, in this film, I had three or four assistants.

[LINA] Yes, a new one almost every week.

[JESS] My assistants always had problems with the production

with René Chéteau, of course.

He would come on the set and say: "I have just changed your assistant.”

Why?

It's because, in principle, they were not super-assistants

in the sense of French traditional cinema.

They were somewhat improvised as assistants, and less expensive.

Personally, in France I had exceptional assistants such as Pierre Lary

who later became a director.

For example, he was also the assistant to Bunuel.

Pierre Lary was a great professional

but his problem was that when we actually made the movie

the two or three people that I knew were exceptional

already had jobs, they couldn't work for us.

[INT] Here there's an air of fetishism

like in your other films from the previous years, the 70's, for example?

[JESS] This film was a collaboration between René and myself.

I must say that something was very clear

Rene Chateau wasn't sure he wanted me to be the director

because he already had many contacts in the area of shooting,

the look of the actors, the atmosphere, all of this.

He is still a little more of a snob than I am.

I am not very snobbish.

But he is, in the sense that he follows the latest fashion, he is ala mode.

And so, at the time, the new master of fantasy films

was Stuart Gordon.

And so he wanted, he wanted to pay homage to Stuart Gordon

which we also used as Zalcberg's character name in the film

and FACELESS contains many quotes from today's horror films

which we intended.

[INT] Here is Stéphane Audran, Chabrol's wife.

[JESS] Stéphane Audran, Chabrol's ex-wife

Stéphane Audran is a great actress, you know?

It was a pleasure shooting the film with such a face.

She knew her job.

But it was very funny because, during the filming, we shot scenes

we worked, we had discussions

but we never paid each other compliments.

[INT] Here, this is a special effect, it's one of the best effects of the film.

[JESS] Ah yes, yes.

Yes, this Is spectacular.

We did It right there, as we were shooting the sequence

with Stéphane, not after, not another day in a studio.

She was right there on the set.

[LINA] Stéphane was very happy to have the syringe in the eye.

Yes, the syringe looks great.

[JESS] Yes, very pretty.

Because, also, Stéphane was very good

she is also a fan of Horror films, so it was

a pleasure to work with her.

As I said, we never exchanged compliments

but right at the end, when she finished shooting her scenes, she said,

“You are a damn good director

because you got everything you wanted out of me, and easily too.”

I did, and it wasn't difficult, because she was great.

Brigitte is very nice, I find that she played her character well.

It was difficult for her, you know

because everywhere in the world people despise actors

who have worked in sexy or porno movies.

And I want to make sure I say this,

apart from Helmut and Stéphane Audran

the secondary actors were shocked when they saw

the queen of French porno play a normal part

and an important one, too.

They were all jealous.

[LINA] But that's because most people are idiots.

[JESS] Ah yes, indeed.

[INT] This scene, is it in a real club?

[JESS] Yes, yes, it's a nightclub, a disco.

It's been a disco for a long time, a nightclub.

There, that's near the Champs Elysées.

[INT] The scene takes place during the day, not at night, right?

[JESS] They take place when the club shuts down

because usually they would close at three in the morning

That's when we would start shooting.

This is the follow-up.

And that's the apartment of

[INT] Who is that photographer?

[JESS] The director of photography?

[INT] The photographer in this scene.

The actor there.

[JESS] You mean the actor who plays the part of the photographer?

I have forgotten his name, I don't remember it any more

but he was funny, he was great.

There you see Chateau, he had introduced us, that's how I met him.

And Chris was great, Chris Mitch um.

He also resembles his father more and more, it's incredible.

He also has some scenes with Mitch um.

Usually, I would operate the camera myself

so I can see what happens exactly in front of the camera

how the actors interact, for example.

I prefer to be the one who judges

not the camera operator, maybe he knows the technical aspects

more than I do, but he doesn't really know what I want from the actors.

And so I can tell you that sometimes I would shoot

and Chris would enter into the part, and it was wonderful

he was really like his father.

[INT] Chris also made some films in Europe, not only in America.

[JESS] Of course he made films all over the world.

He made films in the Philippines also.

I don't know what he did in the Philippines but he worked a lot there.

He had been hired to be the hero in some action films with sequels.

I don't know which production company, one that put out

three hundred films per year, or thereabouts.

These films are for the Asian market, the Far East

they almost never show them in Europe or in the United States.

[INT] This scene adds some humor to this horror film.

[JESS] It's intentional, if you want to know,

because my training has been very much a la Hitchcock.

