Lovers of Devil's Island (1973)

There's a lot happening in this Jess Franco film. Set in an unnamed vicinity, Dennis Price (in his final film for Franco, and looking sun-burnt but in healthier than he had in Franco's two recent Frankenstein films) plays lawyer L'avocat Linsday, who - describing himself as aged and alcoholic - discovers that a young couple have been unfairly convicted of murder. He is told of this injustice by former governor Mendoza (Jean Guedes) on his death-bed. Traveling to the austere and corrupt institution in which they are being held, he attempts to sort the matter out.Although this is primarily a 'women in prison' drama, the incarceration element only makes up part of the story. Naturally, such scenes are wonderfully bleak and adorned with much wailing and sobbing. Apart from Price, other Franco regulars on hand are a suitably cruel-looking Luis Barboo as Lenz, the always brilliant Howard Vernon as Colonel Ford, and Anne Libert, who had been so effective as bizarre bird-woman Melisa in 'The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein' is reduced to an unnamed thumb-sucking peripheral prisoner. I believe this is also her final film for Franco.Usual humiliations ensue often involving fighting, torture and cruelty ensue. Raymond (Andrés Resino) and Beatriz (Geneviève Robert), the two lovers of the title, are each lead to believe their partner is dead. Beatriz's naïve goodness puts her at loggerheads with the other inmates, whereas Raymond flirts with exhaustion and hear-death as his work pattern becomes intolerable. There's a pretty twisted love angle involving Raymond's affair with his godmother Emilia (Danielle Godet), which fuels her vendetta against Beatriz, whom Governor Mendoza desires. Have you got all that?Having established Raymond and Beatriz's incarceration as a cruel injustice, Franco's script doesn't seem concerned with any urgency regarding Lindsay's mission in getting them released. Instead, we dwell more on the actions and interactions of the characters, which exploits the various layers of occasionally pantomime sadism that is part of the regular routine (incongruously involving a laser gun at one point). The finale is as low-key as you could imagine and appallingly effective. The last shot we see is of Price's face, crumpled by disgust as he turns and walks away. Price, who died the year this film was released, turns in one of his best performances for Franco. His performances in Franco's more bizarre films were heightened accordingly, but here, he reminds us he still has the talent that made him one of the most popular performers at the earlier stage of his career. Here's to you, Dennis.Interestingly, the other version of this film, known as 'Quarter des femmes' rejects the flashback sequences and inserts instead scenes of extra sex and cruelty, in which Libert enjoys her most substantial scene. It also adds a little extra to Lindsay's final departure, which ends this version of the film less abruptly than the version more widely available.

In an undefined country, the Governor Mendonza (Jean Guedes) summons the lawyer Lindsay (Denis Price) to his death bed to disclose that the lovers Raymond Franval (Andrés Resino) and Beatriz Coblan (Geneviève Robert) are innocents. Mendonza tells that he had an unrequited love for Beatriz while his lover Emilia Franval (Danielle Godet) was jealous of Beatriz. Emilia had had a love affair with her godson Raymond, who ended their relationship to stay with Beatriz. Mendonza plots with Emilia to kill his wealthy sister-in-law Margarita Santiago to frame Raymond and Emília. The lovers are convicted of murder and sentenced to a life imprisonment in separate wings of the Devil's Island prison. Lindsay decides to visit his clients and when he arrives, he meets the inmate Rosa (Jossiane Gibert) that tells the fate of the two lovers."Quartier de Femmes" is an average film by Jess Franco with a disappointing conclusion. The plot is a shallow soap opera with one- dimension characters, with the theme "women in prison", the same that this director explored three years before with "Der Heiße Tod", but with lesser and lesser exploitation. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Amores Satânicos" ("Satanic Loves")

Devil Island Lovers (1974) * 1/2 (out of 4) An incredibly boring and lifeless WIP (Women in Prison) film from director Jess Franco. A man and woman are sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit and soon find themselves being beaten by the guards. I love Franco's WIP films when they're over the top. Sleazy and full of girl on girl action but this thing here featured none of that and tries to tell a serious story but fails on every level. The film has way too much talk with none of it being interesting. Dennis Price, Howard Vernon and Brit Nichols star.

As with most Franco films I see these days; I was expecting this one to be the pits, but actually; Devil's Island Lovers isn't bad at all - especially by the director's usual standards! Before watching, I thought this was yet another 'women in prison' flick, but after the first few minutes; it would seem that Franco is actually trying to tell a story this time round. The plot concerns a man who has framed the woman he loves and her lover after she 'betrayed' him. Now on his deathbed and wanting to put things right, he tells a lawyer what he did - leaving the lawyer with the task of getting enough evidence together to get the lovers off the hook! As mentioned, this isn't really a women in prison film - although Franco couldn't completely stay away from the genre he (apparently) loves, as we do get to see some females behind bars during this film. However, the prison scenes aren't all that sleazy, which is odd considering Franco's (vast) filmography. The story here isn't likely to actually intrigue anyone, but it really isn't all that bad and I wouldn't hesitate to put Devil's Island Lovers in the top half of a list of Franco's best efforts!