La mano de un hombre muerto

When women are found knifed and gouged in the tiny hamlet of Holfen, everyone suspects the distantly related heir of Baron Von Klaus, a sadistic 17th century baron who cursed the village.

There are some good themes here: the small village, the wealthy but evil baron, and the idea of a family curse. At one point the heir wonders if at some point he will become a killer like von Klaus was. The film does not play into the emotional or psychological very deeply, but it raises that age old question: can you escape your destiny?

I would need to see this film again to give it my full attention and a more thoughtful review. I was not ready for subtitles and could not follow along the whole time. Shame on me.

In the village of Holfen, a number of young women are found stabbed to death by what is determined to be an ancient dagger with a curved and rusty blade . The superstitious locals believe the murders to be the fulfillment of a curse placed on them in the 17th century by Baron Von Klaus, a sadistic libertine who killed many women before dying in the swamps surrounding his castle. The Baron's spirit is said to live on in his male descendants, but Von Klaus heir Ludwig (Hugo Blanco) along with his girlfriend (Paula Martel) don't arrive in town until the day after the latest murder . He is entrusted with a key to his ancestor's torture dungeon and begged to bring an end to the family curse by visiting it, destroying it, and leaving the castle, never to return again. But will he have the willpower to resist the lure of his horrific heritage? . Meanwhile , Inspector Borowsky (Georges Rollin) investigates the strange murders along with a journalist (Fernando Delgado) . There are some suspects , as a doctor (Sergio Mendizabal) and a Baron Von Klaus's descendant called Max Von Klaus (Howard Vernon) .

This average-budget film contains thrills , a criminal intrigue and lots of murders . It's a passable slasher movie directed by prolific filmmaker Jess Frank and also produced by his own production company, Manacoa Films along with Albatros SA . Here Franco manages to give us an adequate ambient , an evocative production design by Antonio Cortes , being rightly narrated , including a murder plot enough to keep you intrigued throughout the flick . Based on a story by David Khune or Jesus Franco and screenplay by Pio Ballesteros , Juan Cobos and by the same Jesus Franco or Uncle Jess . The picture was well starred by good Spanish actors , such as Fernando Delgado , Paula Martel , Gogo Rojo and Hugo Blanco , who subsequently worked for Jesus Franco in "The Secret of Dr. Orloff" . And of course , Howard Vernon , Jess Frank's usual , ordinarily playing Dr. Orloff . The Spanish support cast is frankly fine as Sergio Mendizabal , Maria Frances , Jose Luis Coll and the great Manuel Alexandre , among others . The picture belong to Franco's first period in which he made acceptable pictures such as ¨Gritos en Noche¨, ¨Miss Muerte¨ or ¨Necronomicon¨, developing a consolidated professionalism . However , his career got more and more impoverished in the following years, but his endless creativity enabled him to tackle films in all genres, from "B" horror to erotic films.

Atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Godofredo Pacheco filmed on Northern Spanish locations . Good musical score by Daniel White , Franco's usual musician , including Jazzy soundtrack , wonderful songs and musical numbers . The motion picture was professionally directed by Jesus Franco. However , here he doesn't use his trademarks , as he carries out a traditional narration , without zooms , neither lousy pace . Jesus uses to sign under pseudonym , among the aliases he used, apart from the names Jess Franco or Franco Manera, were Jess Frank, Robert Zimmerman, Frank Hollman, Clifford Brown, David Khune , Toni Falt, James P. Johnson, Charlie Christian, David Tough , among others . Franco used to utilize usual marks such as zooms , nudism , foreground on objects , filmmaking in ¨do-it-yourself effort¨ style or DIY and managing to work extraordinarily quickly . In many of the more than 180 films he's directed he has also worked as composer, writer, cinematographer and editor. His first was "We Are 18 Years Old" and the second picture was ¨Gritos en la Noche¨ (1962) , the best of all them , also titled "The Awful Dr. Orlof" , it's followed by various sequels such as El Secreto del Dr. Orloff (1964) aka "The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll" , " Orloff y el hombre invisible (1970) aka "Dr. Orloff's Invisible Monster" and finally "Faceless" (1987) . He also directed to the great Christopher Lee in 4 films : "The Bloody Judge" , ¨Count Dracula¨, ¨The Blood of Fu Manchu¨ and ¨The castle of Fu Manchu¨ . Jesús's influence has been notable all over Europe . From his huge body of work we can deduce that Jesús Franco is one of the most restless directors of Spanish cinema and often releasing several titles at the same time. Many of his films have had problems in getting released, and others have been made directly for video. More than once his staunchest supporters have found his "new" films to contain much footage from one or more of his older films . Jesús Franco is a survivor in a time when most of his colleagues tried to please the government administration. He broke up with all that and got the independence he was seeking. He always went upstream in an ephemeral industry that fed opportunists and curbed the activity of many professionals . But time doesn't pass in vain, and Jesus' production has diminished since the 90s ; however he went on shooting until his recent death .

