Voodoo Passion: Special Edition – Full Moon Features (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Switzerland, 1977
Director: Jesús Franco
Writers: Erwin C. Dietrich, Jesús Franco
Cast: Vicky Adams, Ada Tauler, Karine Gambier, Jack Taylor, Vítor Mendes, Ly Frey, Aida Gouveia, Sandra Daenliker, Norbert Langer, Joaquim Rosa, Muriel Montossé

Release Date: February 6th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 86 Minutes 11 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English, Dolby Digital 5.1 German
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $24.95

"Actress Ada Tauler stars as Susan, who arrives in Haiti to live with her new husband Jack (Franco regular Jack Taylor from Female Vampire), who has an apparently unhealthy, possibly incestuous relationship with his sister Olga. Getting lost in a fever dream of sexual delirium, Susan suddenly finds herself lost in a weird world of black magic, clandestine couplings and bloody voodoo rituals, all the while her possibly sinister housekeeper (Muriel Motosse) looks on lustfully." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "fully uncut and remastered in stunning HD from Dietrich's original negative."

Voodoo Passion comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 21.1 GB

Feature: 17.5 GB

The source for this transfer is in great shape; there is some very minor debris. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity and black levels are strong, and compression is very good.

Audio: 3.5/5 (Dolby Digital Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options: a Dolby Digital mono mix in English and a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix in German. For this review, I only listened to the English-language track since there are no subtitles for the German-language track. The English-language track is in great shape; there are no issues with distortion or background noise. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented. Included are removable English SDH. It should be noted that the English SDH subtitles are only available on Blu-ray.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery, a German theatrical trailer (3 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital mono German, no subtitles), an archival audio interview with director Jess Franco titled Franco, Bloody Franco (40 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with burnt-in English subtitles), and a vintage Jess Franco VHS trailer reel that contains these films: Oasis of the Zombies, Demoniac (Exorcism), A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Erotikil (Female Vampire), The Screaming Dead (Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein), and The Invisible Dead (Orloff and the Invisible Man). It should be noted that the interview mostly focuses on the Jess Franco film Jack the Ripper.

Other extras are trailers for Barbed Wire Dolls, Naked Girl Murdered in the Park, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, Sexy Sisters, Voodoo Passion, and Women in Cellblock 9, and a slipcover.

Summary:

Voodoo Passion was one of eighteen films that Jess Franco made with producer Erwin Dietrich over a three-year period. Their collaboration began with Downtown and ended with Girls After Midnight.

The narrative revolves around the wife of a man who works for an embassy in Haiti. Immediately upon her arrival, she encounters voodoo rituals and is plagued by vivid erotic dreams.

Throughout his career, Jess Franco was known to recycle premises. And in the case of Voodoo Passion, it is a remake of his film Night Comes at Night. Besides Jess Franco, another connection between these two films is Jack Taylor (Succubus), an actor who frequently worked with Jess Franco.

Voodoo Passion opens with a lengthy voodoo ceremony. And though voodoo plays a large role in the story at hand, this is a Jess Franco film after all, and there are an ample amount of erotic moments. Also, most of the women in Voodoo spend most of their screen time in various stages of undress or nude.

Though Voodoo Passion takes place in Haiti, no scenes were filmed there. The entire film was shot in Portugal, and many of the locations are easily recognizable to anyone who has seen a significant number of Jess Franco’s films.

Voodoo Passion has a strong cast who are all very good in their roles, especially Karine Gambier (Women in Cellblock 9) in the role of the husband’s nymphomaniac sister. Other notable cast members are Ada Tauler (The Horrible Sexy Vampire) in the role of a wife, Jack Taylor in the role of the husband, and Muriel Montossé (Cecilia) in the role of the housekeeper.

Despite being a softcore film like most of Jess Franco’s other Erwin C. Dietrich-produced films, Voodoo Passion is not as sex-heavy as most of the 1970s output. That said, what sex scenes there are will get the blood rising.

From a production standpoint, Voodoo Passion is one of Jess Franco’s more conventional films. The narrative is straightforward, and it moves along with good momentum. Once again, his visual eyes create some interesting compositions. Ultimately, Voodoo Passion is a well-made erotica film that is more classy than down and dirty, like most of Jess Franco’s erotica films.

Voodoo Passion gets a first-rate release from Full Moon Features that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and an informative interview, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer