Nigel P With a director who provokes such extreme reactions as Jess Franco – he's often either revered or reviled – the truth concerning the quality of his output is usually somewhere in the middle. In my view, the appeal of 'Sadist Erotica' drifts closer to the 'disappointing' end of the spectrum. The fault does not lie entirely with Uncle Jess – both the English version of the script and the dubbing itself are pretty appalling, and any attempts at humour are truly squashed by this double-barrelled attack.Comedies are not really Franco's forte. Or perhaps I should simply say that this style does not appeal to me. I would count his latter day 'Red Silk (1999)' as amongst his worst and, I'm sorry to say, this exists in a similar league. Having said that, it is easier to watch this once you have got used to its limitations, which hit you from the very start.'Sadist Erotica' works best as an exercise in nostalgia, a time of unconcerned casual sex and no repercussions. Main players Jeanine Reynault (as Diana) and Rossanna Yani (as Regina) form the Hot Lips detective duo. Two strong-minded, independent women who nevertheless spend most of their time fantasising over men. As detectives, it is difficult to imagine a squad less likely. Their 'kooky' sixties lifestyle is appealing and carefree, and the locations in which they live are rarely less than charming. The story soon becomes lost in the sea of extravagant characters and unengaging performances, but it seems a growing number of attractive models are going missing. The culprits may be hard-to-kill werewolf-like Morpho (Michael Lemoino) and his shady Master (Adrian Hoven).A definite positive is the soundtrack, Jerry van Rooyen's jazzy soundtrack sweeps alongside the eccentric series of events and scatty set-pieces. The whole is a bizarre and vaguely appealing mess of ideas and tones, veering from lazy thriller, tepid horror and badly translated comedy. Whilst more than a sum of its parts, 'Sadist Erotica' is nevertheless not Jess Franco's most engaging production."I really think it's time to bring this farce to an end," to quote one character, is a little harsh perhaps, but a point of view that does provoke a certain sympathy.

dmacewen As Tim Lucas has pointed out, Jess Franco has made some of the best and some of the worst of European exploitation. The man made so many films that the majority fall somewhere in between, usually falling on the negative side of the spectrum. Two Undercover Angels is one such film. On the plus side are a terrific soundtrack, some good photography, and the occasional moment of genuine Franco lunacy. The downside: everything else. That the storyline is a mishmash of genres wouldn't be so important if Franco knew what kind of spirit or tone he wanted to aim for. The editing alternates between avant-garde and sloppy. But absolutely inexcusable are the English-language script and the dubbing. I have a high tolerance for much of the Franco dialogue that some critics refer to as "relentless and risible," but this was too much even for me. The banality of the dialogue seems inherent to the material: the dubbing-script translation makes matters worse by making much of it incoherent. As far as the technical aspects of the dubbing are concerned, there are repeated scenes in which characters speak but the actors' lips don't move. While not a disaster, this is a far cry from such amazing fare as She Killed in Ecstasy and The Bloody Judge.

Woodyanders Crafty Diana (ravishing redhead stunner Janice Reynaud) and ditsy Regina (lovely blonde knockout Rosanna Yanni) are a couple of sexy super sleuths known as the Red Lips. The gorgeous gals go after perverted pop artist Klaus Tiller (a nicely sinister turn by Adrian Hoven), who's killing various models, actresses and exotic dancers for the sake of his extreme art. Director/co-writer Jess Franco relates the eventful plot at a steady pace and maintains a cheerfully silly tongue-in-cheek tone throughout. Reynaud and Yanni make for gorgeous and appealing leads; their natural and unforced easy'n'breezy chemistry keeps the picture humming. The rest of the cast is likewise solid, with nifty contributions by Chris Howland as gallant British detective Francis McClune, Marcelo Arroita-Jauregui as the bumbling Inspector Tanner, Manolo Otero as dashing Italian playboy Vittorio Freda, and Michel Lemoine as Tiller's freakish werewolf-like henchman Morpho. The delicious Dorit Dom burns up the screen with a couple of sizzling hot striptease set pieces at a swinging nightclub. The polished cinematography by Jorge Herrero and Franz Hofer gives the film an attractive vibrant look. Jerry van Rooyen's robust jazzy score hits the groovy spot. While this flick is admittedly pretty mild and innocuous stuff compared to Franco's more racy and explicit movies, there's nonetheless a good-natured quality evident throughout which makes the whole thing an entertainingly goofy diversion. A real campy hoot.

bensonmum2 Two female detectives are hired to find a missing woman. They soon discover that their missing woman is only one of many models and dancers who have vanished. The trail leads to an artist who paints and sculpts women at the time of their deaths. His work is eerily reminiscent of the woman they're looking for.Two Undercover Angels appears to have been an attempt by Franco to cash-in on the success of James Bond and other spy movies of the 60s. While this was the first "Red Lips" movie that Franco made, I unfortunately saw the sequel, Kiss Me Monster, first. Two Undercover Angels is miles ahead of the sequel by having something of an understandable plot (I would argue that the second in the series had no plot), acting, sets, and every other way imaginable. A lot of the jokes (this is a spoof after all) work in this movie.While this movie may be better than it's successor, that's not to say it's a particularly good movie. Part of the problem, unfortunately, comes from the dubbing. I'm not one to complain about dubbing, but this may be the worst I've heard. It's hardly the fault of Franco or anyone else involved in making the movie, but it's still a distraction. The bad dubbing may be partially responsible for the confusion I had from time-to-time following the plot. But Franco's style of storytelling doesn't help much either. He introduces new characters on a regular basis that add little or nothing to the proceeding but to confuse the issue. As soon as you think you've gotten a handle on a new character, they disappear never to be seen again.The two detectives mentioned in the title are played by Janine Reynaud and Rosanna Yanni. At least from appearances, they appear to be having a good time with their roles. There is a sense of humor and ease with which they work together that helps to make-up for some of the movie's shortcomings.If someone were to ask me for a good place to begin discovering Franco, this is not where I would advise them to begin. Seek out Venus in Furs or The Diabolical Doctor Z for a place to start with Franco.