Sadistic Baron Von Klaus
Directed by Jess Franco
Brutal killings plague a village where a murderous nobleman once lived in Jess Franco’s chilling horror mystery. The citizens of Holfen speak in whispers about the secret torture chamber of Baron von Klaus, whose spirit supposedly compels his male heirs to continue his evil endeavors. When new murders begin, a pair of investigators must figure out if the “von Klaus curse” is real or fiction. In his second fright flick, Franco moves closer toward his soon-to-be trademark erotic-horror-exploitation style with a graphic torture sequence that’s an absolute must-see.
Brutal killings plague a village where a murderous nobleman once lived.
Cast: Ana Castor, Howard Vernon, Paula Martel
Member Reviews
Dungeon torture scene was great. Rest of the film didn't hold up, but still had its moments.
good.
Great atmosphere.
I like early Jess Franco movies a lot. May seem a bit slow and gothic, to the uninitiated.
I am becoming increasingly fond of Franco's films, especially from the 60's and 70's that establish his style and his recurring elements. It's intriguing to me, that if a viewer gets a taste for Franco's earlier, more coherent works (such as The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962), The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966) and this one) then it is a short step to appreciation of his more personal and dreamlike films (for example, She Killed in Ecstasy (1971), Vampyros Lesbos (1971) and The Demons (1973)). Taken alone, his earlier works may seem slow-moving and affectedly gothic, while his 70's works (and later) seem cheap and pointlessly self-indulgent. Taken as pieces of a larger work, they get better and better. THANKS, SHUDDER!