Dr. Orloff's Monster (1964)

Absolutely Fantastic

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

DR. ORLOFF'S MONSTER (Jess Franco, 1964) Redemption Films Blu-ray On screen title: LES MAITRESSES DU DR. JEKYLL/1964/B&W/84m/1920X1080p (1.66.1)I noticed some details in this HD upgrade I hadn't noticed over the course of many viewings, in particular the rough textured, cracked, dry skin of Andros mentioned by Tim Lucas in the very informative commentary. The exotic-erotic dance performances in the special features folder are full strength Euro-trashy, more Eurocine than Jess Franco. It fails the Howard Hawks test of a good film--three good scenes, no bad scenes (there are a number of very bad scenes)-- but it's very much worth seeing as a progress report. The main problem I have with the film itself is the beefy Spanish actor who plays Dr. Fisherman/Jekyll, he's just a very bland performer and adds an unwelcome note of unintentional absurdity which breaks the somber mood. A horror film is as good as its villain and this has one of Franco's most uninteresting villains. The Blu-ray presents a rather rough looking, incomplete print, with noticeable scratches and marks throughout, but the enhanced detail, commentary, corrected framing and additional footage make it a worthwhile purchase. Print/transfer/video & audio: C+, Bonus material: C+; Film: B minus. The fact that it is missing an insert seen in some previous releases is the big minus and collectors may want to hold onto the IMAGE DVD release of this title which does contain that footage.*Directed by Jess Franco (Jess Franck) Produced by Marius Lesoeru (Eurocine, Paris; Spain) Cast: Agnes Spaak, Marcelo Arriota- Jauregui, Hugo Blanco, Pastor Serrador, Perla Cristal, Pepe Rubio, Magda Moldonado, Miguel Madrid France/Spain 1964 B&W 84 Min. 1920x1080p (1.66:1) A French soundtrack with optional English subtitles English language soundtrack Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas Eleven minutes of alternate, erotic footage. French, Italian theatrical trailersBelow: alternate scene included in the French version featuring a different actress as the first victim of Andros, who is also portrayed by a body double. This scene is not in EL SECRETO DEL DOCTOR ORLOFF, the Spanish version, where the fully clothed victim is strangled as she sits at a bar in a jazz club and it is not present in the English language export version, DR. ORLOFFS MONSTER, which was distributed as a television version and released on VHS by Something Weird Video. Obviously, this was inserted at the behest of French co-producer Eurocine and likely filmed by Jess Franco himself. An example of spicing up a film for a specific market. Image may contain: one or more people and indoor* It should be noted that there are at least four separate versions of this title, including the Spanish language EL SECRETO DEL DR. ORLOFF which contains footage exclusive to this edit, including an alternate opening credits sequence, with Spanish titles, under which Dr. Fisherman is shown entering and walking through the house of Dr. Orloff as he prepares for their meeting. This footage is not in any other released version. DOCTOR ORLOFF'S MONSTER, the US television cut, opens with a still shot of a footbridge outside of the Orloff mansion over which the credits role (Directed by "John Frank"). It also does not include two "nudie-roughie" style murder sequences added for the French release. The French version just presents the opening credits in French over a graphic background. There are two inserted scenes, shot later by Franco at the request of Eurocine, which feature alternate murder footage not seen in the Spanish or US versions. One of these additional sequences is not included on the Blu-ray, either as part of the film or in the eleven minutes of alternate, more sexually explicit, footage. Some versions, including the one broadcast in Australia by SBS and the IMAGE DVD, have another complete murder sequence where Jess Franco appears playing a piano just before Andros (an obvious double) conducts another home-invasion murder of a woman taking a bath. Why this isn't included on the Blu-ray is anyone's guess, but it may not have been provided by the right's holder. It may be a technical issue. This insert was obviously filmed by Franco since he appears in the scene, he also appears as a different nightclub piano player in another unrelated scene. This HD release is also more accurately framed at 1.66:1 than the IMAGE DVD, which appears to be window-boxed, losing image on all four sides. Reviewed by Robert Monell, 2017

