Seddok, l'erede di Satana

The stripper Jeanette Moreneau (Susanne Loret) is dumped by her boyfriend Pierre Mornet (Sergio Fantoni) and she drives her car to talk to him. However, she has a car accident and the left side of her face is completely disfigured by horrible scars. She is approached in the hospital by Monique Riviere (Franca Parisi), who is the assistant and lover of Professor Alberto Levin (Alberto Lupo), and she tells Jeanette that her face can be restored.

Jeanette secretly goes to the professor's house and is treated by him, using a process that depends on the cells that Prof. Levin, who is also a monster that strangles his victim, removes from the women that he kills. While treating Jeanette, Prof. Levin falls in an unrequited love for her and kills Monique. Meanwhile, the police inspector that is investigating the mysterious murders, suspects of Prof. Levin.

"Seddok, l'Erede di Satana" (meaning "Seddok, the Heir of Satan"), a.k.a. "Atom Age Vampire", is a trash Italian horror film that combines "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" with Georges Franju's "Les Yeux Sans Visage" and the vampire of the messy American title. The result is a predictable film, with one actress that recalls Sophia Loren and the other that recalls Madonna. But anyway, it is entertaining and worths be watched. I saw the 87 minutes version and by the way, who is Seddok? My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I love Italian horror, but this one just didn't have the punch that I am used to with Fulci or Bava. The premise was good, but it didn't deliver completely.

It was interesting anyway as a girl (Susanne Loret) gets disfigured in an auto accident and a mad scientist doctor (Alberto Lupo) promises to make her beautiful again.

The Doctor and his assistant work on the girl, but the results are only temporary and they are out of serum. That's when the Doctor's secret is revealed and he goes into action attacking young girls to keep his treasured beauty alive. The first to go is his assistant.

He has a way of transforming himself into a Mr. Hyde and back to Dr. Jeckyl. The girls old boyfriend and the police are hot on his tail.

Interesting tale, but Fulci would have done it better.

A brilliant but overly obsessive scientist has to kill young woman in order to constantly supply his own beloved female patient with fresh facial cell structures, since hers was incurably damaged in a nearly fatal car crash. Nothing really new or innovating here, as this was quite a popular premise the in late 50's/early 60's European exploitation-cinema industry. The downright brilliant French milestone "Les Yeux Sans Visage" launched the trend and also Jess Franco's "The Awful Dr. Orloff" and Ferroni's "Mill of the Stone Women" revolve on a similar theme. This dark and mean-spirited Italian production comes out as very weak compared to any of the previous titles, mainly because of its cheapness and lack of credibility. The other titles had convincing and naturally evil-looking mad doctors in the lead roles, while Albert Lupo in "Atom Age Vampire" more looks like an amateurish clown, completely incapable of developing breakthrough medical treatments. The fact that he spontaneously transforms into a hideous monster himself doesn't really help, neither…In fact, that was rather awkward… Still, there are some redeeming elements that Euro-horror fans might enjoy: the atmosphere is sinister, there's some nice camera-work here and there AND quite a lot of gore and icky make-up art to admire (especially considering the time it was made and the non-existent budget!). Too bad these positive aspects can't nearly make up for the slow pacing and the total lack of tension. The dialogs are sometimes hilarious although I'm quite sure they weren't intended to be. For example, can you imagine a doctor saying encouraging words to his desperate patient like: "Oh my God, your case is worse than leprosy!!" Overall, I wouldn't recommend this film unless you're well trained in seeing trashy exploitation junk.

Having read comparisons between this movie and Mario Bava's films, I'd looked forward to seeing it for sometime. It's the story of a horribly disfigured woman who goes to a doctor for some unconventional treatments. It seems he has developed a serum that will restore the woman's beauty. But, the serum must be applied regularly and the supply soon runs out. As the doctor has fallen in love with the woman, he must do whatever it takes to get the ingredients to make more serum - even if that means killing other women.

Let's see, comparisons with Bava. 1. Black & white - so is Bava's Black Sunday. 2. Well, there really isn't a 2 as far as I'm concerned. Atom Age Vampire makes most other "slow" movies seem like roller coaster rides. I actually had to wake myself twice and rewind the movie. Also, while I'm generally one of those people that will defend dubbing in Italian movies, I can't do that here. This is one of the first times I can actually say that the dubbing got in the way of my enjoyment of a movie.

"An exotic dancer has a terrible automobile accident and, as a result, is horribly scarred, on her face. Hoping for a miracle treatment, the dancer visits a scientist who has had marvelous results in restoring patient's (sic) appearances, and is cured of her scars. Unfortunately, there are some terrible side-effects from the procedure … the scientist must use unethical methods to try and make the cure permanent. With suspicions (growing, and) the dancer's boyfriend and the authorities closing in…" according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Inappropriately re-produced as "Atom Age Vampire"; this is actually an adaptation of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", with some other horrific clichés, quite neatly layered into the mix. Mad scientist Alberto Lupo (as Alberto Levin), unappreciated Franca Parisi (as Monique), and lackey Roberto Bertea (as Sacha) are an intriguing set-up. Horribly dubbed (although, the voices are good), and painfully predictable; it very obviously wouldn't be a completely awful film, in its unaltered Italian version.

**** Atom Age Vampire (1960) Anton Giulio Majano ~ Alberto Lupo, Susanne Loret, Sergio Fantoni