La venganza del sexo

Argentinian sexploitation/horror flick has a crazed young doctor interested in examining the libido of sexually active humans. He sends his personal guitar-playing monster and assorted henchmen out to kidnap young couples while involved in the act, and then keeps them prisoner at his laboratory. There he induces them to have more sex so he may extract a serum to help him dominate sex, since sex dominates the human race (or some such nonsense). He also has a talking rubber brain in a jar that deflates and inflates while it speaks. This is a foreign black and white sexploitation flick, with tons of nudity and all sorts of random sexual activity -- group orgies, lesbianism, female masturbation... Nothing out of the ordinary for this type of combo horror/softcore sleaze offering. For those who know what they want and what to expect, you know the deal. ** out of ****

One of the most wonderfully peculiar films I've ever seen. Black and white, semi-porn, cheesy Argentinean horror. Dr. Hump, for reasons never explained, must kidnap people and turn them into nymphomaniacs in order to obtain their "secretions" during orgasm in order to, what, stay alive? They never really say. Except that he is being ordered to do all this by one really p****d-off brain. He also has a "monster" to do his dirty work, a paper-mache' headed guy with a blinking light in his forehead, who's duties include, besides kidnapping and murder, serenading the sex-crazed hippies and lesbos during their orgies with a strange, guitar-like instrument. This one's going straight to "The Brainiac" hall of fame in my book!

Something Weird Video has made a name for itself by resurrecting forgotten exploitation films from the 50's, 60's, 70's and releasing them in restored prints for a modern audience. More than simply b-movies, these films are the most outrageous of the bunch, with one of the most interesting being "The Curious Dr. Humpp," released in its native Argentina under its original title "La Venganza Del Sexo" ("The Vengeance Of Sex"). Part science-fiction, part adult film, part morality tale, this is certainly a curious film that is surprisingly entertaining despite several rather distracting flaws.

In the middle of the night, a hideous monster has been kidnapping people engaged in amorous activities, including a couple making out in a park, a lesbian couple, a quartet of hippie orgiasts, a nymphomaniac, a young man exiting a gay bar, and the beautiful stripper Rachel (Gloria Prat). Ambitious reporter George (Ricardo Bauleo) suspects something the authorities do not, and soon he is investigating the estate of the curious Dr. Humpp (Aldo Barbero) himself. Here he finds the doctor engaged in mad experiments and guided by a disembodied brain kept active in an electrically charged solution. Dr. Humpp believes the secret to eternal life lies in the chemicals produced by the body during sex, and he's been using it to keep himself alive. George is captured, and he must find a way out with Rachel before they become slaves to the doctor's whims.

The film's premise is absurd, yet somehow it manages to sustain itself well given the film's tone and feel. The visuals certainly help, but not in the way you'd expect. While the cast, particularly the leads, are all quite attractive, it's the way the picture is filmed and not the flesh that makes it exciting. Writer/director Emilio Vieyra films the entire picture in a very lovely chiaroscuro that heightens and deepens the black-and-white imagery to levels of art. The direction itself is above average, with a few scenes -- most notably the oddly poetic image of Dr. Humpp's monstrous servant serenading Rachel with a lute -- being quite memorable.

Where the film falls apart has nothing to do with the director, the stars, or even the picture itself. When the film was picked up by an American distrbutor, over 17 minutes of sex-and-nudity footage was inserted into the film not only to pad the length, but to ostensibly heighten the adult-film quotient. These scenes add the lesbians, the hippie orgiasts, and the nymphomaniac to the cast, as well as some highly erotic sexual imagery added during a telepathic copulation between Prat and Bauleo (as part of one of the doctor's experiments). While the scenes fit well in that they aren't too far off from the original's look to be distracting, they often add unnecessary sex to a film that's more interested in other things, such as the ramifications of the doctor's work and the societal attitudes toward sex.

In addition to the scenes being extraneous, they often have the side effect of being unintentionally funny, which also distracts from the main thread of the film. The hippies, in particular, are quite humorous, especially with the exaggerated voice over work common of many erotic films of the time. The entire film has a serviceable, if not above average, English dub (the original was in Spanish) that works more often than it doesn't, at least in terms of language. To the American distributor's credit, the additional scenes are added quite well, and the dub is used quite skillfully to explain their presence.

Despite these flaws, the film is visually entertaining, which is one of the best things one can say about b-movies of this caliber. Definitely one of the finer entries in Something Weird's catalog, alongside classics like "Satan In High Heels" and "Mantis In Lace", and definitely one for b-movie and vintage exploitation enthusiasts. Others may not find as much to enjoy, and for those, I suggest you get in the front row with the robots and start your mocking. So, something for everybody. 6 out of 10.

Mentored by a disembodied brain suspended in a jar of bubbling liquid, mad scientist Dr. Humpp (Aldo Barbero) instructs his monstrous automatons to kidnap highly sexual men and women for use in his diabolical experiments. With the help of sexy blonde assistant Enfermera (Susana Beltrán), Humpp doses his helpless victims with aphrodisiacs, using the strength of their passion to create a serum to nourish his body and increase his lifespan.

Reporter George (Ricardo Bauleo) investigates the case, but is captured and finds himself the subject of one of Humpp's experiments, forced to experience heightened sexual pleasure with beautiful brunette Rachel (Gloria Prat). Is there no end to Humpp's cruelty?

A sex movie with horror overtones, The Curious Dr. Humpp is packed with nudity and nookie from the get-go, the mad scientist shenanigans merely the catalyst for numerous scenes of softcore rumpy-pumpy. All of the romping and humpping soon becomes rather tedious, but the plot is just about daft enough to still make this late '60s trashfest fairly entertaining for those who enjoy offbeat cinema.

This particular viewer found the kidnapped hippies hilarious, couldn't help but be amused at the idea of a monster paying a visit to his local drugstore, and perked up every time the lovely Ms. Prat was on screen and unclothed.

An extremely strange film in that it is ten times better than it had any right to be. The script and story is usual b-movie rubbish, and the acting is adequate at best (the dubbing is of course terrible), however some genuine talent behind the camera make this watchable throughout. Eschewing the usual b-movie tricks like ludicrous music, fast zooms and an indulgence of s**t acting to advance the story, the director concentrates instead on extended set pieces (in one case a strange lute playing sequence) which he stages extremely well. It reminded me of the French horror movies of Rollin, where extended scenes, slow, languid camera work and a healthy dollop of sex play a large part.

Obviously this is still a b-movie, and when the plot has to kick in at the end it is predictably terrible. They do have a dig at their own crap effects with someone mistaking the monster for a man in a mask, but it's not clear if this was deliberate or just a case of bad scriptwriting. Not good by any stretch of the imagination, but significantly better than the average, usually unwatchable, exploitation film.