Last night we watched 'The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll'. It's a 1964 Jesus Franco film with his usual offbeat scenes and characters that I like. At least I'll say I liked them from this earlier point in his long career. One of his later films I recently viewed 'Killer Barbys' from 1996 was barely watchable. I tend to agree with those who say his early work was his best. Mr. Franco died very recently so my wife and I, watched this film in his memory.One thing about the story struck me right off, there is no well known Dr. Jekyll to be found anywhere in this story. At least not the infamous Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde we expect from the title. There is a Dr. with that same last name and no relation it seems. I have a feeling this last name was added later to help promote the movie as something it is not. I'm even doubtful there was more than one mistress in the story for this Dr. The title implies he had many. There is an alternate title 'Dr. Orloff's Monster' that's at least less misleading even if Dr. Orloff is only in a couple of very short scenes. Jekyll created the monster using Orloff's idea. I assume this is the same Orloff from Franco's other films. Orloff appeared to be on his deathbed at the beginning of the story telling his sonic sound secrets to Dr. Jekyll. Much later in the story we see Orloff looking healthy again; evidently he had a miraculous recovery off camera. Personally I think a more fitting title for this would have been 'The Zombie's Daughter'. Yeah, I guess that doesn't hold the titillation factor the "mistresses" title has. Hey, if Dracula and Frankenstein can have films about their "daughters" why not a zombie (wink)? But enough already about the title used. The plot is a bit slow moving and contains numerous excuses to show seductive women performing in night clubs. I expect that from Franco he does seem to appreciate the beauty of women. This was supposedly filmed in Spanish, if it was the dubbing to English was well done. The strange thing is it looked like the actors mouths were in time with the dubbed English words they were saying. I thought they had spoken the dialog in English and maybe it was later dubbed in Spanish for that market, just a thought, I have no facts on it. The zombie in the story is animated by some nonsense about using ultrahigh frequency sounds. I had to laugh at how they explained this like it made perfect sense. I also wondered why he wasn't being followed about by packs of dogs also hearing the sound. The victims are given a necklace that somehow attracts the monster. This is also explained by the police like it made perfect sense. The best part of the film was the zombie character; he was a cross between a slightly melting wax figure face and the mesmerized man in the silent 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'. He has similar unblinking wide open eyes. The plot as I understood it involves a Dr. Conrad Jekyll who catches his supposedly beautiful young wife in bed with his better looking brother. His brother had been visiting and was seduced by Jekyll's wife. He kills his brother and makes it look like a failed operation he performed. He lets his own wife live after witnessing the murder, over the twenty or so years that follow she becomes a drunkard. We never learn why she hasn't told the police. Many years after the murder is when the film takes place. There is a brief flashback to what happened earlier. Dr. Jekyll now has a mistress on the side. Why he decides to use his zombie like creation for killing her and other night club performing women is beyond me. Oh, did I mention the zombie is the body of his dead brother? He somehow still looks relatively good considering how long he's been dead; he even walks through night clubs freely. At one point the Dr.'s college student niece comes to visit him. This is the daughter of the brother he killed 18 or 20 years earlier. She never knew her father since he died when she was young. She sees a photo of dear old dad for the first time. A photo her aunt still keeps of her lost lover. I guess her mom didn't keep any photos of him. After a few days the alcoholic aunt finally tells the niece the story of what really happened to her dad and of their brief passionate affair. The Zombie dad will not harm his daughter and even saves her life. Beats me how he recognizes this grown woman is his little daughter from years earlier. I won't spoil how it all ends except to say it's appropriate.The film did hold our interest and was pretty much what I expected. I enjoyed it for what it was. I like the offbeat nature of Spanish and Italian made horror films. Early in his career Franco make some decent ones. I'll remember him for those.

Although the 1964 Jess Franco offering "Dr. Orloff's Monster" is commonly thought of as a sequel to his classic film "The Awful Dr. Orloff," released two years earlier, it strikes this viewer as more of a remake than a continuation. Howard Vernon does not appear in "DOM" as Orloff, nor does his human-robot brother, Morpho. In the second film, Dr. Conrad Jekyll (the brother of Henry, perhaps?) learns how to turn his dead brother, Andros (who he had murdered for philandering with his wife, just as Orloff had done), into a human robot. He gleans this invaluable info from a dying scientist who looks a bit like Howard Vernon and who the viewer infers must be Orloff himself. Jekyll (played by Marcelo Arroita-Jauregui, an actor who makes his character as difficult to like as his own name is to pronounce!) then uses his brother-robot to do his dirty work; namely, slaying various women about town. In a scenario strikingly similar to the setup in the following year's Cybernauts episode of "The Avengers," he gives these women a necklace containing an ultrasonic device that Andros homes in on. ("The Avengers" substituted a pen.) But trouble looms for the bad doctor when his pretty niece, appealingly played by Agnes Spaak, drops by with her new beau for a Xmas visit.... Though plotwise very similar to the first Orloff outing, this "sequel" also has much in common with another Franco film that I recently saw, 1962's "The Sadistic Baron von Klaus." Both films take place in the fictitious Austrian town of Holfen, feature surprisingly imaginative direction by Franco as well as stunning B&W cinematography, center on the police investigation of the various homicides, showcase some truly outre music from Daniel White, utilize the same bizarre-looking castle, and, of course, star Hugo Blanco in the titular role. "DOM" ups the ante a bit by throwing in a few more musical numbers and more topless scenes, and also treats the viewer to such striking sequences as Jekyll's visit to an opium den and Andros' visit to the local cemetery. The picture as a whole looks terrific, is well acted and makes perfect sense, ultimately; what a difference between these early to mid-'60s Franco films and the rest of his humongous oeuvre (around 190 films, as of this date!)! Hard to believe that this artful piece of horror was done by the same man who later gave us "The Devil Came From Akasava"....

Although made on a shoestring budget and as a sequel to The Awfull Dr. Orloff, this is a very enjoyable flick and a fine example of early Southern European horror. It's actually better than it's predecessor.The plot is not real important (it contains a zombie-like creature, a castle and a mad scientist). What makes this movie is the mood, the often beautiful camera-angles, the art direction and the hints of later Franco movies.For example, there's several scenes with women performing, often in erotic scenes, with men watching - which is exactly the kind of voyeuristic cinema Franco would turn to in later years (Vampyros Lesbos, Demoniac).There's - of course - quite some nudity, which must have been considered quite risque in 1964. And there's a small cameo for the director himself, as a pianist who seems to be blind.....Also of interest is the use of electronic devices used to make the zombie a murderous weapon, they give a strange effect to the movie and reminded me of early 50's sci-fi B-movies.All in all, recommended for Franco fans and b/w horrormovie fans. If you've never seen a Franco I suggest starting with Vampyros Lesbos or Female Vampire.