Miss Muerte

The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966)

*** (out of 4)

Dr. Zimmer (Escribano), a student of the one and only Dr. Orloff, is at home when an escaped convict arrives at his doorstep. The doctor does an experiment on him, which should make him famous but when he takes it to a board of doctors they basically shun him and put him down. This causes his death so his daughter Irma (Karr) swears to seek vengeance for her father.

I've seen the majority of the films by Jess Franco and I will gladly admit that I prefer his sleazier pictures from the early 1970s. I've always respected these early B&W films but I also admit that I prefer the less stylish pictures that mixed in the nudity and sleaze. I will also admit that I prefer SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY, which was the remake of this film and the one that featured Soledad Miranda. With that said, I think it's safe and honest to say that THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z is the director's best looking film.

There's no question that this here is the most stylish film that Franco ever directed and it also features the greatest cinematography. I was really amazed to see how beautiful this film looks but it really does seem as if each shot was storyboarded. All of the camera movements look very professional and it seems as if hours were spent setting up each shot. You may be wandering what the big deal is but if you're familiar with Franco then you know that a large portion of his movies seem to have been shot very cheaply and very quick without too much thought put into the framing.

The film does benefit from its beautiful look but there are also some very good performances here. Mabel Karr steals the film as the avenging daughter who will stop at nothing to make sure her father gets revenge. Estella Blain is wonderful in her bit as Miss Death, a stage performer who the daughter kidnaps and forces into this murder spree. Franco regular Howard Vernon has a brief part as does the director himself who plays a police inspector.

THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z isn't what I'd consider a masterpiece as there are plenty of flaws to be found in it. At the same time there's no doubt that it's a visually dazzling picture and one that even Franco haters can respect.

A more apt title for the movie might be The Daughter of the Diabolical Doctor Z. Dr. Z doesn't make it through the first 15 minutes of the movie before he dies of a heart attack. His daughter (also a doctor) blames those who scoffed at her father's ideas for his death. Continuing with her father's work, she vows revenge. Using his mind control procedures, she creates two "slaves" to carry out her plan.

I have dubbed this movie "My New Favorite Franco", just beating out Venus in Furs for the title. Where many of his movies seem to lose their way, The Diabolical Doctor Z has a straight forward plot and takes the time necessary to build atmosphere. Too often Franco's films seem rushed or go in so many directions that nothing seems to make much sense.

The choice made by the daughter of the beautiful performance artist, Miss Death, as a "weapon" for her revenge is interesting. Much like a spider, Miss Death first seduces her prey before using her long nails that have been dipped in poison to kill. Miss Death's spider web nightclub dance is a must see.

This is the second Franco film that I've seen that reminded me in some way of Franju's Eyes Without a Face. While the influence on the other Franco film, The Awful Dr. Orloff, is obvious, here it is much more subtle. The face surgery scene is eerily reminiscent of Franju's face surgery scene.

It has to be said that The Diabolical Dr Z is a lot like Jess Franco's most famous film, The Awful Dr Orlof (in fact, said doctor even gets a mention here); but if you ask me, the superior film is this one. This time, rather than deal with facial reconstruction as Orlof did; sleaze master Franco deals with mind control. The plot, unlike many of Franco's films, is straight forward and here Franco proves that he can actually be quite a good story teller, when he doesn't get bogged down by too many sub plots and things that don't make sense. The film takes obvious influence from George Franju's masterpiece, Eyes without a Face (as many Euro horror films at the time this was made did), but Franco injects a lot more of his own stuff here than he did with Orlof. The doctor of the title doesn't appear for long, but before his death; he does provide the film with its main plot point - that being a mind control machine. When he suffers a heart attack, his daughter takes it upon herself to gain revenge - and so she takes control of the mind of a beautiful dancer calling herself 'Miss Death', who dispatches the doctors who caused Dr Z to suffer a heart attack by way of her long, poisoned, finger nails!

The main talking point where this film is concerned is, of course, the style! Franco has shot the film in beautiful black and white, which, along with the excellent use of shadows, locations and cast members ensure that the film has both a dark, gloomy atmosphere and a real sense of beauty. Jess Franco's name has become synonymous with trashy Eurocult rubbish - but if you'd only ever seen this film from him, I wager that you wouldn't know why! The Diabolical Dr Z is art, pure and simple. The locations shot are one thing - but by far my favourite aesthetic element of the film is amazingly beautiful Miss Death, played by Estella Blain. The exotic dancer enters the film in a great sequence that sees her performing her nightclub act, in which she travels across a spider's web to seduce and kill her victims. From then on, she lights up every scene she's in - especially the ones that see her wearing the suit from her act! The film isn't very gory, but the horror appears from the ideas behind the plot, and scenes such as the one that see Dr Z's daughter hideously burned are definitely very gruesome. I've got to say that I'm surprised at how great this film is - and I'll finish off this review by giving The Diabolical Dr Z the highest of recommendations!

This was my second Jess Franco film, one of his earlier black-and-white thrillers; often considered among his very best. Despite being an obviously low-budget production, the film actually looks pretty slick for all that. This seems to have been an interesting period for Franco: his films from this era are easily the most accessible and readily enjoyable. Still, there are definite hints of what was to come, even in this film where the accent is on a somewhat disturbing use of violence but also on the seductiveness of (female) sexuality.

