Faceless (1987) - full transcript

Hello, my name is Jess Franco.

I am a director of Spanish
origin, as people say in France.

I have done most of my
films outside of Spain.

I have been making
movies for a long time...

...which means that I have made movies
throughout General Franco's regime.

As a director, I have made
movies just about everywhere...

in England, France, Germany,
Italy, the United States...

...sometimes under various aliases.

Hello, my name is Lina Romay.

I am an actress, originally from Spain.

I have been in quite a few movies, not
especially in Spain and maybe this is...



...the reason why you
haven't heard much about me.

I too have worked
under different aliases.

I am very happy to
be watching this film.

So then, what can I tell you?

You are seeing the first
images, here under the credits.

I made this movie about twelve,
fourteen years ago, right?

Yes, approximately.

We shot the film in Paris.

It's a French film.

It is not a Spanish co-production.

The producer was Mr. René
Château who wrote the script.

He was credited as Fred
Castle, scriptwriter...

...but he is the same
person, Mr. René Château.

We shot the film in Paris in six
weeks, also in the suburbs of Paris.



And in the middle of the winter.

As you can see it's Christmas in Paris.

That's because it was really
Christmas when we shot the film.

I had a great cast for this film.

As you can see, the
actors are well known,

really great people,

We also had a large crew,
something that I don't usually have.

There were even some
technicians whom I did not know.

And I would see people on the
set, that I didn't even know.

Because René Château didn't
want to have a big production...

...because he was
used to it at the time...

...when he was in partnership
with Jean-Paul Belmondo...

and he made huge
budget films with him...

he made big movies with Henri
Verneuil or directors of that caliber.

His films were commercial
films, but they were well made.

And so I decided to make a smaller
production for this film because...

...it put me more at ease.

I like it when I know everyone is
the film, and what everyone does.

But that was not the case here.

What is more, René was very
nervous during the shooting.

It was his first time
as a solo producer.

And so he was full of
doubts, he could not sleep.

He would call in the middle
of the night to tell me...

...let's fire this guy, let's change
that, etc. He was really hysterical.

But in spite of all this, the
film turned out quite well.

For example, the director of
photography did a superb job.

Maurice Fellous is a great
director of photography...

...he was also very nervous...

...yet he was very
logical and very good.

The crew was all very, very good.

The only problem was that,
with René being anxious.

We changed technicians,
almost every week,

...but after it was not... most
of the team did not change.

The composer was Mr. Romano Musumarra...

...an Italian composer who
has written pop themes...

...who was going to write
the rest of the soundtrack.

However, when he saw a
first editing of the film...

...he was afraid because he thought
it was a horrible film, dreadful...

...he could not even look at the screen.

And so he decided, finally,
together we decided...

...that we would keep his
songs, his pop music...

...but for the rest of the soundtrack...

...Daniel White and I
would write our own music...

...mostly for the dramatic
and horror scenes.

Nevertheless, I am not 100% happy
at how the film turned out...

...I think we spent too much for
some things and not enough for others.

.

At the beginning, the
special effects were fine...

...but René Château wanted to
prepare them as we were shooting.

I was used to the American and every
one else's way of doing things...

...which is to shoot the
movie first, and then...

...to create all the
effects in a studio after.

.

But he was afraid that the special
effects would not match the sequences.

.

And so we lost a lot of time...

.

and even the quality suffered...

...because if they go out, if the special
effects men work in their studio...

...they have all the elements all the
things that they need to do a good job.

But if they have to work on location,
where the film is being shot...

...and most of the time we were
in real settings, real places...

...it's not the same for them.

But it was fine as far
as I was concerned...

I did not mind going along with
what René Château wanted to do.

But if there's a tiny problem,
even something small...

...you have to stop
shooting and that's it!

.

They do not have all the equipment
they need to do it, to make corrections.

As far as I am concerned,
after all these years...

...I like this film a bit more.

I detested it when I
finished making it...

...because of all these
irritations, these problems.

I didn't do the editing.

I was there because
I wanted to be there...

...and René Château did
not want me to be there...

...maybe he wanted to
direct the editing himself.

.

I believe the end result is quite
good; it lacks originality...

...it's not particularly classy, but...

it is professionally well-made, sturdy.

That's really all I can tell you.

Could you tell me a little
about the actors in this movie...

...the stars such as Helmut
Berger, Brigitte Lahaie and others?

Well, René and I made the decisions;
we always picked the cast together.

First we discussed them...

...because he wanted some actors
that maybe I did not want, etc.

But in principle, we agreed very easily
about the leading actors because...

...for example...

...if someone proposes Stéphane
Audran for a role in the movie...

...you say yes right away...

...because it's a privilege
to have an actress like her...

...for what is practically
a secondary role, your know?

Helmut?

Helmut was for us, for me and
for René, ideal for the part.

His agent was difficult however
and we had a problem, René and I...

...with Helmut's agent, but in
the end we were able to get him...

...and that was good.

At the time, Helmut
had the reputation...

...of being a very difficult
actor to work with...

...he was very difficult
because he would disappear...

...he would leave in the middle
of shooting, things like that.

But as a matter of fact,
as far as I am concerned...

...he went out only one night
during the shooting of the film.

The following morning he wasn't there...

.

...but by 2 PM, he got there.

...He hadn't shaved but
that was all, you know?

He was really adorable.

Now, about Brigitte Lahaie.

Brigitte Lahaie is someone
I already knew well.