I find that Alfred Hitchcock, who is the genius of the horror genre

and of fantasy and police stories, it doesn't matter,

he knew how to break the tension with short, amusing moments.

Further more, you will obtain a better reaction from the audience

when you are in the middle of telling a very tragic or violent story

and you create a break to introduce a sequence

with some humor or a trick.

The audience, who is under tension thinks jumps of joy

it's the easiest trick in the world, to scare then make laugh.

And so I chose this method since my very first film in this genre,

The Awful Dr Orlof also contains some funny stories

some funny moments.

In the Hitchcock movies, even the most frightening ones

there are always break-up points like this,

and I find it all very good, because in life,

not everything is frightening.

Even in the worst situations there can be a funny moment.

And I think that in this genre of movies you need that sort of details

if those small details are well-calibrated, quite well-balanced in the film.

[INT] This scene was rather taboo for the 1980s.

The 1970s were a lot more comfortable with this, but

did you have any issues with censorship with this scene?

[JESS] No.

I had no problems with censorship.

It's taboo in the sense that there's a trio

because they are ready to make love, because they don't really do it.

But no, in France, censorship is funny

France is one of the most intellectual and evolved countries in the world.

They do not worry too much about erotic scenes

or scenes with nudity.

What I mean to say is that we never had a problem with it.

As a matter of fact, you don't see anything in this film

just a naked breast, there are no scenes of sexual violence.

Because given the censorship criteria that we have all over the world

you can do very risqué erotic scenes

but they cannot be violent at the same time.

That's a no-no.

Today, a scene like that would be in a film for kids.

You could even show it on prime time television.

Nobody would get offended.

What you see there, Telly Savalas' scenes, we shot them at La Défense.

You know, it's a section of Paris that's completely new

it's very American.

It could pass for any large American city.

Even Telly was surprised, because he did not know this side of Paris

and so

[INT] Where was Chris Mitchum's apartment?

I could see the Eiffel Tower.

Was it a hotel room?

[JESS] yes, yes, it's a hotel room

right near the Eiffel Tower.

It's not a fake, not a trick, it's really the Eiffel Tower.

[INT] This scene with Anton here in the old Paris.

It's a stark contrast to the 'American' Paris.

[Jess] American, there you have it!

It's the contrast between the two.

Yes, you are right. Anton Diff ring.

[INT] It's the old and new Paris.

[JESS] Yes, it's.

Anton Diff ring, who was an excellent actor.

[INT] So,what are your memories of working with him?

[JESS] My best memories

are seeing him in his British films period.

He did a full series of films there.

He had a very menacing presence.

He looked dangerous from the instant he would appear on screen.

He was really an excellent actor.

I think he was Austrian, but he had an English passport

when he started working for those British films.

It was a real pleasure to work with him.

At the time we started shooting, he was already Ill.

He had a heart disease.

He died from it not very long after we completed shooting.

I think he died a year later.

But it wasn't showing, since his character in the film

didn't need to show any physical strength, like stunt or fights.

Yet he had to walk upstairs and downstairs several times,

and he did it without even mentioning me he was sick.

He was a really great professional.

From the point of view, it was very easy,

because...

You know, if there's something I learned

working with the Americans,

it's that actors are not subordinate.

An actor is a collaborator as much as,

and even more than the technicians.

I learned that you have to seduce them,

and they are easily seduced.

As soon as he feels loved, an actor will cooperate with you.

With Anton, from the first day we were striving for this.

We had an exceptional time together.

This sequence that you are watching

we had to shoot it quite a few times because there were many angles.

It was perfect, perfect.

And also, when it came to knowing his lines, knowing what to do

he was sensational.

Finally, I like to put everything in a list.

The actors in which I am interested the most, English first of all,

then Germans, then Americans.

Most of the actors in the American film industry

have Irish or English or Canadian or German roots.

But basically, they are one hundred percent American actors.

[INT] Do you have a preference for English, American or European actors

because they come from different schools?

[JESS] Yes.

I don't care for Mediterranean actors, in principle.

But there are exceptions of course.

I don't know — for example, I like Marcello Mastroianni.

Of course, there are great actors everywhere.

But when it comes to schools, in my opinion

the English school is the best, and the German is second best.

By this I mean that their actors are true professionals

who study and work long years before acting.

And even if these schools are different, still they come together

as you can see.

It's not difficult to think that Helmut Berger could be an English actor.

The schools produce almost identical results.

[INT] I think Helmut Berger trainined as an actor

in London in the sixties.

[JESS] Yes, of course.

