Erotic Rites of Frankenstein | 1972 | France/Spain | Jesús Franco

Another take on the Frankenstein mythos, this time from the prolific Jesús Franco himself. In this iteration, the titular doctor creates his own homunculus only to have it snatched away from him by the villainous mesmerist Calgiostro and his avian assistant Melisa. As Frankenstein’s daughter seeks to locate her father’s life’s work, the monster is put to work by Calgiostro in kidnapping virginal women and torturing them in a bid to relinquish their body parts, for creating a female equivalent that the monster can mate with and breed a superior race of humanoids. The trippy and ludicrous story is infused with Franco’s usual stylish flourishes and art direction, with a hefty dose of sex to boot. Even though the Go Video version wasn’t intact and had various scenes missing, the titillating cover art as well as scenes of sexualised whipping proved too hot for the authorities.