Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Frenchman's Garden (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • The Frenchman's Garden (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review

    Click image for larger version

Name:	Frenchmans-Garden-Blu-ray-Review-cover.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	25.3 KB
ID:	385649

    Released by: Mondo Macabro
    Released on: August 10th, 2021.
    Director: Paul Naschy
    Cast: Paul Naschy, Marí­a José Cantudo, ígata Lys, José Calvo, Silvia Tortosa, Julia Saly
    Year: 1978
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Frenchman's Garden - Movie Review:

    Directed and co-written by Paul Naschy, 1978's The Frenchman's Garden, set in the early 1900s, stars Naschy as Juan Andrés Aldije, a Spanish man known to the locals as 'The Frenchman' as he lived in France for a while. Since returning, he's married Elivra (Julia Saly), the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the area. Elvira's father doesn't feel that Juan is good enough for his daughter, and given that he has a habit of sleeping with the prostitutes who work in the inn (which also doubles as a brothel and a gambling den) that he owns and operates, her father was probably right.

    In addition to sleeping around, however, Juan and his right hand man, José Muí±oz Lopera (José Calvo), murder men for their money and bury their bodies outside in Juan's garden. Things get tricky for Juan when a woman he slept with a few months ago, Andrea (Marí­a José Cantudo), shows up at his doorstep and tells him that she's pregnant. This causes some jealousy with Charo (ígata Lys), one of the aforementioned prostitutes who just so happens to be Juan's current mistress. Juan arranges for Andrea to have an abortion, which she begrudgingly agrees to thinking that it will save her relationship with him, but Juan's greed starts to get the better of him.

    Based on the true story of 'The Frenchman Murders' that took place in Peí±aflor, Spain ending in 1904, The Frenchman's Garden isn't quite the straight horror film that you'd expect from Naschy if you're only familiar with his better known monster movies. There's very little gore here, no creature effects at all and the whole thing is surprisingly understated, save for the abortion scenes (which still shows quite a bit of restraint in terms of what is actually shown on screen compared to what could have been shown on screen). The movie is all the better for it. Some of the Naschy tropes are still on display (only a few minutes into the movie we see him in bed with a beautiful naked woman, for example!) but this is much more focused on the human drama inherent in the storyline than in the more salacious aspects of what Juan and José get up to.

    Naschy is also very good in the lead here, delivering a brooding performance that, at times, you expect to explode. It's a solid turn, and quite a different role than we're used to seeing him play, but one that he proves more than capable of handling. Supporting work from José Calvo, instantly recognizable from For A Fistful Of Dollars, is strong while both Marí­a José Cantudo and Julia Saly are very strong in their legitimately sympathetic parts. ígata Lys's character is less sympathetic but we even wind up feeling bad for her before the whole thing is over with, given that Naschy's character is such a despicable rat bastard in the film!

    The Frenchman's Garden - Blu-ray Review:

    The Frenchman's Garden arrives uncut on Region A Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 2.35.1 widescreen and taking up 21.6GBs of space on the 25GB disc. Taken from a 'brand new 4k restoration of the original camera negative,' the film has what we assume is a slightly golden hue to it but color reproduction generally looks quite good here. Detail is nice and strong and black levels are good. Skin tones also look lifelike and natural and the image is free of any obvious compression artifacts, edge enhancement or noise reduction problems. The image is also very clean, aside from the odd white speck here and there it is pretty much completely free of print damage.

    The only audio option for the feature is a Spanish language 16-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono track. Optional subtitles are provided in English only. No problems to note here, the score sounds really nice and the audio is clean, clear and properly balanced without any hiss, distortion or sibilance to complain about.

    Extras start off with a new audio commentary by The Naschycast's Troy Guinn and Rodney Barnett and Human Beast: The Films Of Paul Naschy author Troy Howarth. It's a very conversational track that covers a lot of ground, from the film's release history to the real life case that the story was based on and some of the historical inaccuracies that are present in Naschy's version. Lots of details here about the different actors and actresses that appear in the film, as well as Nachy's work in front of and behind the camera on this particular project. They cover the score, some of the cinematography (and the use of that ominous shadow in two scenes) and some of the symbolism in the movie like the use of bars in certain shots. They do a good job of making the case for this being one of Naschy's best works, they cover the director's own thoughts, compare it to some of the Italian art films that were being made in the sixties and seventies, share some interesting insight into how and why the notorious abortion scene was made the way that it was and quite a bit more. No dead air here, they keep the conversation going from start to finish.

    The disc also contains a twenty-eight minute archival interview with Naschy himself, conducted in 2003 by Ignacio Armada. In this piece, he speaks about how parts of his filmography are rewarding for him to look back on while others are dark. He then goes on to talk about his early days and how he got into filmmaking in the first place, meeting John Wayne and not knowing who he was, his education and his thoughts on going to school and then deciding to get into cinema as a career. He then talks about his early days in the industry, learning while doing on different productions, the influence of genre films and comic books, how he was ridiculed by many of his contemporaries for doing horror and monster pictures, where the ideas for some of his screenplays come from, the good and bad of working with other directors, his love of painting and writing.

    A separate three minute interview with Naschy, taken from the same 2003 session, sees him discussing The Frenchman's Garden specifically, discovering the real case that the movie was based on, writing the script, commissioning Rose Leon to write the balled used on the soundtrack, trying to get the details of the case right and how he feels about the movie overall.

    Rounding out the extras on the disc are the Mondo Macabro promo reel, menus and chapter selection options.

    The Frenchman's Garden - The Final Word:

    The Frenchman's Garden is Naschy at his best, a very well-made thriller with some really strong acting and excellent direction. Mondo Macabro's Blu-ray release is really strong, presenting this rarely seen thriller in very nice shape and with a nice selection of extra features as well. Highly recommended!

    Click on the images below for full-sized The Frenchman's Garden screen caps!






























      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X