Too often is the prolific Spanish Exploitation-deity Jess Franco dismissed as a producer of nothing but sleazy trash. Fact is that the man's impressive repertoire of over 190 films, especially his earlier work, includes several creepy, elegant and downright brilliant films, such as "Gritos En La Noche" ("The Awful Dr. Orloff", 1962) and "Miss Muerte" ("The Diabolical Dr. Z.", 1966), just to name the two most outstanding examples. While "La Mano De Un Hombre Muerto" aka. "The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus" of 1962 is not nearly as great as the aforementioned two film, it is yet another good example for the stylish creepiness of Franco's early Horror films, and the man's well-deserved status as a pioneer of European Exploitation cinema.

"The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus" is set in a German village the residents of which are still haunted by its past. Once, their ancestors had suffered from the evil deeds of a sadistic Baron, who terrorized the area. When a young girl gets brutally murdered, the first suspect is the Baron's descendant (Howard Vernon), who happens to be the spitting image of his murderous ancestor...

Franco creates a morbid and creepy atmosphere by employing the typically elegant black-and-white cinematography, eerie settings and macabre set-pieces of his early films. Most of the film is set in gloomy alleys, a dark forest, Gothic castles, tombs and other eerie places. Franco also delivers pioneering Sleaze - the film features female nudity as well as sadistic sexual perversions, which was not exactly the norm in 1962. Franco once again employs the great Howard Vernon, the most regular leading-man of his early films and a true master of sinister roles. The film drags a tiny bit in the middle, but the second half is truly intense. Overall, Franco's second Horror film is not as essential as the masterpiece "The Awful Dr. Orloff", which was released shortly before, but definitely a very good Horror film and early Euro-Exploitation effort that my fellow Franco-fans can not afford to miss. 7.5/10.

Here's another early Franco, rescued for DVD, that proves that he was once a director to be reckoned with. Creepy B&W atmosphere, with individualistic characters spouting often witty dialogue (not unlike the Edgar Wallace krimis). Highly reminiscent of his earlier Orloff film (in fact, some of the scene settings and lighting techniques look identical), this one pushes the sadism further with a knockout torture scene of a sexy barmaid that must have really pushed the limits in the early 60's. The jazzy score and the usual cabaret scenes help keep the film light despite the preponderance of dialogue scenes.

A true deity to some…not much more than a lame plagiarist to others. One statement everyone must agree with is that Jess Franco is one of the most creative and busiest men in the film industry. With a repertoire of over 180 movies as a director, writer, composer and often also editor, Jess Franco always was an important pivot figure for the European cult cinema. Especially his earliest films are sublime independent motion pictures, since he afterwards merely followed popular trends (like the slasher films with 'Bloody Moon') or started making moneymaking sleaze films (nunsploitation, babes-in-prison flicks…). The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus belongs among his finest achievements – according to me at least – and only was his second effort in the horror field, immediately after the terrific 'Awful Dr. Orloff'. The film is set in a quiet little German town, still haunted by ghosts from the past. There once lived a maniacal Baron who committed several despicable felonies like murder, rape etc… When a young girl is found murdered and another one goes missing, the police immediately suspect the Baron's descendant Max von Klaus. But…is he really the murderer, because all the women disappear from the nearby hotel-brother visited by adulterous men.

Talking about style, this film has quite a lot in common with The Awful Dr. Orloff. It's a slowly developing and atmospheric murder mystery. Even though there aren't that many suspects for the murders, Franco manages to keep up the suspense by giving away only a few clues. There's very few action (apart from a cool manhunt through the eerie old streets) but the dialogues are great and the black-and-white cinematography makes the entire film look ominous and paralyzing. Howard Vernon, star in many wicked Franco films, shines as the creepy looking Von Klaus. This early, story-driven Franco terror is recommended in case you're a Eurocult-hunter. Avoid if you're only into loud, computerized splatter.