Snakewoman (2005)

People are voting emotionally.

Absolutely Fantastic

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This One Shot Production appears to be once again shot on digital video, which robs the sumptuous scenery of depth. And yet it is true to say also that the rawness of video heightens the colours, and the almost dazzling contrast between them. As a result, scenes look stylised, but stylish too.This partial reimagining of 'Vampyros Lesbos (1971)' – one of Director Jess Franco's most highly regarded productions – is my favourite One Shot Production. Technically, it is on a par with 'Blind Target (2000)', but benefits from a far more interesting, although stretched-out, storyline. Uncle Jess's belief on the DVD packaging that 'Snakewoman is among the most sincere and creative films of my career' is … admirably enthusiastic.The 'Snakewoman' is played by Carmen Montes, complete with fangs and a body-straddling snake tattoo. Her nakedness beneath a black cloak recalls 'Female Vampire (1975)', or even Brigitte Lahaie in Jean Rollin's 'Fascination (1979)'; it is a memorable and effective look. There's even a 'Renfield' character in the form of Christie Levin's very effective Alpha, who glides from being a victim to being pretty unnerving in her own right. In fact, the acting is uniformly impressive. A fully clothed Lina Romay makes a couple of fleeting appearances (her character's name appears to be Van Helsing), and looking elegant and dapper, Franco regular Antonio Mayans – or Robert Foster as he's sometimes credited – plays the doctor, or 'Nostradamus!' Of course, you would expect plenty of skin and elongated sex scenes, and you wouldn't be disappointed - often to the sound of jazzy piano music and some fairly copious amounts of bright red blood. Some scenes are seen from the victim's point-of-view, with blood falling from the attacker's lips onto the camera lens. A simple but effective trick, used by Chris Alexander in his 2012 'Blood for Irina' to great, and gross, effect.Not a classic, but many steps up from other One Shot Productions, and one of Franco's more stylish and enjoyable latter-day offerings.

From the Jess Franco movies made past 1990 which I've watched, 'Snakewoman' was the only pleasant surprise among a bunch of disappointments. Although the cheap video quality of the material isn't any better than the rest, the editing and storyline are closer to what he made in his best years around 1970 than any other of his recent works. The surreal atmosphere is there (to a degree at least), and Carmen Montes in the title role has a strong presence. This woman with a snake tattooed all around her body pretends to be the granddaughter of an actress from the silent movie era, but more likely that actress is her, and her gorgeous looks were preserved by undead vampiric life. She dances and seduces with a magic quality so that it feels like watching a ritual rather than a horror story. Now that's as close to 'Vampyros Lesbos' as Franco is ever going to get. I really enjoyed 'Snakewoman' for what it is, can't expect more without any budget to speak of.

Snakewoman (2005) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Wow! A somewhat watchable Jess Franco/One Shot Production film. This is a very loose remake of Franco's very own Vampyros Lesbos with the vampire woman being replaced by the title character. A reporter goes off to research an 87-year-old woman who was believed to be a "snake woman". When the reporter arrives she finds the woman to look much younger and soon the "snake woman" gets the reporter involved in lesbian sex and a whole lot more. This is easily Franco's best film in over a decade and his most erotic since probably the late 70s. Thankfully Franco cut out all the disgusting sexual acts and goes for pure erotic scenes and for the most part he has hit a home run. The actual story also works pretty well and the cast isn't too bad either. Lina Romay has a small role that allows her comic cuteness to come through without any ugly sex scenes. The music score is also nice but at 96-minutes the film runs a bit too long. This certainly isn't the place for Franco newbies to start but it's certainly a good return to form for Franco die-hards. There are a couple hardcore scenes as well, which rises (no pun intended) this above other One Shot films.

This blew me out of my seat. It's almost x-rated as many Jess Franco films are. Lot's of skin and sex but it's all held together by a minimalist story that is somehow very interesting and makes it all worth it. Maybe it's a changing of the times with Jess Franco and his production company One Shot because long time star Lina Romay has been moved to a supporting, non-sexual, role and the stars are Carmen Montes as the Snakewoman and Fata Morgana as Carla, a roving reporter who winds up with the story of her life and an experience of a lifetime ~ she finds an old time actress who is not only still young and beautiful but also some kind of a vampire or succubus. What I really enjoyed was the comfortableness of the sexuality and the way the appealing actresses carried themselves. I don't care much for subtitles so I would have preferred an English language print. The DVD is only in Spanish with subtitles. But it's easy to follow and very easy to enjoy. The only thing that I couldn't understand is that there is no snake anywhere except on a tattoo.