Already, I had made
three films with her...

...one was Dark Mission...

...with Chris Mitchum...

...where she had an important
part and played it quite well.

I knew her from the time she
was in erotic or porno movies...

...or whatever you want to call them.

Personally, I don't like
to use the word "porno"...

...not because I am afraid of it...

...because people don't really
know what the word means.

So, if you say something
is porno, it's like a label...

...you are classified "X"...

...and, of course, I
hate being classified.

Brigitte is a true
actress... very charming...

...pleasant and cooperative.

All I can tell you is that,
as we were shooting the film...

...it was very easy to work with her.

Additionally, as an actress she
played her part to perfection.

Even Helmut, who is generally used
to working with great actors...

...loved her very much,
found her a fine person.

.

There were other roles...

...played by Chris Mitchum
and Telly Savalas.

These are well-known highly quoted
actors who had important roles...

...although not leading ones.

We formed a group all
together, more or less.

Anton Diffring, same situation.

Caroline Munro. I had wanted to
work with her for a long time...

...and I was lucky when I thought
she could play this part...

...I don't remember
if it was him, René...

...who said the name Caroline
Munro first or if it was me...

...but it does not matter.
We both agreed to have her...

...since the beginning.

She was a wonderful girl,
and I think she was superb...

...in the way she played her character.

As far as production is concerned...

...I have no criticism.
I found it very, very good.

The only comment I would
like to make is literary.

What I mean is that Prédateurs de la nuit [1988
- a.k.a. Faceless]...

...at the beginning...

...is Gritos en la noche also [1962]
- a.k.a. L'Horrible Docteur Orlof...

...The Awful Dr. Orlof, Cries
in the Night, it's Dr. Orlof...

It's the same plot.

You may say it is also
like Les Yeux sans visage...

...perhaps it was heavily
influenced by Les Yeux Sans Visage,

...[1959 -a.k.a. Eyes without a Face/
The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus].

.

But I can tell you is that
I made Gritos en la noche...

...exactly around the same time...

...Franju [Georges Franju -1912-1987]
was making Les Yeux sans visage.

I was shooting the film in Madrid...

...he was in Paris, but we
didn't have any connection.

We both didn't know
about the other film...

...and I am sure that
Franju didn't either.

You know, ideas are born in the belly.

Since our ideas came
from the same source...

...it's Edgar Wallace...

...who created the story.

I always loved Edgar Wallace's work
although it isn't well considered.

He's a writer with crazy good ideas.

One of his best writing
was the body snatcher novel...

...which is the same
departure point of Faceless.

M y name isn't on the script.

It isn't in the credits
but I worked on it.

I didn't work as much
as the co-writers...

...but like John Ford and Howard Hughes.

They all worked on the
scripts they filmed...

...but they didn't sign the script.

Since I was not very
proud of the script,

I didn't insist in having
my name in the credits.

Of course, I helped develop the script.

In the end, about thirty people did!

I don't really know how many because,

every week, René would call a
new author and ask him to help,

to add, or to take out things.

But, when all is said and done, I
think the end result is clear enough,

the story is clearly written, it's O.K.

Were you satisfied with Telly Savalas
& Chris Mitchum's performances?

Were they very professional or not?

Perfect, perfect. I have
absolutely no criticism.

You know, the more
important the actor is...

...the less problems he gives you.

There are exceptions, of
course, but generally speaking...

Telly Savalas, for example, he came,

went to inspect his costumes, his
make-up, and was very professional.

He arrived on time, and he knew
everything that he had to know.

He was always near
the set, always nearby.

Now this is normal for Americans
but in Europe it's more difficult.

The actors finish a scene
and then want to have a drink,

or they take a stroll and
you don't know where they are.

On the other hand, American
actors, at least my experience with...

...classy actors such as Jack
Palance or George Kennedy.

George Kennedy would ask my
permission to go to the bathroom!

And Telly Savalas belonged
to the same generation,

by which I mean to say that
they were super professional.

As far as Mitchum is
concerned, he's a buddy,

we have known each other for a
long time and we are close friends.

He is a wonderful guy.

Also, Telly Savalas made films
in Europe, in Italy and in Spain.

He is not part of the
American "studio system" only...

...he also has a European method...

Yes, of course, because in any case,

this film was not very
European in that sense,

because René Chateau is a great
admirer of classic Hollywood,

and so he followed a method,
an American way of doing things.

I am also happy because as
far as production is concerned...

...I have no criticism,

American films are among
the best films in the world.

From that point of view, Americans
have a great sense of organization.

No, there was no problem in that
area, or maybe very small problems...

...between René and myself,

but they were never about
actors or about the shooting.

The problem is that at times he
would become a bit hysterical,

because he was afraid we
might go over the budget...

...but that was not the case.

I have almost 200 movies under my belt...

...and I don't think I ever
went over the budget once.

I would say no, that I
cannot shoot the film,

but I think we directors ought to
be on the same side as production.

And so he was the same, but at
the same time, and it's normal...

...it was his very first production,
and he had personal dramas...

...things of this sort.

Tell me, all the locations of this film,
were they shot in Paris or in a studio?

No, we shot only a few scenes in
the studio, only for some things.

But in general we shot
in natural settings.

Of course, we scouted the outdoor
locations for about two months,

and then we shot the entire film
in Paris; we made it in Paris,

either in the city or the
suburbs, but not farther than that.

And we shot all the scenes that
we needed, and it was perfect,

because Paris is one of the most
beautiful cities in the world.

