Murderous Passions

Spanish filmmaker Jesus Franco (aka Jess Franco) directed more than 180 films in a career spanning six decades, making him one of the most prolific directors of all time and winner of a Lifetime Achievement prize at the 2009 Spanish Goya Film Awards. Yet his work frequently met with censorship resistance & was often despised by critics. Franco's taste for the sexy and horrific, his lifelong obsession with the Marquis De Sade and his roving hand-held camera style birthed a whole new strain of outlandish sado-erotica. This looks at the first half of his career.