The incredibly prolific Spanish Exploitation deity Jess Franco made his greatest films in the early days of his impressive career, and the series of 'Dr. Orloff' films are arguably his most essential creation. My choice for Franco's most brilliant achievements are the 1962 original "Gritos En La Noche" ("The Awful Dr. Orloff") and the 1966 second sequel, "Miss Muerte" ("The Diabolical Dr. Z."). While this first 'Orloff' sequel, "El Segreto Del Dr. Orloff" (aka. "The Secret of Dr. Orloff" / "Dr. Orloff's Monster" / "Dr. Jeckyll's Mistresses") of 1964 isn't nearly as good as the two aforementioned films it is yet another wonderfully atmospheric and macabre mad-science-themed Gothic gem, that no Franco fan could possibly afford to miss. Sadly, this film doesn't star Franco's Nr. 1 leading man Howard Vernon, but the full-bearded Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui, who also had a role in "Miss Muerte", also does fine in the role of the mad scientist Dr. Conrad Fisherman (credited as Dr. Conrad Jeckyll on IMDb).
***SPOILERS!*** "El Segreto Del Dr. Orloff" is set in my home country Austria. The beautiful orphaned girl Melissa (Agnès Spaak) is visiting her scientist uncle Dr. Conrad Jeckyll (Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui) and his drunk wife Ingrid (Luisa Sala) in their eerie castle over the Christmas holidays. Along with his mentor Dr. Orloff, Dr. Fisherman has been developing a manner of how to control the minds of animals and human beings with the help of sound. What young Melissa does not know, is that her mad uncle keeps her late father (whom he once murdered for having an affair with his, then beautiful, wife) as a zombie slave. Using the mind-control methods developed by Dr. Orloff and himself, the mad scientist forces his late brother to strangle a bunch of strippers, prostitutes and other sexy women... Luckily for Melissa, she isn't quite alone in this dangerous situation since a lovesick fellow student, the Spaniard Juan Manuel (Pepe Rubio), has followed the young beauty to the small village...
The eerie castle setting and Franco's wonderfully atmospheric black and white cinematography give "The Secret of Dr. Orloff" a wonderfully uncanny mood. The film is creepy and macabre, and, as the other 'Orloff' films it is a milestone in European Exploitation/Sleaze-Horror. Many of the sexy female cast members get topless and even naked, which was definitely not the standard in the first half of the 60s. As the other "Orloff" films, the film also includes some sadistic perversions, which, again wasn't quite the standard (though it began to be around the time). As fun this film is to watch, one has to say that it isn't entirely flawless. "The Secret of Dr. Orloff" often doesn't make sense. Unlike "The Awful Dr. Orloff" and "The Diabolical Dr. Z", for example, this film doesn't give us a reason why its villain commits his evil deeds. For one reason or another, Dr. Fisherman uses his zombie slave brother to kill seductive beauties. But for what reason? It cannot be for scientific reasons, because they don't keep the bodies. And if it was out of sadistic perversions, wouldn't he want to be present during the killings? These inconsistencies are in no way lessening the fun, however. "El Segreto Del Dr. Orloff" isn't Jess Franco's best film, but it is a nice example for the atmospheric films from his golden age. Recommended to my fellow fans of Eurohorror and Jess Franco in particular.
***SPOILERS!*** "El Segreto Del Dr. Orloff" is set in my home country Austria. The beautiful orphaned girl Melissa (Agnès Spaak) is visiting her scientist uncle Dr. Conrad Jeckyll (Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui) and his drunk wife Ingrid (Luisa Sala) in their eerie castle over the Christmas holidays. Along with his mentor Dr. Orloff, Dr. Fisherman has been developing a manner of how to control the minds of animals and human beings with the help of sound. What young Melissa does not know, is that her mad uncle keeps her late father (whom he once murdered for having an affair with his, then beautiful, wife) as a zombie slave. Using the mind-control methods developed by Dr. Orloff and himself, the mad scientist forces his late brother to strangle a bunch of strippers, prostitutes and other sexy women... Luckily for Melissa, she isn't quite alone in this dangerous situation since a lovesick fellow student, the Spaniard Juan Manuel (Pepe Rubio), has followed the young beauty to the small village...
The eerie castle setting and Franco's wonderfully atmospheric black and white cinematography give "The Secret of Dr. Orloff" a wonderfully uncanny mood. The film is creepy and macabre, and, as the other 'Orloff' films it is a milestone in European Exploitation/Sleaze-Horror. Many of the sexy female cast members get topless and even naked, which was definitely not the standard in the first half of the 60s. As the other "Orloff" films, the film also includes some sadistic perversions, which, again wasn't quite the standard (though it began to be around the time). As fun this film is to watch, one has to say that it isn't entirely flawless. "The Secret of Dr. Orloff" often doesn't make sense. Unlike "The Awful Dr. Orloff" and "The Diabolical Dr. Z", for example, this film doesn't give us a reason why its villain commits his evil deeds. For one reason or another, Dr. Fisherman uses his zombie slave brother to kill seductive beauties. But for what reason? It cannot be for scientific reasons, because they don't keep the bodies. And if it was out of sadistic perversions, wouldn't he want to be present during the killings? These inconsistencies are in no way lessening the fun, however. "El Segreto Del Dr. Orloff" isn't Jess Franco's best film, but it is a nice example for the atmospheric films from his golden age. Recommended to my fellow fans of Eurohorror and Jess Franco in particular.