Being able to make a film on location
in Paris is really a special gift.

In all the indoor scenes,
there is a natural atmosphere,

as if it the scenes were
not shot in a studio...

Yes, that's right, because we shot
very very few scenes in the studio...

...very little.

For example, you see here the
clinic, it was no longer in use...

...but a clinic nevertheless.

So, it was very practical, we
worked with the art director,

and we changed what we found
convenient to the shooting..

but as a matter of fact, it's
a clinic. It's a real clinic.

The night-club, it's
a real night-club.

Everything is more or less
what is represented in the film.

And it was difficult, for example, for
Maurice Fellous to light up the clinic,

because the hallways were narrow...

...there was not sufficient
space for the machinery.

But it worked fine nevertheless.

So, was it difficult to shoot
the scenes in a real clinic?

No, no, you know, I am used
to shooting most of my films...

...in natural settings.

I know this, and when I
go scouting for locations...

...I always take this
factor into consideration.

For example, what you see in
that scene is the doctor's house...

...the interior.

It's a real apartment.

We found it in a marvelous,
fantastic corner of Paris.

At the time I had no problems
because René Château knew that...

...for example, we had to spend good
money to have beautiful settings...

...to rent them.

That's how it was.

Could you talk a little about the
special effects on Christiane Jean's face...

...was it difficult to make?

It took a long time.

It was terrible.

At the minimum, it took from two
to three hours of makeup each time.

Was she pleasant even with that
horrible makeup on her face?

Well, she was not happy
because she is a very pretty girl...

...and so...

That's my experience about
women with good faces...

...who must play the role of
ugly women even if they are not.

I do not know of a single
actress who likes to be sabotaged.

Not one.

But it was you also.

Sometime her makeup was already....

There's Lina, can you tell?

It's Lina Romay.

She plays the role of
the sweet Mrs. Orloff.

I am supposed to be eighty.

That's serious...

But having had very good surgery...

Yes, because she was
operated on by her husband.

And Howard Vernon, who plays
Dr. Orloff, is superb as usual,

but it was not the great role
that he has always deserved.

He deserved to have a more
important career than the one he had...

...because after Le Silence de la Mer
(1947-a.k.a. The silent sea)...

...with Jean-Pierre Melville...

...where he was wonderful and
received many prizes for it...

...he could have had a sensational
career but he refused to.

He preferred to be independent
and to lead his own life...

...to have a life, that's what he wanted...

...and so he accepted the
roles that commercial actors...

...or agencies prefer.

Finally, I think he was right.

He was one of your most unusual
and favorite actors, right?

Yes, of course, after making
the first film with him...

...the Horrible Docteur Orlof [1962
- a.k.a. The Awful Dr. Orloff],

I picked him for a lot of films
because I thought he was superb.

And I want to say right away that
I met Howard thanks to a producer...

...with whom I made many films that
sometimes I was not too happy about.

In any case, he introduced
Howard to me as a possible choice...

...for the first Docteur Orlof.

.

I was really happy because I had
already heard of Howard Vernon...

...from the other French films he made...

...starting with Le silence de la mer.

But after that he made other
films where he was superb...

...he worked with Bernard Borderie
for the Eddie Constantine vehicles.

He was superb, for example
in Godard's Alphaville.

1965, Alphaville, the
strange case of Lemmy Caution.

That photograph, is it
Lina in that photograph?

It's Lina, yes, yes.

Yes, yes, it's me, yes. I had
to go one day for the photos.

What I wanted to say is that Howard
was not only a wonderful actor...

...but also an extraordinary human being.

He was very pleasant and had
a brilliant sense of humor.

And he was very kind, spoke
several languages, all languages...

...and for me it was a pleasure to
work with him, as I did, many times.

True, Howard was really a great guy.

.

Also very intelligent.

I don't know whether
you are aware of it...

...but he was Fritz Lang's assistant.

Is it true?

Yes, and also the assistant
to Jean-Pierre Melville.

And so I know that he is a guy
who knows his trade perfectly.

He also wrote very well,
both in English and in French.

What is more, he was an
exceptional photographer.

He published some books of
photographs taken in Switzerland...

...and in France.

And so he was a real man,
you know, a really swell guy.

Extraordinarily classy and
full of human qualities.

He had very small, tiny roles in films,

such as this one and the films
of Walerian Borowczyk, etc?

Yes, he was in a lot of movies.

The truth is that he
chose his own freedom...

...and one cannot blame him for that.

I myself have chosen my own freedom...

...and perhaps I never worked
for MGM but I am happier..

Is this the same clinic?

Yes, yes, it's the same clinic.

We shot all the scenes that take
place in the clinic right there.

As for the other scenes, we
used Helmut's private apartment...

which was not too far.

These scenes, do they
take place in the clinic?

Yes, yes, it's in the clinic.

Of course, our art department did
some work adding things, tricks, etc.

Usually, at the end of each
day after we finished shooting...

...I would go with my assistant
and my director of photography...

...the boys from the art
and decoration department...

...to see the setting for the following
day and put all the details in place.

Sometimes we added tricks.

But generally speaking, the
film was an easy one to make...

...as far as sets were concerned.

Very easy.

Was Zalcberg your
assistant In this movie?

Was he your assistant in this film?

Who's that?

The actor, Zalcberg Was he?

No, no, in this film, I had
three or four assistants.

Yes, a new one almost every week.

Yes. M y assistants always had
problems with the production...