And he came, and he was received.

I was talking with him about the Austrian school

which is really a fantastic school.

[INT] Before his experiences with Visconti in Italy

Of course, but Visconti was a bit heavy, which was good for him

because he helped Helmut a lot and introduced him to people.

And I believe that I was having some serious conversations

with Helmut, because I am not an old-fashioned guy

and so we talked about Visconti.

He told me that Visconti was the love of his life

and he cried when he said that.

He was really sincere.

And so Helmut did not have the kind of luck that he deserved

because he was too much in pain because he missed Visconti.

However, he is an excellent actor.

And finally, all of them: Klaus Kinsky, him, Karl Maria Brandauer

all these actors who are most or less, let's say, Germanic like Helmut

learned at the school of Fritz Kortner

the Das Spielhaus of Fritz Kortner.

And I am surprised, because, according to what everyone said,

he was areal bastard, difficult to get along with, terrible.

But a genius nevertheless when it came to training actors.

[LINA] I love the plastic surgery scene.

It's next, right?

[JESS] We are almost there.

[INT] This scene, is it a commentary on plastic surgery

or is it a commentary on this particular milieu

or is it only for the film's story?

[JESS] No, no, it's just for the story.

[INT] There is no message?

[JESS] No, there is no message.

I hate messages.

It's not that I hate messages,

I only hate explicit messages.

[INT] How about implicit?

[JESS] I prefer implicit.

Let's say it's like following,

let's say that the school I prefer

is the literary school of classic American writers.

Which means that when you read Hemmingway, Faulkner, even Caldwell

they are telling you stories.

It's only after, when you close the book, that you say to yourself:

Ah, let's see now.

So the situation of the blacks in the South was terrible.

But it's up to you to reflect, to arrive at this conclusion

because what they have told you is a story, nothing more.

Here, I think this sequence is terrible.

This is where Musumarra stopped watching the film

and said that he did not want to write the music

because it meant that he would have to see

this particular sequence several times.

[INT] This particular scene, are there any special effects

and who created effects for the film?

[JESS] A young Frenchman made the special effects

he was make-up assistant to Stuart Freeborn.

For me, Stuart is a master.

He is Irish, and has won two or three Oscars.

He is brilliant.

I had the pleasure of working with him on my Fu Manchu's and my Dracula.

He was in charge of the make-up effects.

He is brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

[INT] This scene is grotesque.

[JESS] Yes.

[LINA] Here's some sound effects. Ah, no!

This is Hamlet, right? "To be or not to be."

[JESS] No, it's Yorick.

I thought of Yorick when he picks up the head just so.

[INT] He needs another little darling to make love to.

[JESS] Of course. He hasn't practiced in a long time

[LINA] It's like playing the piano.

[JESS] There's two or three scenes that we wanted to take out

because they are too explicit, they reminded me of Dachau.

But we did not bother.

I guess everyone understands the reference, right?

[INT] I think that either Florence Guérin

or another actress had a porno career in Italy.

[JESS] Not porno.

[INT] Soft core?

[JESS] Soft core, yes. But I don't think she ever made a porno movie.

Her films were popular in Italy as well. She had a name.

She was a little silly, but cute. You can see that.

[INT] Was she popular in France at the time?

[JESS] No, she has never been well-known in France.

[INT] People don't say, “look, that's Florence Guérin”?

[JESS] They did, but that's because of the publicity.

However, I don't think that Florence was ever loved as highly as Brigitte.

She was nice, sure.

In any case, she filled the character's shoes perfectly.

[INT] There are plenty of scenes in discos in this film.

[JESS] Yes. I love them.

[INT] In the nightclubs, I think that...

[JESS] All my films have similar settings.

Do you know what my first job was?

I was a Jazz musician, a pop music musician, etc.

I worked a lot in nightclubs, discothéques, in jazz clubs.

It's a world that I know pretty well.

[INT] In many of your films there are scenes

in discos and also at the theater.

[JESS] Yes, yes.

[INT] Everything is a spectacle

[JESS] The spectacle, yes it's there.

He's good here.

[INT] He's thinking, “I want a massage”

What about the cast, were the actors all your first choice for this film

or did you have other ideas for them?

[JESS] Whi shooting, or before, when we were getting the film ready?

At first, I always do something that I also learned from the Americans.

I list three names, the names of three actors for each part.

As a matter of fact, in this case

I think that all of them

100% were one of the three names I had listed for each one.

So you see.

It's also because René and I had practically the same viewpoint.

