The Awful Dr. Orlof (Gritos en la noche)
Directed by Jesus Franco
Written by Jesus Franco
1962/Spain/France
Hispamer Films/Leo Lax Production/Ydex Eurocine
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] I feel that cinema should be like a box of surprises, like a magic box. And in that world, anything is allowed to enter, as long as it’s always treated with a spirit of “Pop!”. Not in the spirit of “Now you understand the problems of society in 1947”. No, I don’t give a shit about that. I think cinema should be like magic, a surprise, that’s all. That’s why, to conclude, I love movies . . . and stories. – Jesus “Jess” Franco[/box]
Though the version I watched left a lot to be desired, there was a much to like about this take on the Eyes Without a Face plotline.
The movie is set at the turn of the last century. As it begins, we see a blind, scarred zombie-like figure murder a woman in her bedroom and take the body away. Segue to the police force and we find out there has been a string of missing women. At first, it was assumed they had run off with men but now it is surely murder. Soon after, we learn that the blind man is the faithful servant of a doctor who is trying to restore his daughter’s lost beauty.
Naturally, the police inspector assigned to the case has a fiancee who is the spitting image of the doctor’s daughter. She is eager to help and does the most stupid things imaginable.
Although it is no match for the film it ripped off, there is some really beautiful camerawork in this film. The horror parts are enjoyably lurid but there is some comic relief that brings the movie down a notch. This was one of Franco’s first films. I’m interested in seeing a few of the other 202 films he directed.
Unfortunately, the DVD contained only a dubbed and a French-language version of the film. I had to watch the dubbed version since there were no subtitles . Between the poor sound quality and the lack of a match between the dialogue and the lips, I had a hard time understanding the English and it made the acting seem really wooden. The dissonant score was also an irritant.
Trailer