...with René Château.

Of course.

He would come on the set and say:
I have just changed your assistant.

Why?

It's because, in principle,
they were not super-assistants...

...in the sense of French
traditional cinema.

They were somewhat improvised as
assistants, and less expensive.

Personally, in France I had exceptional
assistants such as Pierre Lary...

...who later became a director.

For example, he was also
the assistant to Buñuel.

Pierre Lary was a great professional...

...but his problem was that when
we actually made the movie...

...the two or three people
that I knew were exceptional...

...already had commitments, they
were not free to work for us.

Here there's an air of fetishism....

....like in your other films from the
previous years, the 70'es, for example?

Yes, this film was a collaboration
between René and myself.

I must say that
something was very clear...

...the day that René Château decided
that I was going to be the director...

...it's because he already had many
contacts in the area of shooting...

...of how to look at the actors,
the atmosphere, all of this.

And he was, he is still a
little more of a snob than I am.

I am not very snobbish.

But he is, in the sense that he follows
the latest fashion, he is à la mode.

And so, at the time, the new masters,
the new master of fantasy films...

...was Stuart Gordon.

And so he wanted, he wanted
to pay homage to Stuart Gordon...

...which we also used as Zalcberg's
character name in the film...

...and Faceless so contains many
quotes from today's horror films...

...which we intended.

Here is Stéphane Audran, Chabrol's wife

Yes, Stéphane Audran,
Chabrol's ex-wife...

...Stéphane Audran is a
great actress, you know?

It was a pleasure shooting
the film with such a face.

She knew her job.

But it was very funny because,
during the filming, we shot scenes...

...we worked, we had discussions...

...but we never paid
each other compliments.

Here, this is a special effect, it's one
of the best SFPX effect of the film...

Ah yes, yes.

Yes, this is spectacular.

We did it right there, as we
were shooting the sequence...

...with Stéphane, not after,
not another day in a studio.

She was right there on the set.

Stéphane was very happy to
have the syringe in the eye...

Yes, the syringe needle in the eye.

Yes, very pretty.

Because, also, Stéphane was very good...

...she is also a fan of Horror
films, so it was very easy...

...a pleasure to work with her.

As I said, we never
exchanged compliments...

...but right at the end, when she
finished shooting her scenes, she said...

...You are a damn good director...

...because you got everything you
wanted out of me, and easily too.

I did, and it wasn't difficult,
because you are great.

Brigitte is very nice, I find
that she played her character well.

It was difficult for her, you know...

...because everywhere in the
world people despise actors...

...who have worked in
sexy or porno movies.

And here, there was a feeling...
what I want to say is that...

...apart from Helmut and Stéphane Audran...

...the secondary actors were a
little scandalized of seeing...

...the queen of French
porno play a normal part...

...and an important one too.

They were all jealous.

But that's because
most people are idiots.

Ah yes, indeed.

This scene, is it in a real...?

Yes, yes, it's a night
club, a night club, a disco.

It's been a disco for a
long time, a night club.

There, that's near the Champs Elysées.

But the scene takes place during
the day, not at night, right?

They take place when
the club shuts down...

...because usually they would
close at three in the morning...

...or thereabouts. That's
when we would start shooting.

This is the follow-up.

And that's the apartment of...

Who is that photographer?

The director of photography?

The photographer is in this scene?

Ah, you mean the actor who plays
the part of the photographer?

I have forgotten his name,
I don't remember it any more...

...but he was funny, he was great.

There you see Château, he had
introduced us, that's how I met him.

And Chris was great, Chris Mitchum.

He also resembles his father
more and more, it's incredible.

He also has some scenes with Mitchum.

Usually I would operate
the camera myself

so I can see what happens
exactly in front of the camera...

...how the actors interact, for example.

I prefer to be the one who judges...

...not the camera operator, maybe
he knows the technical aspects...

...more than I do, but he doesn't really
know what I want from the actors.

And so I can tell you that
sometimes I would shoot...

...and Chris would enter into
the part, and it was wonderful...

...he was really like his father.

I think Chris also made some films
in Europe, not only in America.

Yes, of course he made
films all over the world.

He made films in the Philippines also.

I don't know what he did in the
Philippines but he worked a lot there.

He had been hired to be the hero
in some action films with sequels.

I don't know which production
company but they put out...

...three hundred films
per year, or thereabouts.

.

These films are for the
Asian market, the Far East...

...they almost never show them in
Europe or in the United States.

This scene adds some
humor to this horror film.

Yes, it's intentional,
if you want to know,

because my training has been
very much à la Hitchcock.

I find that Alfred Hitchcock, who
is the genius of the horror genre...

...and of fantasy and police
stories, it doesn't matter,

he knew how to break the tension
with short, amusing moments.

Further more, you will obtain a
better reaction from the audience...

...when you are in the middle of
telling a very tragic or violent story...

...and you create a break
to introduce a sequence...

...with some humor or a trick...

...the audience who is under
tension thinks jumps of joy...

...it's the easiest trick in the
world, to scare then make laugh.

And so I chose this method since
my very first film in this genre,

The Awful Dr Orlof also
contains some funny stories...

...some funny moments.

In the Hitchcock movies, even
the most frightening ones...

...there are always
break-up points like this,

and I find it all very
well, because in life...

...I think not everything is frightening.

Even in the worst situations
there can be a funny moment.

And I think that in this genre of
movies you need that sort of details...

...if those small details are well-calibrated,
quite well-balanced in the film.

This scene was rather taboo for
the 1980s... not in the seventies...

...but in the eighties it was
because of death, of feminism.

No.

I had no problems with censorship.

It's taboo in the sense
that there's a trio...

...because they are ready to make
love, because they don't really do it.

But no, in France, censorship is funny...

...France is one of the most intellectual
and evolved countries in the world...

...and they do not worry too
much about erotic scenes...

...or scenes with nudity.

What I mean to say is that we
never had a problem with it.

As a matter of fact, you don't
see anything in this film...

...just a naked breast, there are
no scenes of sexual violence.

Because given the censorship criteria
that we have all over the world...

...you can do very risqué erotic scenes...

...but they cannot be
violent at the same time.

That's a no-no.

You can see for yourself that this
set of scenes is almost for kids.

Today you could even show
it on prime time television.

Nobody would get offended.

What you see there, Telly Savalas'
scenes, we shot them at La Défense.

You know, it's a section of
Paris that's completely new...

...it's very American.

It could pass for any
large American city.

Even Telly was surprised, because
he did not know this side of Paris...

...and so...

Tell me, what we see framed in
the window, near Chris Mitchum

...is that the Eiffel tower?

He is in his hotel room, and...

Ah, yes, yes, from the hotel room...

...because we shot these scenes
in front of the Eiffel Tower.

It's not a fake, not a trick,
it's really the Eiffel Tower.

The scene with Anton here in the
old Paris and the scene with Telly...

...in the 'American' Paris.

American, there you have it!

It's the contrast between the two.

Yes, you are right. Anton Diffring.

It the old and new Paris.

Yes, it is.

Anton Diffring, who
was an excellent actor.

So, so, what are your
memories of working with him?

M y best memories are seeing
him in his British films period.

He did a full series of films there.

He had a very menacing presence.

He looked dangerous from the
instant he would appear on screen.

He was really an excellent actor.

I think he was Austrian, but
he had an English passport...

...when he started working
for those British films.

It was a real pleasure to work with him.

At the time we started the
shooting, he was already ill.

He had a heart disease.

He died from it not very long
after we completed shooting.

I think he died a year later.

But it wasn't showing, since
his character in the film...

...didn't need to show any physical
strength, like stunt or fights.

Yet he had to walk upstairs
and downstairs several times,

and he did it without even
mentioning me he was sick.

He was a really great professional.

From the point of view of personal
attention, it was very easy...

...because he knew how...

You know, there is something
I find very important...

...and I learned it from the Americans.

It's that actors are not subordinates.

An actor is a collaborator as much as...

...and even more than the technicians.

And so I believe that one must
work with them and seduce them.

Because they are easily seduced.

As soon as he feels loved, an
actor will cooperate with you.

With Anton, from the first
day we were striving for this.

And so we had an
exceptional time together.

This sequence that you are watching...

...we had to shoot it quite a few
times because there were many angles...

...many planes.

It was perfect, perfect.

And also, when it came to knowing
his lines, knowing what to do...

...he was sensational.

Finally, I find that when
you put everything on a scale...

...the actors in which I am interested
the most are English first of all...

...then Germans and Americans.

When I say Americans, I
say it for one reason only...

...i.e. that most of the actors
in the American film industry...

...have Irish or English or
Canadian or German roots.

But basically, they are one
hundred percent American actors.

Do you have a preference for
English American or European actors...

...because they come
from different schools?

Yes.

I don't care for Mediterranean
actors, in principle.

But there are exceptions of course.

I don't know - for example,
I like Marcello Mastroianni.

Of course, there are
great actors everywhere.

But when it comes to
schools, in my opinion...

...the English school is the best,
and the German is second best.

By this I mean that their
actors are true professionals...

...who study and work
long years before acting.

And even if these schools are
different, still they come together...

...as you can see.

It's not difficult to think that
Helmut Berger could be an English actor.

The schools produce
almost identical results.

I believe Helmut Berger did
his training as an actor...

...in London in the sixties.

Yes, of course.

And he came, and he was received.

I was talking with him
about the Austrian school...

...which is really a fantastic school.

Before his experiences
with Visconti in Italy...

Of course, but Visconti was a
bit heavy, which was good for him...

...because he helped Helmut a lot
and introduced him to people.

And I believe that... I was
having some serious conversations...

...with Helmut, because I
am not an old-fashioned guy...

...and so we talked about Visconti.

He told me that Visconti
was the love of his life...

...and he cried when he said that.

He was really sincere.

And so Helmut did not have the
kind of luck that he deserved...

...because he was too much in
pain because he missed Visconti.

However, he is an excellent actor.

And finally, all of them: Klaus
Kinsky, him, Karl Maria Brandauer...

...all these actors who are most or
less, let's say, Germanic like Helmut...

...learned at the school of Fritz Kortner...

...the Das Spielhaus of Fritz Kortner.

And I am surprised, because he was...
according to what everyone said...

...he was a real bastard, difficult
to get along with, terrible...

...but a genius nevertheless
when it came to training actors.

I love the plastic surgery scene.

It's next, right?

We are almost there.

This scene, this commentary,
is it for plastic surgery...

...or is it a commentary
on this particular milieu...

...or is it only for the film's story?

No, no, it's for the story.

There is no message?

No, there is no message.

I hate messages.

Finally, it's not that I hate
messages, I only hate explicit messages.

How about implicit?

I prefer implicit.

Let's say that people...
Listen, it's like following...

