Larras, Jose Ramon

Jose Ramon Larras began his professional career in 1952 as a comic book writer and cartoonist in such publications by Coyote Publishing House. In 1954, he was involved in photography in France and Belgium, under the leadership of Opera Mundi. The Franco-Belgian labor market brought him to Spirou magazine, where he worked in 1968-1979 under the pseudonym "Gil" ^[2] . Most famous is his action-packed comic book series Paul Foran , in which Jesus Blasco performed. He also worked in the magazines Alkotan , Florita and others, often co-authored with Blasco. He met Joseph von Sternberg in Brussels ^[3] in 1968 and was inspired by the decree of the great director that he should just take and shoot the film.

In 1970, he made a name for himself with the film Whirpool, acting as a screenwriter and director. Already in the debut, Larras applies the figurative details that will be permeated with most of his films - the mysterious disappearances of people, decadence , group sex , suburban estates shot in cold colors.

Searching and finding work at different studios, Larras begins to lead several projects simultaneously. So in 1974, four of his films were released - Emma. Dark doors ”,“ Symptoms ”,“ Cry out ... and die! ”And“ Vampires ”. “Vampires” and “Symptoms” are united by their literary past - both films are based on the stories of Thomas Owen . "Symptoms" were nominated for the Golden Palm Branch of the Cannes Film Festival .

In addition to the thrillers and mysticism, José Ramón Larras also directed a number of comedies, the most famous of which is Periscope (El periscopio), an erotic comedy about voyeurism and nurses. The script for Periscope was written by Larras in collaboration with Sergio Garrone, and the main role was played by Laura Gemser .

In the 85th year, Larras creates for the Spanish television one season of the series “ Goya ” about the artist ’s life . Until the end of the decade, he has released several more comedies and horror films. Collaborating with American studios in 1989, he removes the slider "Deadly Manor", where he partially returns to his early aesthetics. The film was released in 1990 and became the last international project of the director. In 1992, Larras directed the comedy Sevilla Connection, which completes the list of his feature films. After that, the filmmaker returned to filming only once, and again to work on Spanish television - in 2002, he shot the historical series, “ Village Wind: Miguel Hernández ” (Viento del pueblo: Miguel Hernández).

Leaving the cinema, Larras wrote novels and a memoir, which was published in 2012 under the title “From comics to films, stories about women” ( Del tebeo al cine, con mujeres de película) ^[4] .

In 2013, Larras announced a remake of "Vampires" and published a teaser in Vimeo, but died on September 3, barely starting work on the film ^[5] . As a result, the film was shot by his assistant Victor Mateliano in 2015 ^[6] .

In modern Russian criticism, Dmitry Comm wrote about the work of Larras in the book “Formulas of Fear” ^[7] .

Filmography (as a director and screenwriter)

• Omouth (1970)
• Deviation (1971)
• Symptoms (1974)
• Scream ... and die (1974)
• Vampires (1974)
• The Violation of the Bitch (1978)
• The Golden Lady (1979)
• Periscope (1979)
• Magic Potion (1980)
• Stigmat (1980)
• The National Mummy (1981)
• Sexual Rituals of the Devil (1982)
• Rest in Peace (1987)
• Deadly Manor (1990)

• Larras, Jose Ramon on the Internet Movie Database
• Lambiek - Jose Larras career in comics
• blog de J. Navarro - Jose Larraz Memoir Edition
• Obituary (Spanish)
• Teaser remake of "Vampires"