All over town, people are engaging in aberrant sexual acts. It's all fun and games until they cross the path of Dr. Humpp, a mad scientist who is determined to use the libido power of human beings for his own purposes. As he says: sex dominates man, so he must dominate sex! Along with his sexy nurse assistant and hideous monster henchmen, he tries to do just that.
The film opens up with a variety of sex acts: lesbian sex, female masturbation, an orgy and a woman who strips nude in the middle of a jazz club. There's also a sailor standing outside a bar doing nothing unusual at all (unless you watch the trailer, where it's explained that the sailor suit is a visual cue for us to know he's a flagrant homosexual). The first twenty minutes come off as more of a softcore pornography than anything with a plot. Buttocks, breasts, groping hands and more are all you'll be seeing for a while. If this sounds like your cup of tea, you've picked the right film because it just keeps going from there! Really, when you boil this down and take out the scenes of people screwing like teenage catgirls in heat, I'd estimate you're left with maybe six minutes of actual plot, largely revolving around the newspaper reporter who is trying to uncover the mystery of the town's disappearances. Although, since the people just keep on humping in the laboratory as if they were in their own bedrooms, they don't seem all too upset about having been kidnapped.
We also have the long-standing tradition continued in this movie of having a foul, evil henchman. The monster here is more than just a little deformed. Sure, Humpp could send his sexy nurse out to do his bidding or even do it himself. But for some reason it just makes more sense to try and sneak up on couples copulating when you're a large, freakish beast. Or the drug store scene: Why go through your medical connections to get aphrodisiacs when you can sent a murderous monster into the local drug store to pick up the Spanish fly? That certainly won't draw any attention by the police! There is one downer to the sex scenes (besides the fact you might actually get bored with them after an hour -- according to horror historian and "Basket Case" director Frank Henenlotter, twenty minutes of nudity was actually added, not removed, for the American version). The film is in black and white, which causes hair to stand out against pale, alabaster skin (no blacks or Latinos in Argentina, apparently). I know some guys who love hair, especially 1970s porno hair -- Gary Busey, this means you -- but for me if you're going to have it, you should at least try to play it down. Tufts of hair are cool if you're into that natural thing, but I don't want Buckwheat caught in a headlock between anyone's thighs if it doesn't serve a purpose.
And what's up with George and Rachel? After experimenting on Rachel, Dr. Humpp has transformed her into a nymphomaniac. George becomes alarmed. Rather than welcome this new development, he can't help but wonder if Dr. Humpp plans to use Rachel's nymphomania against them. Poor, sweet George and his one-track mind. All he ever thinks about is getting screwed... by Dr. Humpp.
I think this film gained a growing popularity (though, judging by how unknown it remains, not much of one) thanks to its Rob Zombie connection. One line ("use my body to keep you alive") has now been immortalized in one of Zombie's radio singles. That is also most likely how the man who passed this film on to me stumbled across it, as he also gave me a copy of "Spider Baby" with Sid Haig. Will Zombie fans love "Dr. Humpp"? I think they might. It comes much closer to the kind of film we expected from him prior to "House of 1000 Corpses".
Is "The Curious Dr. Humpp" a great film? Of course not. It' s a low-budget sexploitation film. But if you're into the low budget, 1970s sexploitations films where monsters attack fornicating couples with a bottle of ether, this film is for you. (Some have asked how one rag of ether can knock out a whole room of people doing the orgy thing... I say ask not what the ether can do for the orgy, ask what the orgy can do for this movie!) For a journey into the unknown and, frankly, rather bizarre, this is one film you'll want in your collection.
