She Killed in Ecstasy (German: Sie tötete in EkstaseSpanish: Mrs. Hyde)[1] is a 1971 West German-Spanish eroticthriller film directed by Jesús Franco. The film's plot borrows elements from previous Franco films Miss Muerte and Venus in Furs. The film's productions staff includes many cast members and nearly the same crew as his previous film Vampyros Lesbos.
Dr. Johnson lives in bliss with his beautiful wife until his unorthodox experiments with human embryos causes a medical committee to reject his findings and orders him to discontinue his work. The unstable doctor slashes his wrists in the bathroom. Devastated, his wife vows to seduce and kill the woman and three men "responsible" for the suicide.
The film was shot in July 1970 in Calp, Spain, less than a month after finishing his previous film Vampyros Lesbos (1971).[1] Franco utilized the same cinematographer, film editor, and film composers as he had on Vampyros Lesbos as well as some of the cast including Soledad Miranda, Ewa Strömberg and Paul Muller.[1][2]
The architecture of Ricardo Bofill features prominently in the film, in particular Xanadu.
The online film database Allmovie gave the film their lowest rating of one star out of five, but noted that "A distinctive visual style, replete with surrealistic photography by Manuel Merino, sets this film apart from scores of similar sex-horror entries flooding the market in the early 1970s."[7] Assistant professor Danny Shipka of Louisiana State University referred to the film as "one of Franco's strongest of the 70's", praising actress Soledad Miranda for the "most intense performance of her career".[8] Shipka went on to note that the film contains all the excesses of Franco's filmmaking including "stilted dialogue" and "scenes that stretch out for extra ordinary periods of time".[8]
