Jesús Franco
Biography
Jesús "Jess" Franco was a Spanish film director, writer, cinematographer and actor. His career took off in 1961 with his cult classic The Awful Dr. Orloff, which received wide distribution in the United States and England. Though he had some American box office success with Necronomicon, his first women-in-prison film Ninety-Nine Women, and his two Christopher Lee films, The Bloody Judge and Count Dracula, he never achieved wide commercial success. Franco moved from Spain to France in 1970 so that he could make more violent and sexual films, and it was at this point that his career began to go downhill commercially, as he turned to low-budget filmmaking with a heavier accent on adult-oriented films. Although he produced a few well-received, low budget horror films in the early 70's, many people in the industry considered him a porn director due to the huge number of X-rated adult films he began churning out. Franco returned to low-budget horror in a brief comeback period from 1980-1983, but after 1983, his career took a second downturn. With the exception of Faceless and Killer Barbies, his films after 1984 are quite disliked and obscure due to their incredibly low budgets. Franco has nevertheless retained a large cult following through the years with his sexually-charged horror films, some of which are regarded as masterpieces by his avid followers.
Acting (116 movies)
The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein
1973
The Castle of Fu Manchu
1969
Count Dracula
1970
The Devil Came from Akasava
1971
The Corpse Packs His Bags
1972
Vampire Blues
1999
Journey into Perversion
2001
The Diabolical Dr. Z
1966
Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess
2021
Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell
1999
Succubus
1968
Attack of the Robots
1966
Dr. Orloff's Monster
1964
Venus in Furs
1969
She Killed in Ecstasy
1971
Eugenie de Sade
1973
Barbed Wire Dolls
1976
Night of the Skull
1974
Kiss Me Killer
1977
Female Vampire
1973
The Sinister Doctor Orloff
1984
The Vengeance of Dr. Mabuse
1972
Jailhouse Wardress
1981
Sex Is Crazy
1981
The Girl from Rio
1969
Vampyros Lesbos
1971
Downtown
1975
Women Behind Bars
1975
Exorcism
1975
Sadomania
1981
Judoka Shadow versus Doctor Wong
1985
Midnight Party
1976
Death Karate in Torremolinos
2003
Eugenie
1970
Celestine
1974
Al Pereira vs. the Alligator Ladies
2013
La cripta de las condenadas
2012
Robinson and His Tempestuous Slaves
1972
Slaves
1977
La última película de Jess Franco
2013
Orson Welles in the Land of Don Quixote
2000
Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac
1973
The Rhythm of Jess
2013
Macumba Sexual
1983
Call Him Jess
2000
Bloody Moon
1981
Call Me Jess Redux
2014
Marquis de Sade: Justine
1969
Strange Voyage
1964
White Cannibal Queen
1980
A Crack for Two
1984
Vampir Cuadecuc
1972
Dolls for Sale
1973
Les emmerdeuses
1976
Blood on My Shoes
1983
The Blues of Pop Street
1983
En busca del dragón dorado
1983
Girl with the Red Lips
1986
El abuelo, la condesa y Escarlata la traviesa
1992
The Sadist of Notre Dame
1979
Kiss Me Monster
1969
Shining Sex
1976
The Night Of Open Sex
1983
Your Caresses
1969
The Blood of Fu Manchu
1968
Red Venice
2003
The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff
1973
Revenge of the Alligator Ladies
2013
Debris Documentar
2012
Flesh-Eating Mothers
1988
Lucky, the Inscrutable
1967
Angel of Death 2: The Prison Island Massacre
2007
Night Has a Thousand Desires
1984
Justine and the Whip
1979
Camino solitario
1984
Black Boots, Leather Whip
1983
The Hot Nights of Linda
1975
Around the World in Eighty Days
1956
Esa cosa con plumas
1988
Tío Jess
2012
Jesús Franco, manera de vivir
2007
Drácula Barcelona
2017
Two Undercover Angels
1969
The Well
2005
Idoru
2009
Martes de Carnaval
2008
99 Women
1969
Queridos monstruos
2014
Ban the Sadist Videos!
2005
Soledad Miranda, Flower in the Desert
2015
Coffins of Light
2009
Por la gracia de Luis
2009
What a Honeymoon
1980
Clawing! A Journey Through the Spanish Horror
2014
Esmeralda Bay
1989
Attack of the Robots
1966
Jesús in Furs
2005
Wild Session
2019
Daughter of Dracula
1972
Greta, the Mad Butcher
1977
Directing (199 movies)
Angel of Death
1985
The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein
1973
Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein
1972
Lust for Frankenstein
1998
The Blood of Fu Manchu
1968
The Castle of Fu Manchu
1969
Count Dracula
1970
Sexy Erotic Job
1975
The Devil Came from Akasava
1971
The Corpse Packs His Bags
1972
Vampire Blues
1999
Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula
1998
Revenge in the House of Usher
1983
Blind Target
2000
Dr. Wong's Virtual Hell
1999
Vampire Junction
2001
99 Women
1969
Succubus
1968
Attack of the Robots
1966
Dr. Orloff's Monster
1964
Venus in Furs
1969
She Killed in Ecstasy
1971
Eugenie de Sade
1973
Night of the Skull
1974
Kiss Me Killer
1977
The Diabolical Dr. Z
1966
The Awful Dr. Orlof
1962
Greta, the Mad Butcher
1977
Barbed Wire Dolls
1976
Faceless
1988
Female Vampire
1973
Alone Against Terror
1986
Mansion of the Living Dead
1982
White Jungle Slave
1985
Golden Temple Amazons
1986
Diamonds of Kilimandjaro
1983
El lago de las vírgenes
1982
The Sinister Doctor Orloff
1984
Cries of Pleasure
1983
The Vengeance of Dr. Mabuse
1972
Dark Mission: Flowers of Evil
1988
Jailhouse Wardress
1981
The Sexual Story of O
1984
The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle
1982
Sex Is Crazy
1981
Night of the Eagles
1989
The Greedy Ones
1974
Tender Flesh
1997
The Bloody Judge
1970
The Girl from Rio
1969
Oasis of the Zombies
1982
Lulu's Talking Ass
1986
Vampyros Lesbos
1971
Erotic Symphony
1980
Jack the Ripper
1976
Bloody Moon
1981
Downtown
1975
Women in Cellblock 9
1978
Women Without Innocence
1978
A Virgin Among the Living Dead
1973
Lilian, the Perverted Virgin
1984
Macumba Sexual
1983
Virgin Report
1972
The Story of Linda
1981
Women Behind Bars
1975
Convoy of Girls
1978
Call of the Blonde Goddess
1977
Cecilia
1983
The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus
1962
Sadomania
1981
Marquis de Sade: Justine
1969
Devil Hunter
1980
Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun
1977
Midnight Party
1976
Judoka Shadow versus Doctor Wong
1985
Exorcism
1975
Incubus
2002
Two Undercover Angels
1969
Lorna, the Exorcist
1974
Eugenie
1970
Death Whistles the Blues
1964
Doriana Grey
1976
They Do Everything
1979
Paula-Paula
2010
The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff
1973
Love Camp
1977
Lovers of Devil's Island
1973
The Demons
1973
Blue Rita
1977
White Cannibal Queen
1980
X312 - Flight to Hell
1971
How to Seduce a Virgin
1974
The Girls of the Copacabana
1981
Kiss Me Monster
1969
Sexy Sisters
1977
The Perverse Countess
1975
Lucky, the Inscrutable
1967
Night Has a Thousand Desires
1984
Broken Dolls
1999
Downtown Heat
1994