Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco Volume 1: 1959-1974

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Its been mentioned in the random Franco ramblings thread but this is more than worthy of its own thread here. Every Franco fanatic here is probably already aware but Stephen Thrower's long awaited book on Franco will finally be released on November 20th. Well, the first volume that is!

Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco (aka Jess Franco) directed more than 180 films in a career spanning six decades, making him one of the most prolific directors of all time and winner of a Lifetime Achievement prize at the 2009 Spanish Goya Film Awards. Yet his work frequently met with censorship resistance & was often despised by critics. Franco's taste for the sexy and horrific, his lifelong obsession with the Marquis De Sade and his roving hand-held camera style birthed a whole new strain of outlandish sado-erotica. This looks at the first half of his career.

Interesting thing, this was originally going to be a FAB Press publication but apparently its now coming out via Strange Attractor. Another thing I'm wondering about is what prompted the decision to split it into two volumes. Notice how this one covers '59 to' 74. I remember hearing Thrower on the Rue Morgue podcast saying he wasn't going to cover the films chronologically but rather start with the 70's and 80's then bounce back and forth between the 60's and the later digital films. Either way, its safe to say that this will probably be the final word when it comes to Franco.

Amazon pre-order
Amazon.co.uk pre-order

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Superb. 'Bout time someone wrote the definitive book on Franco. For a while there I was worried I was going to have to do it myself. Which would have been a hassle... Anyway, glad its Thrower doing it and I hope they are both hefty volumes. Oddly I'm pretty sure I already have two books that have that exact frame on the cover.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Using that still is almost too obvious a choice, it's overused in a way. At the same time, it is iconic and it does sum up Franco's work quite nicely in one eye-catching, sexy, bloody image.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Ok so now this won't be ready until March of next year, here's the official Strange Attractor page:

http://strangeattractor.co.uk/furthe...rous-passions/

[Clive Smith noodle doodle Find all posts View Profile Close Clive Smith]

I was really looking forward to getting hold of this in the next few days, but it's been delayed until 16th May 2015. Roll on...

[Mark C. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark C.]

Got this from Amazon today.

We're writing to let you know that the following items have been unexpectedly delayed:

Stephen Thrower "Murderous Passions : The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco"
Estimated arrival date: April 29 2015 - May 07 2015

[Lalala76 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Lalala76]

Date moved to June

[Kevin Coed Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Kevin Coed]

Fucking hell.

[Clive Smith noodle doodle Find all posts View Profile Close Clive Smith]

Aaaaargh!

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Ok so after being delayed basically every month since the original release date was first announced it seems this is finally going to start shipping out in June. Sneak peak of the special edition:

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

There's a neat foil stamped image on the flip side of the HC too.

[Tom Clark Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tom Clark]

Several people are reporting getting this email from Amazon this morning, myself included:

Hello,

Due to a lack of availability, we will not be able to obtain the following item(s) from your order:

Thrower, Stephen "Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesus Franco"

We've canceled the item(s) and apologize for the inconvenience. We must also apologize for the length of time it has taken us to reach this conclusion.

Complete bullshit but I should have seen it coming from a long time off. Why do I get the feeling that if this ever does come out it'll quickly start going for retarded prices like Thrower's OOP books.

[Mark C. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark C.]

Mine is still showing up as:

Not yet dispatched
Dispatch estimate: Thursday, 25 June 2015 - Monday, 29 June 2015
Delivery estimate: Wednesday, 8 July 2015 - Tuesday, 14 July 2015



My pre-order was placed on:

Order placed
24 August 2014

[Mark C. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark C.]

My book shipped from Amazon.co.uk, Excited.



Image from Facebook.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Sometimes when I see the book it has the incredibly generic Romay cover and sometimes it has the more elegant one of the spider woman lying on the ground. Not that it really matters I suppose but how do you know which one you are going to get?