O Corcunda do Necrotério

A surprisingly jaunty theme tune introduces what proves to be one of Paul Naschy's more exploitative and downbeat movies, a gory Gothic tragedy in which the Spanish horror star plays Gotho, a hunchbacked morgue attendant in love with a terminally ill girl named Ilse (María Elena Arpón). When Ilse finally pops her clogs, a grief stricken Gotho steals her body (after brutally killing the doctors who try to half-inch her necklace), and takes her to a subterranean hideaway where he assists a trio of slightly mad scientists to construct a laboratory (in record time) with which they can create life, a process that requires a continuous supply of fresh body parts...

Taking its cues from the classic horror novels of Victor Hugo and Mary Shelley, The Hunchback of the Morgue is full of irresistibly silly horror clichés—a sympathetic 'monster', a dusty Spanish Inquisition torture chamber, grave-robbing by moonlight, a sulphuric acid pit—and also benefits from some delightfully tacky special effects: a gory decapitation, a gutsy evisceration, assorted dismemberment, Ilse's corpse being devoured by rats (which, in a shocking moment of genuine animal cruelty, are set on fire by Gotho), and a delightfully daft man-made creature that consumes everything from live frogs to human heads, and ends up looking like a giant walking turd.

It all adds up to a whole lot of demented fun, easily the most entertaining Naschy film I've seen so far.

Hunchback of the Morgue (1972)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A deformed hunchback (Paul Naschy) is picked on by everyone except for a beautiful woman. When that woman dies the hunchback goes to a scientist in hopes that he can bring her back to life. The doctor says he can but in return he wants the hunchback to do some killing for him.

Loosely based on Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue, the film also mixes in elements of Frankenstein and the end result is a rather entertaining movie that works on several levels but the biggest is the fact that the movie is just downright nasty at times and it takes pleasure in it. HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE offers Naschy a tasty role and he really delivers.

The film works best as long as you don't take it too serious or go into it expecting some sort of art film. I mean, the movie is pretty sleazy throughout but things get really crazy during the second half when we get all sorts of strange violence from body parts being cut off to guts pour out and there are even rats eating faces. All of the gore is handled quite well and the overall sleazy nature of it perfect fits the atmosphere of the movie as well as the beautiful set design.

As far as Naschy goes, he got to play just about every monster possible and this here was certainly his most sympathetic role, which is shocking when you consider that this character is a murderer. I thought the actor did a very good job in the role and the sympathetic nature was a major plus. The supporting cast are all fine as well but there's no question that the picture belongs to Naschy.

Is "The Hunchback of the Morgue" the greatest film of Spanish Exploitation icon Paul Naschy? One of the greatest without a doubt, and probably my personal favorite, as this highly atmospheric, creepy and incredibly entertaining Gothic gem unites all qualities that we love about Naschy flicks. Personally, I've been a fan of the prolific Spanish Horror deity for years, and while most of his films don't usually qualify as 'good', they are usually immensely entertaining. Javier Aguirre's "El Jorobado De La Morgue" aka. "The Hunchback of the Morgue" of 1973 was a fantastic surprise to me, as this wonderful little film is both entertaining in the typical Naschy-manner, AND an actually very good film of its own right. One of the great aspects about Naschy flicks is that they usually unite the creepy mood and settings of atmospheric Gothic tales with typical exploitation qualities such as gore and sleaze, and, out of all his films I've seen, this one is the greatest example for that. My admiration for "The Hunchback of the Morgue" may seem exaggerated to some, for a film like this that is doubtlessly not flawless. It is, however, a rare film that is so successful in creating a rich and genuinely creepy atmosphere, the intriguing storyline of a classic Horror tale and typical exploitation qualities from an obviously low budget as this one does.

"The Hunchback of the Morgue" terrifically narrates a traditional Horror story in the delightful form of a Creepy and quite gory Naschyesque Gothic Exploitation flick. In classic Horror tradition, the eponymous hunchback Gotho (Naschy) is a murderous yet tragic, pitiable and almost likable character. A man of low intelligence and ugly appearance, Gotho, who works at the morgue, is despised by most people, except the beautiful Ilse (María Elena Arpón). Driven by his immortal love to this terminally ill beauty, Gotho responds to kindness with kindness, to humiliation with murderous violence. The obsessed scientist Dr. Orla (Alberto Dalbes) decides to use the hunchback for his sinister goals...

No role has ever suited Paul Naschy better than that of the eponymous hunchback Gotho. Naschy seems predestined to play morgue employees and gravediggers - in the runner-up on the list of my favorite Naschy-films, "La Orgia De Los Muertos" from the same year, he plays a deranged gravedigger. The role of Gotho here is, in my opinion, the greatest he ever played, since he is truly deranged, yet at the same time pitiable and even likable. Jess Franco flick regular Alberto Dalbés is great in the role of the unscrupulous scientist. The supporting performances are actually also very good for a film of the kind. The ravishing Rosanna Yanni is sexy and lovable in the role of Elke, a woman who, unlike others, treats the hunchback with kindness. The film is terrifically shot in the great setting of a small town in the mountains (in the film, the name is "Feldkirch", but I don't think it is meant to be the town of the same name in my home country Austria). Settings like old houses, dark alleys, castle ruins, subterranean crypts and secret passages give the film a great Gothic mood, which is increased by a very good cinematography and score. The gore is pretty intense, with some truly gruesome scenes. The film isn't actually very sleazy, nudity occurs only once, briefly, by Rosanna Yanni (***drool***). It is undeniable that the plot has holes and sometimes lacks logic - but that has to be expected in a Naschy flick. Overall, "The Hunchback of the Morgue" is, in my opinion, the Naschy film that has the greatest storyline AND the most intense atmosphere. The mood often resembles the style of other Gothic films, such as those by the British Hammer Studios, but, again, with a typically Spanish touch. All things considered, "The Hunchback of the Morgue" is my personal favorite Paul Naschy film, and also one of the most outrageously enjoyable Spanish Gothic Horror productions from the early 70s. No true lover of cult-cinema should miss it!