...let's say that the school I prefer...

...is the literary school of
classic American writers.

Which means that when you read
Hemmingway, Faulkner, even Caldwell...

...they are telling you stories.

It's only after, when you close
the book, that you say to yourself:

Ah, let's see now.

So the situation of the blacks
in the South was terrible.

But it's up to you to reflect,
to arrive at this conclusion...

...because what they have told
you is a story, nothing more.

Here, I think this sequence is terrible.

This is where Musumarra
stopped watching the film...

...and said that he did not want
to write the background music...

...because it meant that he would have to...

...look at this particular
sequence several times.

This particular scene, are
there any special effects...

...and who created them in this film?

You'll see, a young Frenchman
made the special effects...

...he was make-up assistant
to Stuart Freeborn.

For me, Stuart is a master.

He is Irish, and has
won two or three Oscars.

He is brilliant.

I had the pleasure of working with
him in my Fu Man Chus, in my Dracula.

He was in charge of
the make-up effects.

He is brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

Here, this scene is grotesque.

Yes.

Here are the sound effects. Ah, no!

This is Hamlet, right?
"To be or not to be."

No, it's Yorick.

I thought of Yorick when he
picks up the head just so.

He needs another little
darling to make love to.

Of course. He hasn't
practiced in a long time...

Ah, yes, it's like playing the piano...

There are two or three escapades
that we wanted to take out...

...because they are too explicit, they
remind one of Dachau and all that.

But we did not bother.

I guess everyone understands
the reference, right?

I think that either Florence Guérin...

...or another actress had
a porno career in Italy.

Not porno.

Not porno... soft core...

Soft core, yes. But I don't
think she ever made a porno movie.

Her films were popular in
Italy as well. She had a name.

She was a little silly,
but cute. You can see that.

Was she very popular
in France at the time?

No, she has never been
well-known in France.

The actors don't say: look,
that's Florence Guérin?

Yes, but that's because
of the publicity...

However I don't think that Florence
was ever quoted as highly as Brigitte.

She was nice, sure.

In any case, she filled the
character's shoes perfectly.

There are plenty of scenes
in discos in this film.

Yes. I love them.

...in the night-clubs. I think that...

All my films have
similar settings, because...

...do you know what was the
first thing I did in my life?

I was a jazz musician, a
pop music musician, etc.

I worked a lot in night clubs,
discothèques, in... jazz clubs.

Let's say that it's a world
that I know pretty well.

Because in many of your
films there are scenes...

...in discos and also at the theater.

Yes, yes.

Everything is a spectacle...

Yes, yes. The spectacle,
yes... it's there that...

He's good here.

I live. I see your face.

What about the cast, were the actors
all your first choice for this film...

...or did you have other ideas for them?

While we were shooting, or before
when we were getting the film ready?

At first, I always do something that
I also learned from the Americans.

I list three names, the names
of three actors for each part.

As a matter of fact, in this case...

...I think that all of them...

...100% were one of the three
names I had listed for each one.

So you see.

It's also because René and I had
practically the same viewpoint.

In this film there is a sort of
"porno chic" in some of the sequences...

...for example, the scene with Guérin.

Ah yes, but no, it's not porno.

Porno chic...

For me, Porno chic is, for
example Andrew Blake films...

...but it's still porno, very
elegant, with laces, right?

Here there is a classic
detail moment of erotic cinema...

...but we had fun doing it, you know?

What was your experience
with this Polish actor...

when he had to speak English?

He spoke English.

He spoke a very poor English, but
he learned his lines in English...

...poor guy, and he had a terrible
accent, but we did not dub him.

It's better this way, because
the lip movements are in English...

...not in French, because as you know...

...there are problems when we
use the Romance languages...

...people use more head, face
expressions, things like that.

The same actors are more
cool when they speak English...

...less super-expressive.

I think it's rather strange
that in this film the soundtrack...

...has a pop theme more than a jazz theme.

In your other films you
have jazz backgrounds, right?

Is it more modern?

What is more modern, this one here?

Yes.

Modern in the sense that
it's contemporary pop music?

But I try to do it often.

The proof is that if you see
my films of the last ten years...

...the musical themes are
as modern as possible.

I am now preparing a new version
of the Horrible docteur Orlof

and I already have Iron
Maiden's music for it.

There is nothing more modern than that.

And I love it because I am a musician
myself and so I follow evolutions...

...in music.

What I detest is stupid music,
and there is plenty around...

...but quality movies...

I don't know whether it was your
idea, but in the film, Lahaie...

...the Angel of Death, is a blonde,
while the victims are all...

Brunettes?

Yes.

It's a coincidence.

It's something that René
and I never discussed.

But the idea came from a film
with Florence Guérin we saw on T.V.

She is dark.

She is the only blonde.

But the victims... Let me think back.

Evidently... she's brunette.

Stéphane Audran, she is not a blonde.

She is a redhead.

Yes.

She is not actually a redhead
but she is not a brunette either.

No, I think it's a sort of coincidence.

Because we did not intend all
the victims to be brunettes.

For all the victims, did
you have to rebuild the face...

...of Helmut Berger's
sister who's a brunette?

Maybe it's because we brunettes
are smarter than blondes.

I don't know. I had not noticed.

I had not noticed it.

Neither did I.

But these are remarks that people...

Sometimes I ask myself questions...

...And so, if you turned the
camera this way it must have been...

...because you were thinking...
But I was not thinking!