[INT] In this film there is a sort of “porno chic” in some of the sequences

for example, the scene with Guérin.

[JESS] Ah yes. But no, it's not porno.

[INT] No, “Porno chic.”

[JESS] For me, porno chic is, for example, Andrew Blake's films.

It's still porno, very elegant, with laces, right?

Here there is a classic detail moment of erotic cinema

but we had fun doing it, you know?

[INT] What was your experience with this Polish actor

was there a language gap? Did he speak English?

[JESS] He spoke English.

He spoke a very poor English, but he learned his lines in English

poor guy, and he had a terrible accent, but we did not dub him.

It's better this way, because the lip movements are in English

not In French. As you know

there are problems when we use the Romance languages

people use more face expressions.

But when the same actor speaks English

they play it cool and are

less expressive.

[INT] I think it's rather strange that the soundtrack

has a pop theme more than a jazz theme.

In your other films you have jazz sountracks, right?

Is it more modern?

[JESS] Is what more modern? This one here?

[INT] Yes.

[JESS] Modern in the sense that it's contemporary pop music?

I try to do it often.

The proof is there if you see my films from the last ten years

the musical themes are as modern as possible.

I am now preparing a new version of the Awful docteur Orlof

and I already have Iron Maiden's music for it.

There is nothing more modern than that.

And I love it because I am a musician myself,

so I follow evolutions

What I detest is stupid music, and there is plenty around

but quality music...

[INT] I don't know if it was your idea, but in the film,

the Angel of Death, Lahaie, is blonde, while the victims are all--

[JESS] Brunettes?

[INT] Yes.

[JESS] It's a coincidence.

I's something that René and I never discussed.

But the idea came from a film with Florence Guérin we saw on T.V.

[INT] Her hair is darker.

[JESS] She is the only blonde.

But the victims, let me think back.

Evidently she's brunette.

[LINA] Stéphane Audran, she is not a blonde.

She is a redhead.

[JESS] Yes. Redhead?

She is not actually a redhead but she is not a brunette either.

No, I think it's a sort of coincidence.

Because we did not intend all the victims to be brunettes.

[INT] For all the victims, did you have to rebuild the face

of Helmut Berger's sister who's a brunette?

[LINA] Maybe it's because we brunettes are smarter than blondes.

[JESS] Is that so? [LINA] Yes.

[LINA] I had not noticed it.

[JESS] Neither did.

But these are remarks from people.

Sometimes I ask myself questions,

“if you turned the camera this way it must have been

because you were thinking,” But I was not thinking!

I did it that way because that's how I felt.

That's all.

[INT] Was this the only film that you made with René Chateau?

[JESS] Which one, this?

[INT] Yes.

This film, is it your only cooperative venture with--

[JESS] Yes, the only one. [INT] Why?

[JESS] It was the last film he ever produced.

That's an important reason.

Also, because I don't know that we could have come to an agreement

René is a one-film man.

He is not a man to make many films or work without interruption.

He is not American in that sense.

He produces one film, he puts all of himself into it, gets sick from it

scream and weeps.

He only did one film, and this one worked out very well.

After the film, I went my own way.

I know that he wanted to produce more films.

He talked to me about it, and he told me, and he was very kind,

that he was very satisfied with the film, that he liked it very much.

He told me, “I know that you hate this film but I love it.

If you have a project that you want me to consider

I will try to be very open, I will try to follow you.”

But, as a matter of fact, there is something

that we should not forget about René Chéteau

it's the fact that he is primarily an excellent distributor, of videos

DVD's now, but especially videos.

The Rene Chateau company logo with the panther

comes from the video.

At the time, he had purchased, a monumental expense,

he had purchased a lot of French films from thirties and forties

most films by Jean Cocteau and Marcel Carné.

He had done an enormous distribution effort and launched the films

with lovely photographs, new cases, things like that.

He produced no more films.

He was not unhappy about this one, because it has fared well

it was successful, it fared well.

I'm proud of this effect.

If there's too much blood I find it's not very effective.

[INT] Where are we now?

[JESS] Place Pigalle, this is Place Pigalle.

[INT] The Moulin Rouge?

Here is everything. All the cliches.

[INT] Yes, it is a Paris cliché.

[JESS] Yes, it is a Paris cliché.

This is Megatown, it's the club where we shot some scenes.

It was incredibly crowded.

It was impossible to shoot.

We had to get authorization to set up the cameras and the lights

while the patrons were dancing - these are real live scenes.

We added some props, the light triangle, but as for everything else

it's the real floor.

