We take a deep dive into Jess Franco’s THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1963) and hope we can avoid the quicksand. Bob Sargent returns and joins Troy and I to discuss this krimi-like murder mystery. It even has a little comedy relief. Luckily, very little of that!
This film seems to be less well thought of among fans of Uncle Jess’ black & white output and I’ve never understood why. All three of us are fans and we love almost everything about it. The film has a great cast with Howard Vernon leading the way as the most obvious suspect when young women in an Austrian town start turning up dead. Is there anything to the legend of a Von Klaus ancestor who reincarnates every few decades to terrorize the locals? Or is there a much more human reason that lovely ladies are wise to not venture out after dark? And just how sadistic will the film be allowed to go to depict the amoral depths of the killer’s lustful urges? Pretty far, it turns out!
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