This decent film "El huerto del Francés¨was one of Paul's most personal projects and and one his finest artistic achievements. Based on actual events about ¨The Frenchman's Garden Murders¨ that were a series of 6 murders that were perpetrated in the town of Peñaflor, Province of Seville, Spain, up to 1904 . The crimes were committed by Andrés Aldije , known as El Francés for being a native of Agen, France, and José Muñoz Lopera . Both men had set up an illegal gambling house, robbing and murdering some of the visitors . After being condemned to the death penalty , both were executed by garrote vil on October 31, 1906 in the Prison of Seville. The star plays the titular role Juan Andrés Aldije 'El Francés' (Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina) , helped by José Muñoz Lopez (José Calvo who performed a lot of Spaghetti as Fistful of dollars) . El Frances runs an inn which serves both as a brothel and as a make-shift gambling-den , as well . While he is happily married to Elvira (Julia Saly , usual collaborator to Naschy , she even produced him) and along the way taking care of his prostitutes/lovers (Agata Lys , Yolanda Rios , Silvia Tortosa) . To carry out his ominous purports the orchard is allegedly used to bury the corpses of a lot victims . Then there arrives an ex-lover (Maria José Cantudo) gets pregnant and things go wrong . But his crimes go on and on until a predictable ending .
Based on actual deeds , the film director Paul Naschy made this film titled ¨The Frenchman's Garden¨ in 1977 and at his best . Here he plays a ruthless and egoistic stud who attempts to get richness quickly , at whatever cost . Continental Europe's biggest horror star Jacinto Molina Aka Paul Naschy passed away at 2009 , he created a classic character Waldemar Daninsky along with many others and often frightening to viewer . He was actor, screenwriter and director of various films about the personage based on fictitious character , the Polish count Waldemar Daninsky. The first film about Waldemar was ¨The mark of the Wolfman (1968)¨ by Enrique Eguiluz . In fact , in 1967 he wrote the script for La marca del Hombre Lobo (1968) . He was forced, out of necessity, to play the lead role of tormented werewolf Waldermar Daninsky after Lon Chaney Jr. turned it down . He reprised this character in over a dozen subsequent sequels . Naschy's portrayals of the anguished and sympathetic werewolf Daninsky became his signature part and consolidated his enduring cult status as a bona-fide horror icon . Other significant horror figures Paul played were the Mummy , Jack the Ripper , the Hunchback , the Frankenstein Monster , the Phantom of the Opera , and even the Devil . Naschy made his directorial debut with Inquisición (1977) . His most important movies were the successful ¨Night of Walpurgis¨ by Leon Klimovsky , ¨Fury of the Wolfman¨ , ¨Doctor Jekill and the Wolfman¨ ,¨The return of the Walpurgis¨, ¨Howl of the devil¨, ¨The beast and the magic sword (1982)¨ that was filmed in Japan and finally ¨Licantropo (1998) . After ¨The craving¨ it was such a box office disaster that Jacinto was bankrupt . And his performance as the Prince of Darkness in ¨El gran amor del conde Drácula¨ (1973) was one of his personal favorites . However , he was forced to turn to Japan for making artist documentaries , as he filmed ¨ Madrid Royal Palace and Museum of Prado¨ and he gets financing from Japanese producers for ¨The human beasts¨, the first co-production Spanish-Japan and followed ¨The beast and the magic sword¨ that was lavishly produced for the Paul Naschy standards . And ¨Howl of the Devil"--El aullido del diablo (1988)- that was one of his more interesting films in which he gives a tour of force , here Jacinto Molina plays several characters in this forgotten gem.
This film ¨El Huerto del Francés¨ is a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes , twisted style and a Naif-gaudy realization . This exciting terror movie contains thrills , chills , twists , some nudism and lots of blood and gore . The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato and is occasionally an engaging horror movie full of zooms , slashing , hitting and anything else . This time Paul Nashy/Jacinto Molina exhibits little breast but he was a weightlifting champion . The picture is plenty of sadism , two ominous criminals executing creepy events , and grisly killings . Pretty slow going , but hang in there for some surprising scenes and thrilling final . In the film appears a nice cast with gorgeous actresses of Destape or nudism and Eurotrash such as Agata Lys , Maria José Cantudo , Silvia Tortosa , Yolanda Rios and Julia Saly . And other secondaries who starred innumerable films of Spaghetti , suspense , and horror genres during the 60s and 70 , such as : José Calvo, Carlos Casaravilla, José Moreno ,José Nieto and brief appearance by Luis Ciges as the executioner. Good and foggy cinematography by Leopoldo Villaseñor with chillon , strong colors , though being really necessary a perfect remastering . Shot on location in Algete, Madrid, and Peñaflor, Sevilla, Andalucia . Along with evocative musical score , adding two songs-Romance at the begining and the end written and performed by Rosa León . The motion picture was professionally written/played/directed by Jacinto Molina . The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and terror genre enthusiast . Rating : 6.5/10 , passable and entertaining .
