At long last I was able to see - thanks to a very bad copy - the original Spanish version of one the best-known 1980s Franco.
I like to post about it on Latarnia because, about one years and six months ago, I chatted on Mobius with Mirek about the Eurocin version, which I had seen in the Image dvd.
I don't know if Mirek remembers that, but at that time I was crazy about the film. The point is that in REVENGE I found something different from all the other Franco I had viewed, in particular an atmospheric quality and a purity of vision which afterwards I found in many of his early 1980s films. Therefore, if today my feeling about REVENGE is changed, I think it's just because I've viewed many far better Franco's 1980s: MIL SEXO TIENE LA NOCHE, MACUMBA SEXUAL, HISTORIA SEXUAL D'O etc.
Nevertheless I intended to reconsider it at the light of the almost 'legendary' Spanish version, since the Eurocin version is an orgy of inserts which final effect is - as it always happens - to render the film chaotic and incompehensible.
Having seen the Spanish version once only, I cannot exactly point out the differences between the two versions. But in general I'd say that the Eurocin version cuts off almost the whole sexual/sadistic side of the film, leaving alive only the melancholic side. Infact only the Spanish version includes the three Usher's murders, the second of which involves a prostitute and the third a little girl. The above three scene are very strong and important, because of the contrast with the depressing mood of the rest of the film. In the original version, the Awful dr. Usher - such as he could have been renamed in the French version - has indeed his moments of real sadistic pleasure, which culminate in the vampirish act of lick the bloody blade (second and third murders). Vernon's grotesque look and, in particular, his red mouth remember here his Dracula attacks in DRACULA CONTRA FRANKENSTEIN.
In conclusion, as it could be easily foreseen, the Spanish version is far better than the French one and - I think - it should be regarded as the only one true Franco's version of USHER.
That doesn't mean that the Spanish version eliminates all the faults. USHER is however a too ambitious movie, which Franco could have perhaps succesfully shot with Harry A. Towers' budgets, but not with the poor means he had in 1983.
Has anybody else seen the original USHER?
I like to post about it on Latarnia because, about one years and six months ago, I chatted on Mobius with Mirek about the Eurocin version, which I had seen in the Image dvd.
I don't know if Mirek remembers that, but at that time I was crazy about the film. The point is that in REVENGE I found something different from all the other Franco I had viewed, in particular an atmospheric quality and a purity of vision which afterwards I found in many of his early 1980s films. Therefore, if today my feeling about REVENGE is changed, I think it's just because I've viewed many far better Franco's 1980s: MIL SEXO TIENE LA NOCHE, MACUMBA SEXUAL, HISTORIA SEXUAL D'O etc.
Nevertheless I intended to reconsider it at the light of the almost 'legendary' Spanish version, since the Eurocin version is an orgy of inserts which final effect is - as it always happens - to render the film chaotic and incompehensible.
Having seen the Spanish version once only, I cannot exactly point out the differences between the two versions. But in general I'd say that the Eurocin version cuts off almost the whole sexual/sadistic side of the film, leaving alive only the melancholic side. Infact only the Spanish version includes the three Usher's murders, the second of which involves a prostitute and the third a little girl. The above three scene are very strong and important, because of the contrast with the depressing mood of the rest of the film. In the original version, the Awful dr. Usher - such as he could have been renamed in the French version - has indeed his moments of real sadistic pleasure, which culminate in the vampirish act of lick the bloody blade (second and third murders). Vernon's grotesque look and, in particular, his red mouth remember here his Dracula attacks in DRACULA CONTRA FRANKENSTEIN.
In conclusion, as it could be easily foreseen, the Spanish version is far better than the French one and - I think - it should be regarded as the only one true Franco's version of USHER.
That doesn't mean that the Spanish version eliminates all the faults. USHER is however a too ambitious movie, which Franco could have perhaps succesfully shot with Harry A. Towers' budgets, but not with the poor means he had in 1983.
Has anybody else seen the original USHER?
