One of Jess Franco's more sumptuous films, The Bloody Judge is a curious mixture of Witchfinder General (a popular source of inspiration at the time) and historical epic. Based on the story of Judge Jeffreys, it follows the 'bloody assizes' of 1685, where King James II is in danger of being overthrown, and his enemies are being rounded up, summarily tried and executed. In this version of the tale, Jeffreys – played by a stern looking Christopher Lee – is also trying people for witchcraft, using it as an excuse to round up even more suspected traitors. As the film progresses, Jeffreys becomes increasingly power-crazed and fanatical, but his attempts to crush dissent, and the corruption of those in his employ, will prove to be his downfall.

If ever a film summed up the vagaries of of international co-productions in the 1960s and 70s, then The Bloody Judge is it. As Franco explains in the entertaining featurette included here, this film – the product of six production companies from as many countries – was constantly reworked to please the demands of each financier, like a real life Eskimo Nell, resulting in several different cuts of the film, none of which could be described as 'definitive'. In fact, the first time I saw this movie, it was the PG-rated US cut entitled Night of the Blood Monster, which – despite the garish title – had all the sex and horror elements stripped from the story, leaving instead a historical story. My next viewing was a German TV broadcast of Der Hexentoter Von Blackmoor, an edit that took the opposite approach, chopping out much of the plot but adding in extra scenes of nudity and torture. It was an entirely different film. As the alternate scenes included here show, several parts of the film were shot in two versions – clothed and unclothed – with individual backers picking and choosing the version they (or their censors) preferred.

This new release is taken from the restoration that Blue Underground released in the US several years ago, and does its best to combine all the different versions. So we get all the nudity and torture, all the historical battle scenes and some moments that were never dubbed into English, and so appear in German with subtitles. While not exactly a 'director's cut', it's probably the most complete edition of the film you'll ever see (one extra scene, taken from a Spanish VHS tape and too poor quality to splice into the main film, is presented as a stand-alone extra).

As such, you can expect to be fairly baffled by the tonal changes of the film. One moment, you'll be watching impressively mounted cavalry batttles with cannons, horse charges and plenty of historical accuracy, the next you'll be plunged into a dungeon where Howard Vernon is torturing naked girls. The two sets of scenes not only seem incongruous next to each other , but actually have a different visual tone. The result is oddly unsettling.

Not that this makes The Bloody Judge a bad film. Far from it. While not as delirious as much of Franco's work from the period, it still impresses – and the 'straight' version hints at what Franco could have been capable of, given the resources. With a cast that, if not starry, is at least capable, the film feels as impressive as any other costume drama of the time. Lee gives his usual committed and potent performance, and is matched here by Leo Genn, while Euro starlets like Maria Rohm and Margaret Lee offer both glamour and a certain gravitas to their thankless roles.

While not in the same league as Witchfinder General, Mark of the Devil or Blood on Satan's Claw, this is nevertheless a solid entry in that curious early Seventies sub-genre the witch finder film, and – gory and lascivious torture scenes aside – might be the Franco film to show people who don't think they like Franco films. With the copious extras that actually add significant content and context to the film (Lee also appears in the documentary, giving historical context about the real Jeffreys and complaining about the sex and violence added to the film without his knowledge - something that seemed to happen to him a lot), this is a worthy package.

DAVID FLINT

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