In a matter of a couple of weeks after finishing 'Vampyros Lesbos', Jesús Franco was back with another sordid thriller in 'She Killed in Ecstasy'. And as is the usual case in any of its sleazy but wonderfully mischievous grindhouse features, the film displays a great deal of flair and the occasional flash of brilliance that sometimes leaves its fans, along with moviegoers, wondering what could possibly happen.
That's not to say that it could have achieved the same level of success as the great filmmakers of the same era, but there was potential for something better, more accessible to general audiences, and perhaps even more memorable. But as it is, those little touches of genuine talent are quickly drowned in an ocean of cheap production value, usually poor acting and stilted dialogue. And 'She Killed' is ultimately no different with just a few pockets of worthwhile skill.
Director: Nikolai Malden
Writers: Miles Jonn-Dalton, Nikolai Malden
Stars: Ellen Wing, Miles Jonn-Dalton, Antonio Mayans
From a story standpoint, sadly, skill and talent are the least likely words used to describe this tasteless feast. For reasons of time, and possibly due to lack of original ideas and funds, the Spanish-born filmmaker rearranged the plots of two previous films that he had made a few years earlier. Toning down the eroticism aspect somewhat, at least, compared to the rest of the work, the plot is a simple and straightforward revenge thriller, which was fast becoming a popular formula at the time.
It follows a wife's fervent pursuit of justice against those who wronged her husband, who, after being banned from practicing medicine due to his habitual experiments on human fetuses, went mad and committed suicide. Apparently, crushing his dreams of publicly playing God with the unborn is enough to drive him into a catatonic state and then death. Killing those for making the right decision is the only logical step.
Summed up like this, the story is really quite silly, and much of the 80-minute runtime is filled with unusually long scenes of meaningless or moody conversation, mostly of the wife sighing and brooding over her isolated island mansion.
The wife is none other than the stunningly beautiful Soledad Miranda, and she surprisingly delivers one of her best, and sadly, one of her last performances of her career. As a woman haunted and distraught by the sudden death of her husband, Miranda is a passionate and determined person with round, stunning brown eyes that appear friendly and gregarious one minute but malicious and psychotic the next.
She uses her exotic beauty and those charming doe eyes to attract the so-called medical professionals who ruined her husband's career (Ewa Strömberg, Paul Muller, Howard Vernon and Jesús Franco). It's your typical story of seduction and revenge at the hands of a beautiful temptress who kills for love and, of course, gets away with it in the end.
Clearly, any entertainment value in 'She Killed on Ecstasy' doesn't come from the plot or much of the acting, outside of Miranda's passionate display of obsession and her slow progression towards madness. Ultimately it comes from Franco's unique style in telling the story and the many subjectively beautiful composition shots. Several moments where Miranda simply stands still as the camera pans over and lingers on the beauty of her are like footage of a rare bird only briefly realizing someone is looking at it before suddenly flying away.
These photographic moments are even more haunting when we remember that they were taken just a couple of months before her unfortunate death. The sex scenes give us more to ogle, but we're more captivated by her black-widow skills in luring her victims, a bunch of uptight professionals with secret kinks. Franco did an excellent job of capturing her beauty, and Miranda really impressed her here.
Watch He Killed in Ecstasy 2023 Movie Trailer
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