I did it that way
because that's how I felt.

That's all.

Was this the only film that
you made with René Château?

Which one, this?

Yes.

This film, is it your only
cooperative venture with...

Yes, the only one. Because he
did not produce any more films.

That's an important reason.

Also, because I don't know that
we could have come to an agreement...

...because René is a one-film man.

He is not a man to make many
films or work without interruption.

He is not American in that sense.

He produces one film, he puts all of
himself into it, gets sick from it...

...scream and weeps.

But he only does one film and
this one worked out very well.

After the film, I went my own way.

I know that he wanted
to produce more films.

He talked to me about it, and
he told me, and he was very kind...

...that he was very satisfied with
the film, that he liked it very much.

We spoke after we finished
the film, you know?

He told me: I know that you
hate this film but I love it.

If you have a project that
you want me to consider...

I will try to be very open,
I will try to follow you.

But, as a matter of
fact, there is something...

...that we should not
forget about René Château...

...it's the fact that he is primarily
an excellent distributor, of videos...

...DVD's now, but especially videos.

The René Château company
logo with the panther...

...comes from the video.

At the time, he had purchased
- a monumental expense...

he had purchased a lot of French
films from thirties and forties...

...most films by Jean
Cocteau and Marcel Carné.

He had done an enormous distribution
effort and launched the films...

...with lovely photographs,
new cases, things like that.

He produced no more films.

He was not unhappy about this
one, because it has fared well...

...it was successful, it fared well.

There... maybe there is too...

...too much blood... I find
that it's not very effective.

Where are we now?

Place Pigalle, this is Place Pigalle.

The Moulin Rouge?

Here is everything. All the clichés.

Yes, it is a Paris cliché, yes.

Yes, it is a Paris cliché.

This is Megatown, it's the
club where we shot some scenes.

It was incredibly crowded.

It was impossible to shoot,
with that large crowd.

We had to get authorization to
set up the cameras and the lights...

...while the patrons were dancing
- these are real live scenes.

We added some props, the light
triangle, but as for everything else...

...it's the real floor.

It was the week-end of
course, a Friday night.

So Megatown is real?

Yes, yes, it was a very popular
discothèque in Paris at the time.

Was this an advertisement
for the night-club?

I think... I don't know.

René was a friend of
one of the club's owners...

...the one who gave him
permission for this.

I am sure he must have paid
something, but not a fortune.

René was a very popular guy in Paris.

Less now, because he lives most
of the year on the Côte d'Azur.

He is rarely in Paris.

It makes sense: he has a
lovely house near St. Tropez...

...in that lovely Mediterranean climate.

Is he still involved in films or not?

No, but he was never
really involved in film.

The only film he ever
made is this one, with me.

It's because he was a
partner of Jean-Paul Belmondo...

...of Jean-Paul Belmondo's
brother for the production.

He was a partner, but it was
Belmondo who handled the business...

...not him.

René began as a set photographer.

He was a great still photographer.

Telly, Telly was...

It was funny when he used
to pronounce St. Clowd....

...instead of "St. Cloud",
All Americans do it. St. Clowd.

Have you been to St. Cloud?

It's a very pretty, let's say
elegant, residential district in Paris.

For us, for those of
us who know Paris well...

...it's strange to think that in St.
Cloud there is a place like this clinic...

...with these crimes, because in
general it's an elegant neighborhood.

Maybe because of this, they also
have crimes, but we don't know.

When we were shooting, René's drama...

...was that he thought that
Maurice Fellous was too slow.

The director of photography.

But it's not true, he was not very slow.

He was not the fastest, but he
was working at an average pace...

...that would have allowed us to
finish the film within schedule...

...but René was afraid.

And so he hired another
team, a second unit.

In this predicament, I
remembered my classics.

And so I did exactly
what Ken Annakin had done...

...in The Battle of the Bulge, 1965
a.k.a. La bataille des Ardennes.

In that film, the Americans imposed
a director for the second unit.

And so he said: Fine. It's O.K.

Now what did he do... He had
the second unit shoot wide shots...

...any sort of stupid
shots that he did not use.

He himself shot all the important
scenes, the action sequences.

And so I did the same.

I used the second unit for two
days, I had them shoot some scenes.

The rest I did myself because I
can't work in that kind of situation.

I want to direct all the film's shots...

...not the shots that production
wants from me, right?

The woman who is on a bed...

...attached, tied, yes...

People said often about this film
that it's not a very Jess Franco film.

I think they are wrong.

It's very much a Jess Franco film.

Well, the story is almost
mine, the development of events...

...follows very closely my own cinema;

the same can be said for the
relationship between the characters.

René was aware of this
before we started the film...

...and that's what he wanted.

Was there a good rapport
among the actors of the cast?

Ah, yes. Very good. Very good,
maybe even very, extra good.

Some even had flirts, affairs.

some of the actors did,
during the shooting.

I was always the last one to know...

...as if I had been the
husband of all these women.

But I had a suspicion... that
Caroline and Mitchum became an item...

Is there tension here?
Caroline is at the door...

Yes.

She really slaps him in this scene.

At first, she was afraid...
She could not bear to...

...Ah, does this bother you?

No, it doesn't bother me at all.

Finally, he wasn't very happy
about it and neither was I.

She really slapped him.

We did three takes of this scene.

In the first one, she
did not go all the way.

She slapped him but not hard enough.

But afterwards...

This guy is an excellent
actor, Gordon, Gerard Zalcberg.

