NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 6, 2013 - Kino Lorber and Redemption are proud to announce the Blu-ray and DVD releases of three of the most important films of celebrated Spanish horror filmmaker Jess Franco:
A Virgin Among the Living Dead,
Nightmares Come at Night, and
The Awful Dr. Orlof. Each of these films comes to Blu-ray and DVD in deluxe editions mastered in HD from original 35mm materials, and packed with special features celebrating the cinematic legacy of this acclaimed genre master.
A Virgin Among the Living Dead,
Nightmares Come at Night, and
The Awful Dr. Orlof will each become available on August 20, 2013, with individual SRPs of $29.95 for the Blu-ray edition and $24.95 for the DVD edition.
A Virgin Among the Living Dead includes both Jess Franco's original cut,
Christina, Princess of Eroticism (79 mins.), mastered in HD from the original 35mm negative, and the complete alternate cut,
A Virgin Among the Living Dead(90 min.), featuring zombie footage directed by Jean Rollin. It is presented in French with optional English subtitles as well as an English dubbed version. Special features include audio commentary by Tim Lucas, critic and co-editor of
Video Watchdog; alternate erotic footage (5 min.) featuring Alice Arno; "Mysterious Dreams", a 16-minute interview with Jess Franco, directed by David Gregory and produced by Elijah Drenner; "The Three Faces of Christina", a 12-minute documentary by Daniel Gouyette, featuring interviews with Franco's friends and collaborators; a photo gallery; and theatrical trailers.
Nightmares Come at Night comes mastered in HD from an archival 35mm print, and is presented in French with optional English subtitles as well as an English dubbed soundtrack. Special features include audio commentary by Tim Lucas, critic and co-editor of Video Watchdog; "Eugénie's Nightmare of a Sex Charade", a 20-minute documentary by Daniel Gouyette on the making of the film (including interview footage with Jess Franco); "Jess! What Are You Doing Now?", an 8-minute homage to Jess Franco by Daniel Gouyette featuring interviews with Franco's friends and collaborators; and a visual essay on the creation of the HD master.
The Awful Dr. Orlof comes mastered in HD from an archival 35mm print, and is presented in French with optional English subtitles and an English dubbed version. It features audio commentary by Tim Lucas; "The Horror of Orlof", a 16-minute interview with Jess Franco, directed by David Gregory and produced by Elijah Drenner; "The Young Dr. Orlof Chronicles", a 19-minute documentary by Daniel Gouyette on the making of the film; "Jess! What Are You Doing Now?", an 8-minute homage to Jess Franco by Daniel Gouyette featuring interviews with Franco's friends and collaborators; a photo gallery; and theatrical trailers.
Though highly regarded among cult movie enthusiasts, Franco is a notorious figure within the world of horror, for the savage eroticism and obsessive nature of his films, which defy the conventional structure and tone of the typical thriller. "Too arty for the horror crowd and too macabre and lowbrow for the art crowd,"Fangoria editor Chris Alexander wrote, "He existed in a world of his own, a class of his own."
Born Jésus Franco Manera in 1930, credited on a variety of pseudonyms (such as Clifford Brown and A.M. Frank), he is best known as Jess Franco, director of such horror/sexploitation films as Female Vampire (1973), Exorcism (1975), andVampyros Lesbos (1971). Franco directed almost 200 features, in virtually every genre, and was perhaps at his best when working with his muses, Soldedad Miranda (1943-1970) and Lina Romay (1954-2012). Because he made so many films, which were released in multiple versions and under various titles, and because he so frequently employed a pseudonym, a complete Franco filmography is likely impossible to compile. Franco died on Tuesday April 2, 2013, at the age of 82, after being hospitalized for a stroke on March 27.
A Virgin Among the Living Dead
Street date: August 20, 2013
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $24.95
Redemption celebrates the life and career of Jess Franco (1930-2013) with a deluxe edition of his mystifying erotic thriller: A Virgin Among the Living Dead (Une vierge chez les morts vivant).
Christina von Blanc stars as a woman who journeys to her ancestral home and finds herself surrounded by the restless spirits of her eccentric family – who may or may not be alive.
This disc includes two complete versions of the film: Franco's original cut (Christina, Princess of Eroticism) and the re-release version (A Virgin Among the Living Dead), which was expanded to incorporate zombie scenes directed by French horror auteur Jean Rollin. Also included is the softcore erotic footage shot to create a third version of the film.
