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 RED LIPS
DOUBLE FEATURE: TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS & KISS ME MONSTER (Blue
Underground) Both 1969. Both 79 minutes long. Psychedelic Spy Spoofery
like only Franco can. Not rated. Diana (Janine Reynaud) and
Regina
(Rosanna Yanni) are two stunning women who are the Red Lips Detective
Agency and when bizarre things are going on, they are the women to call.
In Two Undercover Angels,
the girls find themselves in the midst of a slew of murdered models,
actresses, and exotic dancers who have one thing in common; they all
appear in the artwork of Mr. Radeck (producer Adrian Hoven), who has a
werewolf looking fellow with the Franco familiar name of Morpho working
for him. Will the girls be able to get to the bottom of this murderous
caper?
In Kiss Me Monster, the
girls are doing a striptease tour, but it isn’t long before they are up
to their shapely bosoms in Satanists and sadists after the secret of human
cloning! From there it plunges headfirst into the bizarre psychedelic
world of the 60’s.
Both of these films are a product of their time. They embrace the
world of 60’s psychedelic weirdness and give us films that seem to have
inspired the way out world of no less than Austin Powers. The colors are
rich and wild, the girls are as gorgeous as we come to expect from Franco
during this time period, and the soundtrack is pure Franco jazz. In other
words, a truly memorable film experience to be had by all. As far as DVD
extras go, we get a pair of short interviews with the director, always a
good time to be had there as Jess remembers what it was like to make these
films back in the 60’s. You also get the theatrical trailer for both
films. These could have really used commentaries. It would be nice to have
Jess sit down with someone like Tim Lucas or, Hell, me and give us what it
must have been like to make these two films that are so unlike the
majority of his output. Ah well, we can all dream. If you’re looking for
a delightfully fun introduction to the world of Jess Franco, this may be
the perfect way to do it. -Douglas A. Waltz
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