It was the week-end of course, a Friday night.

[INT] So Megatown is real?

[JESS] It was a very popular discotheque in Paris at the time.

[INT] Was this an advertisement for the nightclub?

[JESS] I don't know.

Rene was a friend of one of the club's owners

the one who gave him permission for this.

I am sure he must have paid something, but not a fortune.

Rene was a very popular guy in Paris.

Less now, because he lives most of the year on the Cote d'Azur.

He is rarely in Paris.

It makes sense; he has a lovely house near St. Tropez

in that lovely Mediterranean climate.

[JESS] Is he still involved in films or not?

[JESS] No, but he was never really involved in film.

The only film he ever made is this one, with me.

It's because he was a partner of Jean-Paul Belmondo

of Jean-Paul Belmondo's brother for the production.

He was a partner, but it was Belmondo who handled the business

not him,

René began as a set photographer.

He was a great still photographer.

Telly. Telly.

[LINA] It was funny, he used to pronounce St. Clowd.

Instead of “St. Cloud”, All Americans do it. St. Clowd.

[JESS] Have you been to St. Cloud?

It's a very pretty, let's say elegant, residential district in Paris.

For us, for those of us who know Paris well

it's strange to think that in St. Cloud there is a place like this clinic

with these crimes, because in general it's an elegant neighborhood.

[LINA] Maybe because of this.

You never know. [JESS] You never know.

When we were shooting,

René thought that Maurice Fellous was too slow.

The director of photography.

But it's not true, he was not very slow.

He was not the fastest, but he was working at an average pace

that would have allowed us to finish the film within schedule

but René was afraid.

So he hired another team, a second unit.

In this predicament, I remembered my classics.

So I did exactly what Ken Annakin had done

in The Battle of the Bulge [1965]

In that film, the Americans imposed a director for the second unit.

And so he said, “Fine. It's O.K...

Now what did he do? He had the second unit shoot wide shots

any sort of stupid shots that he did not use.

He himself shot all the important scenes, the action sequences.

And so I did the same.

I used the second unit for two days, I had them shoot some scenes.

The rest I did myself because I can't work in that kind of situation.

I want to direct all the film's shots

not the shots that production wants from me, right?

[INT] Is the woman on the bed...

[JESS] Attached, tied, yes.

People often say this film is not a very Jess Franco film.

I think they are wrong.

I's very much a Jess Franco film.

Well, the story is almost mine.

The development of events

follows very closely my own cinema,;

the same can be said for the relationship between the characters.

René was aware of this before we started the film

and that's what he wanted.

[INT] Was there a good rapport among the cast?

[JESS] Very good. Very good, maybe even very, extra good.

Some even flirted, had affairs.

Some of the actors did, during the shooting.

I was always the last one to know

as if I had been the husband of all these women.

But I had a suspicion that Caroline and Mitch um became an item

[INT] Is there tension here? Caroline is at the door

[JESS] Yes.

She really slaps him in this scene.

At first, she was afraid She could not bear to.

Ah, does this bother you?

No, it doesn't bother me at all.

Finally, he wasn't very happy about it and neither was I.

She really slapped him.

We did three takes of this scene.

In the first one, she did not go all the way.

She slapped him but not hard enough.

But afterward

This guy is an excellent actor, Gordon, Gerard Zalcberg.

He is a great stage actor.

He had done a lot of theater, for example, with Robert Hossein.

He was very good.

He is brilliant, don't you think?

If you think that in general

he always played the parts of a gallant gentleman, things like that.

But here he is rough, and he is good at it.

[LINA] Don't go there! Don't go!

[JESS] At the Brussels Festival it's very comical

because at the Fantastic Film Festival that's held in Brussels

there is always a group of young people who yell

and generally have a good time.

It's amusing, but they also talk to the screen.

They say: “Don't go there, don't go, he's going to kill you, the bastard!”

[INT] Is this the first nude scene in the film?

[INT] The second.

[INT] That's right. The threesome.

[JESS] There is another scene in the cell

with another naked girl but you see very little

[INT] She sees the corpse.

[JESS] The horror scenes in the film have an English flavor,

but I don't mean modern English cinema.

I am referring to the old English cinema.

There is an English cinema known by a few which I love.

They are the films of Walter Forde or Leslie Arliss.

Maybe you don't know this director. Do you like him? No?

[INT] I don't know, maybe, I don't know.

[JESS] You don't know what? Oh, I am sorry.

I don't think he understands me.

The films of Walter Forde.

Do you know Forde? He's a director.

Do you like his films or not?

[INT] Yes. [JESS] Great.

Because he's not very well known in England.

I asked a lot of times and they say, “Who? Walter Forde, what's that?”

[INT] I don't think England is a country of movie lovers.

[JESS] Leslie Arliss, do you remember Leslie Arliss?

He was also a very good director.

He did, for example,

The Door with Seven Locks [1940]. Do you remember?

[INT] Yes.

[JESS] With very good actors,

[INT] I remember the film.

[JESS] Marius Goring. Do you remember? Leslie Banks. Fantastic actors!

[LINA] Don't go in there, don't go!

[JES] And he goes right there like an idiot.

[INT] The scene with the face.

[JESS] It's a very sadistic idea.

[INT] The skin is perfect. Perfect.

No, not the pencil, not the pencil

Is this still the same clinic?

[JESS] Yes, it's always the same clinic.

It was perfect because we could shoot the entire day

since the clinic had shut down.

There were no patients, no doctors, no one. It was like a set.

Do you know Paris well?

[INT] Me? Yes, a little bit, yes.

Where's this clinic?

[JESS] The 15th arrondissement.

[INT] It was shot in a 15th century building?

[JESS] No, I mean the 15th “arrondissement,” the 15th district.

That's both popular and residential.

In general, it's a rather elegant neighborhood.

The clinic was there.

It was not successful

so it closed.

[LINA] That is pure Jess Franco.

Jumping scenes.

[INT] Was it difficult to create these special effects?

[JESS] Yes, very difficult. It took us an entire day to prepare this.

Of course, it's an important sequence in the film.

[INT] Look at that!

[JESS] I love these moments, don't you?

[LINA] Ah, yes.

[JESS] This was when Musumarra, the Italian composer, fainted.

He was gone.

I love this image very much.

[INT] It's a very strong image.

But it's not possible. The victim's lips wouldn't survive.

With all the gore scenes, isn't this rather timid?

[JESS] I don't like gore. I made, more or less, two gore films.

And I tried to have as little gore as possible in them

because what good are very long scenes?

I think three minutes of gore in a Hitchcock movie, such as Psycho,

are much stronger than a twenty-minute gore scene.

As a matter of fact, I think people make gore films because

there is a young audience that likes to make fun of them.

They laugh as they watch the guts and all those tricks.

I think it's total hogwash, it's fake, but they like it, they laugh

they applaud, and all of that.

But I don't think this is cinema.

I think it's butchery.

[INT] For Brigitte, it was also a showcase

because she is wearing different clothes in each scene.

[JESS] Yes.

[INT] Either a skirt or something else, she is a very glamorous nurse.

[JESS] Yes.

An homage to Edgar Allan Poe.

[INT] Yes, the black cat, right?

[JESS] This is where René and I had the biggest discussion

because he wanted a happy ending

rescuing the girl.

And I refused. I said no.

Leave it open so it's not clear whether he reaches her in time.

Because, I find it is more of today's aesthetics

not knowing if she is going to live or die.

[INT] You didn't want a happy ending?

So was the ending of this film, the finale, your choice?

[JESS] Yes, yes. Totally.

René would have preferred a happy ending.

[INT] What was the happy ending?

[JESS] The happy end?

[INT] What is the original ending of this film?

[JESS] The film has a happy ending.

[INT] In the René Chateau-Fred Castle story,

the original treatment.

What Is the original happy ending that has been removed from the film?

[JESS Telly Savalas arrives in time to save the couple,

and the girl is freed.

But I much preferred not to know.

[INT] Yes. t's more ambiguous.

[JESS] Ambiguous, yes. Yes. It's much closer to real life.

Those guys are super happy

and the others are croaking in the basement.

And we see Telly Savalas board the plane and

he'll try to save them.

If he'll make it or not in the next film.

Telly is the kind of actor I love because he does nothing.

I find that having it all inside of you, is everything.

He is magnificent.

The bastard looks great.

He has great manners, Telly Savalas, a great actor.

I was very glad of having made this film with him.

He was very tall. He's dead now.

Now that I think of it, there's quite a few people who have passed on

since we made the film.

There was Telly Savalas, and Anton Diff ring.

[INT] Thank you very much, Jess. Thank you very much, Lina

for your assistance and your commentary.

[JESS] You are welcome.

It was a pleasure to talk about the film with you.

In general, when we have these sorts of meetings to see a film

and discuss it, most people ask only dumb questions.

For example, “were you excited while you were shooting?”

What do you mean, was I excited?