France / 1973 / Color / 1.66:1 / 1920x1080p
Written and Directed by Jess Franco
Produced by Marius Lesoeur and Karl Heinz Mannchen
Photographed by José Climent
Music by Bruno Nicolai
With Christina von Blanc, Paul Muller, Jess Franco, Britt Nichols, Rosa Palomar, Anne Libert
Produced for Video by Bret Wood
Special Features:
Jess Franco's original cut,
Christina, Princess of Eroticism (79 mins.), mastered in HD from the original 35mm negative
Complete alternate cut,
A Virgin Among the Living Dead (90 min.), featuring zombie footage directed by Jean Rollin.
French with optional English subtitles
English dubbed version.
Audio commentary by Tim Lucas, critic and co-editor of
Video WatchdogAlternate erotic footage (5 min.) featuring Alice Arno
"Mysterious Dreams", a 16-minute interview with Jess Franco, directed by David Gregory and produced by Elijah Drenner
"The Three Faces of Christina", a 12-minute documentary by Daniel Gouyette, featuring interviews with Franco's friends and collaborators
Photo Gallery
Theatrical Trailers
Nightmares Come at Night 
Street date: August 20, 2013
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $24.95
For years considered a lost Franco film (after having played at a single theatre in Belgium),Nightmares Come at Night (Les cauchemars naissent la nuit) was rediscovered in 2004 and has been recognized as a key film in the evolution of Franco's cinema, which in 1970 was assuming a dreamlike logic, governed more by the director's libido than the traditional horror movie structure.
Diana Lorys (The Awful Dr. Orlof) stars as a sultry dancer who falls under the hypnotic control of the sinister blonde Cynthia (Colette Giacobine) and begins to suffer terrifying hallucinations, from which not even a gifted psychiatrist (Paul Muller) can save her. Meanwhile, a pair of jewel thieves (Soledad Miranda and Jack Taylor) hide out at a nearby house, biding their timeuntil they can confront Cynthia for their share of a recent heist.
France/Liechtenstein / 1970 / Color / 85 min. / 1.66:1 / 1920x1080p
Directed by Jess Franco
Story by Stephen G. Horatio
Screenplay by Jess Franco
Photographed by José Climent and Manuel Merino
Music by Bruno Nicolai
With Diana Lorys, Paul Muller, Soledad Miranda, Jack Taylor, Colette Giacobine
Produced for Video by Bret Wood
Special Features:
Mastered in HD from an archival 35mm print
French with optional English subtitles
English dubbed
Audio commentary by Tim Lucas, critic and co-editor of Video Watchdog
"Eugénie's Nightmare of a Sex Charade", a 20-minute documentary by Daniel Gouyette on the making of the film (including interview footage with Jess Franco) "Jess! What Are You Doing Now?", an 8-minute homage to Jess Franco by Daniel Gouyette featuring interviews with Franco's friends and collaborators
Visual essay on the creation of the HD master
The Awful Dr. Orlof
Street date: August 20, 2013
Blu-ray SRP: $29.95
DVD SRP: $24.95
Generally considered the first horror film produced in Spain, The Awful Dr. Orlof (L'horrible Docteur Orlof) launched the career of cult cinema's most colorful figure: Jésus "Jess" Franco. Cloaking the story in the visual style of the British gothic film, Franco injected Orlof with the kind of morbid eroticism that would quickly become his signature (and is presented here in the uncensored French release version).
Howard Vernon stars as a diabolical surgeon who, with the help of his blind minion Morpho (Ricardo Valle), lures beautiful women into the operating room of his stone castle, so they may provide the raw material for a series of experimental face grafts for his disfigured daughter.
France/Spain / 1962 / B&W / 86 min. / 1.66:1 / 1920x1080p
Written and Directed by Jess Franco
Produced by Marius Lesoeur, Leo Lax and Serge Newman
Photographed by Godofredo Pacheco
With Howard Vernon, Diana Lorys, Conrado San Martin, Perla Cristal, Ricardo Valle
Produced for video by Bret Wood
Special Features:
Mastered in HD from an archival 35mm print
French with optional English subtitles
English dubbed version
Audio commentary by Tim Lucas, critic and co-editor of Video Watchdog
"The Horror of Orlof", a 16-minute interview with Jess Franco, directed by David Gregory and produced by Elijah Drenner
"The Young Dr. Orlof Chronicles", a 19-minute documentary by Daniel Gouyette on the making of the film
"Jess! What Are You Doing Now?", an 8-minute homage to Jess Franco by Daniel Gouyette featuring interviews with Franco's friends and collaborators
Photo gallery
Theatrical trailers
