El siniestro doctor Orloff

For years, Spanish director Jess Franco exploited the success of his breakout flick, the 1960 horror The Awful Dr. Orloff, with numerous virtually identical movies, finally making a worthwhile follow-up a mere 27 years later with Faceless (1987). The Sinister Dr. Orloff is one of his less impressive and more forgettable attempts, the film delivering none of the style of his original film (as 'original' as a rip-off of Les Yeux Sans Visage can be) and little of the sleaze and gore of his 1987 version.

In this film, Alfred (Antonio Mayans), the demented son of Dr. Orloff (Franco regular Howard Vernon), continues his father's experiments, sending his blind assistant Andros (Rafael Cayetano) to abduct young women with loose morals and bad hair, using their energy to try and reanimate his lifeless mother, for whom he has the hots.

What follows is repetitive and extremely dull: Franco at his most uninspired, with even a spot of torture (the flogging of a naked woman) proving really boring. Each abduction is followed by an unsuccessful experiment, the woman strapped naked to a bed, allowing Franco to get in his quota of snatch shots. This is repeated ad nauseum until, like in The Awful Dr. Orloff, the girlfriend of Inspector Mario Tanner (Antonio Rebollo) decides to lend a hand in the investigation and becomes the doctor's latest victim.

The most remarkable thing about the whole film is that Alfred is not only able to get into a nightclub wearing a really horrible shell-suit top, but he also manages to score.

Antonio Mayans is Dr. Orlof, a spanish doctor who's obsessed by his father's past and a woman-hater as a bonus. He stalks and kills prostitutes in order to reanimate his dead mother. His father, played by an aging Howard Vernon, does not agree with these "ethics" and warns him to stop killing. This may be considered as a funny thing since Vernon was the first Dr. Orlof, who did the same thing in the '62 Franco classic GRITOS EN LA NOCHE, except that he was peeling off his young victim's faces to heal his daughter.

Yes, Jesus Franco seems obsessed by this theme he first saw in LES YEUX SANS VISAGE by George Franju. He did countless versions of this movie over the years, including his recent (2001) remake of GRITOS with Paul Naschy in the lead role ! He also did a version, in '88, called FACELESS, with a big budget and a fabulous cast (Florence Guérin, Brigitte Lahaie, Telly Savalas, and Vernon once more...).

This spanish production is one of the best he shot in the eighties, with an oppressed narration by Mayans, and a very interesting pathological link between the father and the son. The camera work is absolutely fantastic, as always when Franco does not shoot in a hurry, and the haunting keyboard music was composed and played by Il Maestro himself. A personal and highly enjoyable work that'll mostly please to die hard Francophiles.

"El siniestro doctor Orloff," directed by Jesús Franco in 1984, is a Spanish horror film that revisits the infamous character of Dr. Orloff, a mad scientist with a penchant for sinister experiments. The film attempts to blend elements of gothic horror with a touch of science fiction, following the twisted machinations of Dr. Orloff as he conducts gruesome experiments on unsuspecting victims. While the film's atmospheric style and eerie premise hold promise, it ultimately falls short in delivering a compelling and cohesive narrative.

One of the film's strengths lies in its gothic visual style. Franco, known for his work in the horror genre, effectively uses shadow and light to create a sense of dread and unease. The film's settings, from the dark, labyrinthine corridors of Dr. Orloff's mansion to the eerie, fog-shrouded exteriors, are meticulously crafted to enhance the gothic atmosphere. However, despite these visual merits, the film's pacing is uneven, and the plot often feels disjointed. The narrative struggles to maintain a consistent tone, oscillating between moments of genuine horror and unintentional camp.

The performances in "El siniestro doctor Orloff" are a mixed bag. Howard Vernon reprises his role as Dr. Orloff with a menacing presence, but the supporting cast often falls short. The dialogue is frequently stilted and unnatural, detracting from the overall immersion and making it challenging for the audience to connect with the characters. Additionally, the character development is shallow, with many of the characters feeling like one-dimensional archetypes rather than fully realized individuals. This lack of depth makes it difficult for the audience to fully invest in the story and its outcome.

Ultimately, "El siniestro doctor Orloff" is a film that falls short of its potential. While it offers moments of visual brilliance and an intriguing premise, the inconsistent storytelling and underdeveloped characters prevent it from achieving greatness. Fans of Jesús Franco and those with a particular interest in gothic horror may find some value in this film, but for the average viewer, it is likely to be a frustrating experience. With a rating of 5/10, "El siniestro doctor Orloff" stands as a testament to the challenges of reviving classic horror characters in a way that feels fresh and engaging.

Sinister Dr. Orloff, The (1984)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Once again director Jess Franco remakes his very own The Awful Dr. Orloff but this time there's the added glory of naked women and sleaze. In this version, Dr. Orloff's (Howard Vernon) son is going out seducing women so that he can kidnap them and use them as experiments to bring his dead mother back to life. I'm not a fan of the original film but I did enjoy Franco's previous effort, Revenge in the House of Usher (1982) as well as the future one, Faceless (1988). This version here runs pretty good, although nothing too fresh ever happens. Throughout the 82-minute running time we see Orloff's son kidnap women and then try the experiment on them. This is pretty much all that happens but Franco creates some nice atmosphere and there's a great music score to keep the film moving. Vernon appears to be having a blast in his few scenes as does Franco himself who shows up in his (for the time) popular "gay" character. Politically incorrect for sure but it makes me laugh. Viewed in Spanish without subs.

Jess Franco resurrects his Dr. Orloff franchise again, in a mixed bag of plot themes and characters borrowed from his 1962 "Awful Dr. Orloff."

The doctor is there, "Melissa" is there (still scarred in a trancelike state), the blind "Morpho" character is there (this time named "Andros," as in Franco's 1964 "Dr. Orloff's Monster." The opening scene recreates the opening of the 1962 film, with a drunken prostitute coming home alone late at night, only to find Morpho/Andros hiding in the closet, waiting to abduct her. There are many other plot similarities to follow.

One big difference is that this time it's Dr. Orloff's adult son who is doing the killing in an attempt to restore the face and life of Melissa. This time, Melissa is not the daughter of Dr. Orloff but the mother of his son...and their relationship is borderline incestuous. The plot revolves around the son seeking and killing hookers (sometimes with Morpho/Andros in tow), to use in experiments he hopes will restore mom's face and vitality.

Although set in the punked out, slovenly attired '80s, the film does manage a sort of mood or dreamlike tone. What is perhaps most surprising is the lack of sex, especially considering this was a Franco film shot in the postmodern era. With the son and his henchman cruising for prostitutes night after night, there is a perfect opportunity to depict him and Morpho/Andros taking care of their business with the hookers before dispatching them. However, this does not happen and nobody really gets laid during the course of the movie.

Franco fans will enjoy seeing Howard Vernon late in his career, and handsome. Antonio Mayans is easy on the eyes, even if he never takes his clothes off (surprising for someone who did so much softcore for Franco in other movies). But the absence of Gothic Ephemera--gloomy moors, crumbling castles, classy late Victorian suits and dresses, etc., results in a cheaper looking, less impressive film overall.