Orloff et l'homme invisible

This Gothic horror film was released by Eurociné who were purveyors of cheap French exploitation movies. While it has slightly higher production values than most of the others released by this distributer, it's still a pretty bargain basement effort. It's one of a series of Dr Orloff movies. The character was a Euro horror alternative to Dr Frankenstein and seems to have fulfilled a similar role. The story starts when a new village doctor is summoned to Orloff's castle on business unspecified. The local populace are aghast that he would consider going to such an evil place. On arrival, it seems it was the doctor's daughter who has requested him secretly in an attempt to turn her father around from his dangerous experiments that she fears are endangering her life and his sanity. It turns out that Orloff has created an invisible man…

I think the chief problem with this one is that an invisible man makes for a very underwhelming villain. Aside from a few simple trick shots an invisible character involves very little effort to create. He is certainly a cheap alternative to a decent monster that's for sure. We are treated to floating drinks trays, pages of books turning by themselves, footprints in flour and…eh…invisible rape. The latter was clearly added to up the requisite sleaze factor that the early 70's Euro Gothic horrors were aiming for. There is quite a bit of nudity in general in the movie but it's never in danger of becoming erotic unfortunately. From the horror side of the fence, aside from the invisible man, there is a back story involving premature burial and grave robbery. Nothing of which is anything too memorable. Perhaps the single most original idea in the film is the fact that, for reasons never really explained, the invisible man appears to be a gorilla! The invisible ape…you couldn't make it up! Acting performances are generally dull but Howard Vernon (Dr Orloff) is always watchable.

Anyone encountering this film on VHS in the UK as the Invisible Dead, tag line; " god help us if they rise again" will find themselves utterly baffled or just ripped off by the content of the actual film. Not only have they been lead to believe that it's a zombie flick by the sleeve art but the film itself has been sliced and diced, presumably by the distributors following the 1982 video act,so that sleazy content of any kind is absent, and what we are left with is essentially 80 odd minutes of people wandering through corridors very....slowly.....indeed. As others have doubtless pointed out, none of the dialogue bears much relation to the action on screen, some of the soundtrack has been left blatantly undubbed, and that goddamn music clangs away throughout for all the world like a troop of drunken boy scouts assaulting each other with biscuit tins. Listing the inconsistencies and "what the heck?.." moments would take too damn long, but suffice to say that it's one of those eurosleaze offerings that manage to conjure up a surreal, dream-like atmosphere chiefly through being incoherent and flat out badly made.And judging by the speed of the opening doors and "magically" appearing footprints, the invisible ape-man doesn't really pose much of a threat to anyone who can move faster than a relaxed stroll.It's crap. I quite enjoyed it

Everyone else's reviews on here pretty much say what I would say, however, I wanted to add that that music score is quite impressive. I usually don't listen to the music in a film unless it strikes me and this one stuck me as being more than just boring background music. Also, the lighting they used really gave the movie a unique feel. It seemed like everyone was lit up brightly with a light right in their face. It added much needed color to the film. Without the color and music, this movie would have been very drab. Also, the "horror" nature of this film focuses on rape more than anything gory or gross. The rape scene with the maid was too much for me to watch, I had to close my eyes. It seemed to go on forever. Quite unsettling and distasteful. And the ape suit guy was hilarious. Very far from the "superior race" of people the doctor thought he was creating. It seemed like just a dumb ape to me.

3/10 because of the music, lighting and unintentional humor.

ORLOFF AND THE INVISIBLE MAN (1971) *** Howard Vernon, Brigitte Carva, Fernando Sancho, Paco Valladares, Isabel del Río, Evane Hanska. In this 1971 French-Spanish co-production, the irrepressible Howard Vernon returns for his second turn as Dr. Orloff. This time, he's created an invisible man who feeds on human blood. It's fairly typical Eurosleaze fare: there's the usual muddled plot, cheap special effects (wait until you see the invisible `man'!) and a fair amount of gratuitous nudity (the rape of the servant girl by the invisible man, with shots of Vernon leering through the whole thing, is especially tasteless). But a good score, nice atmosphere and fairly brisk direction by Pierre Chevalier manage to keep things interesting.

OK, so the plot is risible, the acting woeful, and the production values worthy of Ed Wood. However this early Eurocine outing is a great "B" movie- at least for those who understand cinematic irony.

Crumbling castles, dandyesque clothing and buxom wenches all give it the authentic sexploitation feel. The camera angles add that dangerous and unpredictable quality that only lovers of bad movies can really appreciate.

More than that, the film is best known for the most famous bush in cinematic history, that of Brigitte Carva. Oh for the days when women were not just plastic-packed crotch-shaven dollies! The women in this film are real, and the creaking plot makes their naked exploits all the more impressive. For collectors of the genre (or admirers of the hirsute), this B-flick is a must. The plot is only marginally of relevance.