He is a great stage actor.

He had done a lot of theater,
for example, with Robert Hossein.

He was very good.

He is brilliant, don't you think?

If you think that in general...

...he always played the parts of a
gallant gentleman, things like that.

But here he is rough,
and he is good at it.

Don't go there! Don't go!

At the Brussels Festival
it's very comical...

...because at the Fantastic Film
Festival that's held in Brussels...

...there is always a group
of young people who yell...

...and generally have a good time.

It's amusing, but they
also talk to the screen.

They say: "Don't go there, don't go,
he's going to kill you, the bastard!"

Is this the first
nude scene in the film?

The second, because there was...

...the other woman, in the other room
is the first nudity in the film...

I don't think so. There is
another scene in the cell...

...with another naked girl...
but you see very little...

She sees the corpse.

I think that the horror scenes in
the film have an English flavor...

but I don't mean modern English cinema.

I am referring to the
old English cinema.

There is an English cinema
known by a few which I love.

They are the films of Walter
Foley or Leslie Arliss.

Maybe you don't know this
director. Do you like him? No?

I don't know, maybe, I don't know.

You don't know what? Oh, I am sorry...

The films of Walter Foley.

Do you know Foley? He's a director.

Do you like his films or not?

Yes.

Great!

Because he's not very
well known in England.

I asked a lot of times and they
say: Who? Walter Foley, what's that?

I don't think England is
a country of movie lovers.

However, Leslie Arliss, do
you remember Leslie Arliss?

He was also a very good director.

He did, for example,

The Door with Seven Locks
[1940]. Do you remember?

Yes.

With very good actors, such as...

I remember the film.

Marius Goring. Do you remember?
Leslie Banks. Fantastic actors!

Don't go in there, don't go!

...and he goes right
there like an idiot.

The scene with the face...

It's a very sadistic idea.

The skin is perfect... perfect.

No, not the pencil, not the pencil

Is this still the same clinic?

Yes, it's always the same clinic.

It was perfect because we
could shoot the entire day...

...since the clinic was not
operative, it had shut down.

There were no patients, no
doctors, no one. It was like a set.

Do you know Paris well?

Me? Yes, a little bit, yes.

Where's this clinic?

The 15th arrondissement.

It was shot in a 15th century building?

No, I mean the 15th
"arrondissement," the 15th district...

...that's both popular and residential.

In general, it's a rather
elegant neighborhood.

The clinic was there.

It had not been successful.

It was closed.

That is pure Jess Franco.

Jumping scenes.

Was it difficult to create
these special effects?

Yes, very difficult. It took us
an entire day to prepare this.

Of course, it's an important
sequence in the film.

There...

I love these moments, don't you?

Ah, yes...

It's here that Musumarra, the Italian
composer, fell down, he fainted...

He was gone.

I love this image very much.

It's a very strong image.

But it's not possible... the
victim's lips... it's not possible.

And yet, with all the gore
scenes, it's rather timid?

I don't like gore a lot. I made,
more or less, two gore films.

And I tried to have as little
gore as possible in them...

because what good are very long scenes?

I think three feet of a Hitchcock
movie, such as Psycho, for example...

...are much stronger than
a twenty-minute gore scene.

As a matter of fact, I think
people make gore films because...

...there is a young audience
that likes to make fun of them.

They laugh as they watch the
guts and all those tricks.

I think it's total hogwash, it's
fake, but they like it, they laugh...

...they applaud, and all of that.

But I don't think this is cinema.

I think it's butchery.

For Brigitte also it was a showcase...

...because she is wearing
different clothes in each scene.

Yes.

Either a skirt or something else...
She is a very glamorous nurse.

Yes.

An homage to Edgar Allan Poe.

Yes, the black cat, right?

Here, this is where René and
I had the biggest discussion...

...because he wanted a happy ending...

...rescuing the girl.

And I refused. I said no.

Leave it open so it's not clear
whether he reaches her on time.

Because I find it is more
into today's aesthetics...

...not knowing if she is
going to live or die.

You didn't want a happy ending.

So was the ending of this
film, the finale, your choice?

Yes, yes. Totally.

René would have
preferred a happy ending.

What's a happy ending?

The happy end?

What is the original
ending of this film...

...in the René Château-Fred Castle
story, in the original treatment...

...what is the original happy ending
that has been removed from the film?

Telly Savalas arrives on time to save
the couple, and the girl is freed.

But I much preferred not to know.

Yes. It's more ambiguous?

Ambiguous, yes. Yes. It's
much closer to real life.

Those guys are super happy...

...and the others are
croaking in the basement.

And we see Telly Savalas
board the plane and...

...he'll try to save them.

If he'll make it or
not... in the next film...

Telly is the kind of actor I
love because he does nothing.

I find that having it all
inside of you, is everything.

He is magnificent.

The bastard looks great.

He has great manners, Telly
Savalas, a great actor.

I was very glad of having
made this film with him.

He was not a small man.

He is dead now.

Now that I think of it, there's
quite a few people who have passed on...

...since we made the film.

There was Telly Savalas,
and Anton Diffring.

Thank you very much,
Jess... thank you very much, Lina...

for your assistance and your commentary.

You are welcome.

It was a pleasure to talk
about the film with you.

In general, when we have these
sorts of meetings to see a film...

and discuss it, most people
ask only dumb questions.

For example: were you excited
while you were shooting...

What do you mean, was I excited?

I am excited that I am shooting,
but not by other things, you know?