"The Hunchback of the Morgue" might just be Paul Naschy's – may he rest in peace – coolest movie! It's quite ironic that the Spanish horror icon became mostly notorious for his Wolf Man cycle, while actually his best movies have got absolutely nothing to do with lycanthropes or full moons. His werewolf flicks are fun enough, but personally I much more enjoyed "Inquisition", "Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll", "Rojo Sangre" and now especially this uniquely demented little exploitation treasure. "The Hunchback of the Morgue" has got it all: mad as hell scientists, deformed killers, gooey monsters, acid baths, corpse snatching, flesh munching, rancid decapitations and gigantic jars filled with entrails. Most remarkable, however, is that this gross and exploitative horror movie nevertheless manages to insert quite a lot of genuine drama and touching romance! Specifically during the first act the drama is harrowing. Gotho, employee in the local hospital's morgue and the laughing stock of the entire village because of the hideous lump on his back, is madly in love with the beautiful Ilse, basically just because she's the only person who treats him with dignity and kindness. But unfortunately Ilse has terminal tuberculosis and passes away whilst Gotho is being beaten up outside. Gotho goes to Dr. Orla for help, but he turns out to be a completely deranged amateur Baron Frankenstein. Orla commands our hunchbacked friend to steal bodies, dead and alive ones, and feeds them to his creation. This "thing" literally emerged from a jar of intestines on a desk, but quickly grows into an insatiable munching machine.

Okay, admittedly this may all sound a little confusing and incoherent. It is, actually! "The Hunchback of the Rue Morgue" unceasingly introduces new characters and add new plot lines until the finale and it's practically impossible to give an all-capturing summary of this film. The incoherence of the script isn't the least bit bothering, especially because the film is fast-paced and full of gory action the entire time. Gotho hacks off people's heads with axes, throws their bodies in acid and even locks them into medieval torture devices! And yet, even whilst he's committing the most vilest of murders, he manages to gain quite a bit of your sympathy and compassion. It's entirely Paul Naschy's own accomplishment to make his characters – even the most bonkers ones – come across as amiable and heroic. "The Hunchback of the Rue Morgue" is also a very effective horror film because the atmosphere is continuously morbid and practically all settings and scenery are sinister. Last but not least the film also "enjoys" a notorious reputation because one of the decapitation scenes was filmed using a real human corpse and because allegedly the rat-burnings were real as well.

A poor unfortunate hunchback named Gotho (Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina ) whom the little boys hurl stones and in charge of the Morgue of a hospital Feldkirch falls in love with an ill girl who happens to be the only person who is kind to him and he cares her . Each day he brings her flowers until that the sickly young deceases. He never really believes her death , but one day she sadly dies as he thinks she is just sleeping. The girl eventually ends up at the morgue hospital Feldkirch where she is being ready for burial. Naschy's character flips out at the desecration of the girl's body and kills two autopsy's helpers , starting a murderous spree , being his first victim a student . The police begins to look for him and two Inspectors (Manuel De Blas , Antonio Pica )are investigating the deeds . This is when the Hunchback meets up with a mad scientist ( Albert Dalbes) who is helped by his assistant (Vic Winner) whose girlfriend (Maria Pershy) rules the girls reformatory . Gotho asks for help the doctor whose work isn't accepted by the general society to relive the body his lover . The megalomaniac scientist accepts in change of Gotho assists him on his experiments bringing to life a strange creature . The doctor Horla ( this name is homage to Guy De Maupassant's novel title El Horla) is a prestigious scientific , he promises the Hunchback that would re-animate the girl's body if the Hunchback brings him fresh body-parts from the graveyard and live victims. Gotho kidnaps and kills girls from a nearly reformatory . The doctor uses the parts to create a horrible creature and the experiments are realized in tunnels and caves from Inquisition time. The mad doctor pretends on feed his monster with human beings . But the hunchback will terminate with the sinister plans of the malicious doctor .

It's a delirious story about ¨amour fou¨ with multiples literary references , partially based on writings of known writers as Lovecraft , Mauspassant , Burne Jones , Edgar Allan Poe , among others ; all of them thrown in . It results to be a strong tale as well as sensible flick with melodramatic elements in which Gotho falls in love with a sickly young and a gorgeous Rosanna Yanni . Very good performance of Naschy as hunchback with below average intelligence who works at the morgue. Naschy deservedly won the prize George Melies the best performance in Fantastic Festival of Paris and other several prizes . Creepy and eerie images as when authentic rats attack Nashy and turned to be very difficult the filmmaking . The picture contains a crazy love story , but also lots of blood and gore as when Gotho stabs and decapitates the men in one of the several scenes of gore in the movie . It's a modern reprise of the stories of various writers as Necronomicon's H.P.Lovecraft , Robert Stevenson's Body snatchers , Mary Shelley's Frankestein and touches of Victor Hugo's Hunchback . Flawed but interesting screenplay by Jacinto Molina who blends diverse themes . Colorful and evocative cinematography by Raul Perez Cubero , furthermore atmospheric score by Carmelo Bernaola . Appropriate sets and production design by Cubero and Galicia who worked in many Spaghetti Western . The picture is professionally directed by Javier Aguirre . Rating : Good , it will appeal to mad-cults movies and Naschy fans ; it's one of the best films .