Search - Red Lips Double Featute: Two Undercover Angels / Kiss Me Monster on DVD

Franco Style Eurospies

William Amazzini | 06/20/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Before director Jess Franco pursued erotic cinema with the beautiful Soledad Miranda, he made numerous films in which he blended different genres, in this case, the spy and horror genres. This excellent double bill from Blue Underground shows director Franco having a really good time. Seemingly made back to back with the identical casts and technicians, they emerge as underrated classics of the 60's pop-art spy craze which were flowing out of Europe after the James bond phenomena. Predating films such as 'THE DOLL SQUAD' and even television's 'CHARLIES ANGELS', Franco introduces us to Diana and Regina, two partners in a detective agency, who are the female versions of international secret agents globe hopping into dangerous territories . They come off as bubble heads but as you enter their worlds, they are definitely lethal when the chips are down and their trademark is to leave a red lipstick mark at the scene of a crime or investigation either on a glass or handkerchief. Played flawlessly by Janine Reynaud who Franco also used in his film 'SUCCUBUS aka NECRONOMICON' and the gorgeous Rosanna Yanni who will appear in many Euro genres films especially with Spanish horror star Paul Naschy, they make a great team constantly being thrown into unbelievable situations. The best of the two is 'SADISTEROTICA' here released as 'TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS', the girls are involved in a missing persons case involving fashion models. Eventually, it comes out that a mad sculpter from the 'BUCKET OF BLOOD' school is killing them and encasing them in plaster to display and Diana is his latest fetish. Blending the spy genre with the horror film and a great lounge score by Fernando Garcia Morcillo, the film is a hoot throughout its 90 minute running time. The second film in the series "KISS ME MONSTER' is more convoluted, the girls are hired to find a missing professor who leads them into a plot involving human robots. Franco keeps everybody busy as the film zips from one unbelievable situation to the next. After both films are over, you wish the girls had more adventures on the way. Both films have great Jess Franco touches( jazz scores, erotic sequences which are never over the top and even a character named Morpho whose name appears in other Franco films). Kudos to Blue Underground for releasing both films in pristine transfers and including interview extras with the director. A must for Francophiles and fans of Euro Spy films."