Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls

This is the only feature directed by a man who otherwise worked primarily in TV (mostly as an assistant director), and despite some gore, it very much feels like an early 1970s television project, with the same kind of flat lighting, compositions, scoring and pacing. (It's exactly the aesthetic parodied by the recent "The Love Witch.") The script is a jumble of illogical nonsense even by horror standards-it's one of those stories that falls apart the second you ask "Why didn't our protagonist just call the police when he realized murders were being committed?"-and doesn't seem even halfway convinced by its own feeble reincarnation hocus-pocus.

John Considine does clearly enjoy camping it up as the villain, and Florence Marly behaves likewise in her briefer role. But the other cast members play it straight in a dull, square fashion, as if they were guesting on some routine network TV series. The movie seems to be halfway making fun of its own grisly silliness, but it's a testament to the pedestrian execution there's not much fun to be shared in watching it.

Do you have an appreciation for 70's occult horror movies? Do you like over-the-top performances by effeminate satanists? Do you like your horror movies to be more weird than frightening? .... If you answered "yes" to at least two of these questions, you will find Doctor Death: Seeker Of Souls more than worthy of an hour and a half of your time.

Doctor Death has spent the past several centuries hopping around from body to body and kissing dead women. So why should the 1970's be any different? Seriously, this movie belongs in the same category as "Manos: The Hands Of Fate" and "Dungeon Of Harrow" - all belonging to an ambitious class of horror movies that had dialogue, actors, and set designs that well superseded their meager budgets. You will definitely find much more to laugh at than to cover your eyes in fear from, namely the completely ridiculous performance by John Constadine who will keep your eyes and ears glued to the TV as inane words are spurted out of his hammy mouth.

The other thing to watch out for are some excellent character actors (some of whom were quite famous decades before this production began) scattered throughout the film. Yes, that is Moe from the 3 Stooges playing an extra as a volunteer in Doctor Death's audience. Florence Marly deserves a special mention for her alluring mysterious performance as Tana, the wife of Doctor Death.

This is one of those DVD's that should come with a pre-rolled joint included.

What a nice & trashy early 70s exploitation discovery this turned out to be! "Doctor of Death: Seeker of Souls" is a film that immediately brings a lot of opposite statements to mind… The whole basic concept is pretty derivative and overdone, but at the same time creatively served and continuously feeling fresh. The film is low-budgeted, cheesy and dumb, but simultaneously also inventive, macabre and even occasionally intelligent when you least suspect it! And last not least, whereas sadly most of the drive-in horror/exploitation flicks from that era were incredibly dull and pitiably amateurish, "Doctor Death" is non-stop entertaining and outrageously over-the-top just like the fans want to see them. The concept is as simple as it is genius; Dr. Death is an alchemist/roadshow magician who's been alive for more than a thousand years thanks to his own secret formula. Unlike all other and dumb scientists who tried to obtain immortality, Dr. Death doesn't even attempt to keep his body energized and youthful, as he simply just transfers his soul to a new body whenever the time has come. He naturally has to kill the owner of the new body, but that's a small price to pay when you have been around for centuries and existed in the bodies of various men, women and children. In this modern day and age, Doctor Death now even offers his soul-shifting business as a profitable business and built a flamboyant circus show around it. The heartbroken widower Fred Saunders hires him to transfer a random soul into the beautiful but sadly deceased body of his wife, but this turns out to be a difficult assignment for the magnificent Dr. Death. The body inexplicably refuses every soul that our good doctor brings to her tomb – resulting in a couple of hilarious "I command you to enter that body!" sequences. After a while, even Mr. Saunders abandons the idea (probably because he finally realized that his blond secretary is far hotter than his wife ever was) but Dr. Death stubbornly continues to fulfill his assignment, even if it means that innocent girls' bodies pile up. Sure this film has quite a large number of shortcomings and (not-so) minor defaults, but I was far too entertained to let them bother me. John Considine is a fantastically evil protagonist, the script is full of unpredictable out-of-the-blue plot twists, there's plenty of cheap Grand Guignol gore (the head in the box is awesome) and there's an irresistible atmosphere of weirdness from start to finish.

Soap actor John Considine is a bit too pretty and lightweight for the title role, and it's quite surreal to see Moe Howard appear in the first act of the movie, but DOCTOR DEATH is actually an interesting little movie that might have been better. It's very, very much of its time -- not just in terms of the production design but also its treatment of the occult and of horror stories -- but they really try to do a big story on a little budget. And that's nearly always a respectable thing.

For me, one of the highlights of the film is the brief (and silent) appearance of Larry "Seymour" Vincent, the premier Los Angeles horror host of the 1970s. He is part of an amusing movie-within-the-movie that actually makes you wish that you could see *that* movie instead of the one you're actually watching (DOCTOR DEATH)!

Under-rated veteran character actor John Considine relishes a rare leading role in this thoroughly enjoyable horror film. He plays the title character, who over a very long period of time has perfected the ability to transfer souls from one body to another. He's sought out by lawyer Fred Saunders (Barry Coe), who just can't let go of his recently departed wife Laura (Jo Morrow). A problem arises: Doctor Death can't find a soul willing to reside inside Lauras' body, and unwilling to admit defeat, proves himself eager to commit murder in order to obtain fresh souls.

This whole idea of "selective reincarnation" is a cool hook for this movie. It's not anything great, but it is entertaining. This is basically due to the story and to Considines' wonderfully hammy performance. The filmmaking isn't anything special, despite the use of some amusing scene transitions. Considine really is the main reason to watch, although it's also fun to see Leon Askin as Doctor Deaths' mute assistant and Florence Marly as his resentful associate Tana. The ladies are lovely, also including Cheryl Miller as Freds' secretary Sandy and Sivi Aberg as the young soul recipient Venus. There's much ghoulish humour to be found from the concept of Doctor Death trying over and over again, in vain, to fulfill his mission. One delicious sequence has the theatrical Doctor Death relating his entire lengthy back story to the inquisitive Fred. And there is a priceless sequence of one victim watching a late night spook show (featuring TV horror host Larry "Seymour" Vincent as a killer) while being visited by the real life menace of Doctor Death.

Appearances by the legendary Moe Howard (as an audience volunteer) and character actor Jim Boles as Franz the caretaker further add to the overall entertainment value. Coe and Stewart Moss, who plays Freds' friend Greg, can't help but come off as dull when you compare them to the magnetic Considine.

Worth a look for lovers of 70s horror films.

Seven out of 10.