Bernard Launois
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Bernard Launois (French pronunciation: [bɛʁ.naʁ lonwa], 8 April 1930 – 3 March 2026) was a French exploitation film director, screenwriter and actor.[1] As an actor, he sometimes used the pseudonym Bob Gary.[2]
Launois was born in Mézières, France on 8 April 1930.[1] Having studied pharmacology for two years in the university, he sought a career in the film industry instead. He worked as a trainee editor and then as an assistant director. In 1953, he was employed by Paramount's programming department in Paris.[2]
During the 1960s, he worked for several film distribution and production companies, such as Parafrance and Les Films Copernic.[2] In 1979, he founded his own company, Lancaster Film, to finance the films he wrote and directed. He also edited film trailers and played minor roles as an actor.[2] His debut film as director, Lâchez les chiennes (lit. 'Unleash the Bitches', released in 1972), was an improvised work that he wrote in three days.[1] Devil Story, his seventh and last feature film, has gained a cult following because of its reputation as one of the worst films in history.[1][3] It was restored in 4K resolution from its 35mm original camera negative and released on Blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome, an American home video distribution company, in 2021.[3][4]
He founded Delta Films and bought a four-theatre multiplex in 1987.[2] Launois retired from the filmmaking business at the end of the 1980s,[1] and died on 3 March 2026, at the age of 95.[5]
