Jess Franco's The Mistresses of Dr. Jeckyll is a sequel of sorts to his 1962 horror The Awful Dr. Orlof, although the character of Orlof only appears in the opening scene, in which he reveals to his associate, Dr. Conrad Fisherman (Marcelo Arroita-Jáuregui), his secret theory about reanimating a corpse. Unless I missed something, there is no-one called Dr. Jeckyll in the film (perhaps Fisherman was called Jeckyll in the original language version; the copy I saw was dubbed).
When Fisherman learns that his wife Ingrid (Luisa Sala) has slept with his brother Andros (Hugo Blanco), the doctor slays his sibling by stabbing him with a scalpel, bringing him back from the dead as a robotic slave who can be controlled by ultrasonic transmissions. Conrad proceeds to punish wayward women by sending Andros out to kill, finding victims in the jazz clubs and bars of Holfen. Meanwhile, Conrad's niece Melissa (Agnès Spaak) arrives at Conrad's castle to take control of her inheritance, unaware that her dead father wanders the corridors at night.
Although not nearly as good as The Awful Dr. Orlof, this is still one of Franco's more coherent and therefore more enjoyable films, made before the effects of the psychedelic '60s took hold and he started to churn out incomprehensible garbage like Succubus and Nightmares Come At Night. The plot mightn't be the most inspired - it's formulaic 'tragic monster' fare - but Franco creates lots of contemporary gothic atmosphere, delivers some nice black and white imagery, and gives us a couple of cool jazzy musical numbers to boot.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.
When Fisherman learns that his wife Ingrid (Luisa Sala) has slept with his brother Andros (Hugo Blanco), the doctor slays his sibling by stabbing him with a scalpel, bringing him back from the dead as a robotic slave who can be controlled by ultrasonic transmissions. Conrad proceeds to punish wayward women by sending Andros out to kill, finding victims in the jazz clubs and bars of Holfen. Meanwhile, Conrad's niece Melissa (Agnès Spaak) arrives at Conrad's castle to take control of her inheritance, unaware that her dead father wanders the corridors at night.
Although not nearly as good as The Awful Dr. Orlof, this is still one of Franco's more coherent and therefore more enjoyable films, made before the effects of the psychedelic '60s took hold and he started to churn out incomprehensible garbage like Succubus and Nightmares Come At Night. The plot mightn't be the most inspired - it's formulaic 'tragic monster' fare - but Franco creates lots of contemporary gothic atmosphere, delivers some nice black and white imagery, and gives us a couple of cool jazzy musical numbers to boot.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.