Le Bossu de la morgue

Paul Naschy made a hell of a lot of Spanish horror films, many of them were not all that good; but there are a few gems among his vast body of work, and The Rue Morgue Massacre is certainly one of his better efforts. The film is something like a Spanish version of Hammer Horror; the style of it actually reminded me a lot of the final Hammer Frankenstein flick 'Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell', which was released a year later than this film. Most of The Rue Morgue Massacre takes place in underground catacombs, and director Javier Aguirre springs his atmosphere from there. The plot is a tale consisting of two main themes; social rejection and mad science, and we focus on 'Gotho' (Paul Naschy) - a hunchback with no friends other than a sick young girl. Gotho's life is miserable, and it gets more so when his only friend in the world dies. Gotho believes her to be sleeping, and this is capitalised on by a mad doctor who promises to wake her if Gotho helps him with experiments, which focus on creating new life...

The film doesn't feature a great deal of gore, but it is a very nasty flick. Most of the action centres around corpses and body parts, which helps to give it a nasty atmosphere and this is increased by the dreary set design, which almost gives the viewer the impression that the film is taking place in hell. The plot itself runs rather slowly, though the film never gets boring as there's always enough going on to keep the audience intrigued. Paul Naschy is a varied actor, though sometimes his performances aren't very good. He fits into the role of the hunchback well in this film, however, and actually manages to generate some sympathy in spite of the fact that his character is a murderer. The most interesting element of the plot is, of course, the whole thing surrounding the monster that the mad scientist is trying to create. This subplot is fairly well done; what we get to see looks interesting, though it has to be said that the plot turns out to be disappointing when we finally get to see the monster at the end. However, this is still a very interesting effort and I can certainly recommend it.

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.

This was a great little flick. Paul Naschy (Spanish answer to Lon Chaney) puts in a very convincing role as a hunchbacked morgue attendant. The story was nice and strong with relatively believable acting, to a small degree.

The violence also was'nt that bad either. All you gore mongers should take note of this small fact.

The only real downer was that damn stock music! It just churned out, over, and over... I was just about ready to scream after hearing the same piece for the 50th time

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.