The plot of the film is quite simple, if improbable, and Franco would apparently borrow freely from its themes and images for many years afterwards (SUCCUBUS [1967], VAMPYROS LESBOS and SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY [both 1970]). Jean-Claude Carriere contributed to the script and while the film is closer in spirit to Franju than Bunuel, he manages a few distinctively surreal touches – as when Irma Zimmer (Mabel Karr) 'tames' the rebellious Nadia/Miss Death (Estella Blain) by using a whip and a chair, as if she were a wild circus animal; or the fistfight at the climax which suddenly turns into a good old-fashioned swashbuckling routine. As a director, Franco rises to the occasion with any number of eerie and unusual compositions – though the film does not entirely escape his trademark haphazard 'style'. Other visual assets here would have to be: the photography, which is smooth for a change and satisfactorily 'expressionistic'; and the production design, which maintains a good balance between 'old' (Dr. Zimmer's castle and country-house) and 'new' (Dr. Z's laboratory, full of hilariously impractical gadgets, and the cabaret where Miss Death performs her act). Daniel White's music, while not exactly imposing, provides the perfect underscoring for Franco's wild romp.

The film features several memorable sequences, often involving heart-pounding chases (Miss Death pursued in the empty theater by the hypnotized criminal Bergen; Dr. Moroni's fog-laden close encounter with both Miss Death and Irma Zimmer before he is dispatched) or graphic violence (Irma Zimmer's botched 'suicide' which leaves her facially scarred; Mrs. Moroni's death, by having her head plunged through a window-pane, ten years prior to Dario Argento's DEEP RED [1975]!; Dr. Vicas' train seduction and eventual assassination at the hands of Miss Death). Also notable, of course, is Miss Death's weird and kinky dance routine - complete with fetching outfit!

The cast was not made up of star names but they all acquit themselves nicely, particularly Mabel Karr who is quite convincing – and even demands pity – in her obsessive quest for revenge; Howard Vernon, the epitome of sleek villainy, though his presence is all too brief; and, above all, Estella Blain who is sumptuous throughout (aided a great deal, of course, by her character's all-important 'wardrobe').

The film contains several in-jokes and references to other films which Franco may have admired and subsequently been influenced by: during Dr. Zimmer's first appearance, the phone rings and Irma says after answering that it was Dr. Bresson calling that 'un condamne' a' mort s'est eschappe'' (a condemned man has escaped). It is an unexpected and amusing nod towards Robert Bresson (certainly among France's finest film-makers ever and one of my personal favorites) and that which is arguably his greatest film, more commonly known as A MAN ESCAPED (1956). Furthermore, Louis Feuillade's legendary seven-hour serial LES VAMPIRES (1915-16) is homaged by naming the leading character Irma (after that film's most memorable character, Irma Vep, who frequently sported sultry costumes herself) and Miss Death's dancing at a night-club recalls an early scene in Feuillade's Silent serial as well. Somehow I suspect that these references may be Carriere's doing (who could hardly fail to be aware of these two directors and their movies, especially the latter's which were highly regarded by the Surrealist movement) rather than Franco's, but I could be wrong. Franju's LES YEUX SANS VISAGE aka EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959) – an established influence on Franco's THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF (1961) – is also referenced here in Irma's facial decompositions (which recall the ones suffered by Edith Scob in Franju's film), while Irma's killing of the hitch-hiker and disposing of her body in the river is strikingly similar to that film's opening sequence. Of course, the laboratory sequences in DR. Z are a loving nod towards the Universal monster films of the Thirties.

When a film is as enjoyable as this one, its faults – thematic as well as technical – are hardly worth criticizing, as these can often be pinned down to budgetary/time constraints. So, now I'll rush on to my thoughts on the DVD proper: the film is presented in French (which is what the actors are apparently mouthing) and it is a reasonably effective track, giving the whole a distinctly 'European' feel. Both the film's OAR and its running time have been the subject of controversy over the Internet these last few days. There are definite traces of overscan here, for even the menu screens are visibly cramped. The quality of the video and audio on this disc are excellent for the most part; unfortunately, the film's closing moments are marred by excessive pops and crackles on the soundtrack (these are also present on the English-dubbed version). The extras, while not plentiful, compliment the film superbly; particularly of note are the 15-minute featurette on Franco (giving a nice, if understandably skimpy, overview of his career), the informative biographies and, of course, the 'amusing' Easter Egg – which shouldn't be too hard to find now! I don't quite know what to say about the 'extra' scenes featured in the 'Stills Gallery' section: these could just as well have been publicity shots, or perhaps were scrapped prior to release; it's true that the film runs for only 83 minutes when the 'original' Spanish version was somewhere between 86 and 87 minutes long, but that could be because the transfer was made in PAL mode (after all, Mondo Macabro is a UK-based company).

This film has certainly whetted my appetite for more films from this early phase of Franco's career. It seems that the only ones that are available on DVD are THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF (unfortunately, I've already missed watching the original Spanish-language version of this one – which I understand to be considerably longer – twice so far!), THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1962) and DR. ORLOFF'S MONSTER (1964). Though I recall opinions on the other two as being pretty mixed, I would still like to know if they are cut as well?

I'm not quite sure which of the two Francos I prefer at this stage: while THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z is certainly the more enjoyable (and straightforward) one, EUGENIE…THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION (1969) is obviously the more profound – and thus mature and personal - work. That said, they have both earned their well-deserved place in my collection – and, at long last, the (negative) barriers surrounding the Franco 'myth' have been dealt a blow, even if they are still a LONG way from being struck down…though I don't know if I'd REALLY want to do that in the first place!

Far from perfect, this is nevertheless a very good looking film with enough fine moments to hold anyone's interest. The two female leads are both excellent and if they seem somewhat detached from the proceedings, this helps the creepy feel. Franco, himself plays one of the police investigating and whilst he does not disgrace himself as he would in several later films, none of the scenes seem to add anything. Intended more as light relief than to progress the story they are an awkward distraction. The laboratory scenes are excellent and the robotic contraption most effective. The movie doesn't flow effortlessly but its very oddness and sense of unreality adds to the overall worrying feel.