Rent The Bloody Judge (1970)

Spoilers follow ... - The Bloody Judge review by NP

Directed by Jess Franco and produced by Harry Alan Towers, the Bloody Judge is none other than Christopher Lee, playing Christopher Lee playing imperious Judge Jeffries. The beautiful Alicia Grey (Margaret Lee) is brought before him, a woman of such beauty there is more than a note of appreciation that threatens to ripple Jeffries powdered wig before he condemns her to death. She is, like many others, accused of witch-craft. Why at that very moment, slimy Jack Ketch (the excellent Howard Vernon) is torturing some other poor blood-drenched beauty on the rack.

Said with some justification to be inspired by 1968’s powerful ‘The Witchfinder General,’ this is an involved and involving story concerning Alicia’s sister played by Franco favourite Maria Rohm, another to catch the keen gaze of Jeffries. She is courting Harry Selton (Hans Hass), who falls foul of many powerful people including the vengeful Satchel (Milo Quesada sporting some convincing scarred make-up). Selton’s father, the very powerful Lord Wessex (Leo Genn) is one of few people who threaten Judge Jeffries’ power.

Jeffries’ unflappable veneer is occasionally exposed as being more brittle than initially apparent, and Lee plays the insecurities very well, despite his character quite rightly being labelled ‘devil’ by Mary Grey, Maria Rohm’s most impressive character. In this, Rohm comes across as Franco’s own Veronica Carlson. Carlson often exuded a style and composure which often elevated her from the characters she played for Hammer films – here, Rohm does the same.