Jesús Franco, one of the most prolific and misunderstood filmmakers to ever touch cinema. A natural voyeur, compulsive, voracious, endlessly filming. His zoom lens dragged audiences remorselessly into either their greatest fantasies or worst nightmares.

While the Honorary Goya Award Franco received in 2009 from the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain—four years before his death—goes some way towards an endorsement, it is inarguably the continued, incisive commentary from devoted critics that has seen his reputation reappraised. Tim Lucas, one of of the very best writers on film, has always been a guiding voice in the appreciation of Franco, never more illuminatingly so than here.

Let the club lights dim, the spotlight pop and the dream (if, indeed, it is one) begin...

"I don't think I have a definitive film. Such a thing is not possible for me.”
—Jesús Franco

And yet, in SUCCUBUS (AKA NECRONOMICON) we find many of his essential obsessions: a nightclub performer, mind control, sadism, nightmares, sex…
“Many will see Necronomicon as just a sex and horror film,” claimed the Variety review, "others might see more.”
Indeed, much more...