La venganza del sexo

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.

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.

If you're not into bizarre cinema, you're best off staying away from this cult film; but if you are into cult cinema...you might find something here. The adjective in the title is extremely apt for this film, as it features a plethora of odd and mostly illogical ideas; all of which are at least somewhat 'curious'. This helps the film in a way as there's always enough going on to keep it ticking over; but on the other hand, sometimes there's just too many things going on at the same time, and since not a great deal of it makes sense; the film can be somewhat annoying. That being said, the plot focuses on sex, deformity and very mad science and so it's entertaining throughout, at least. The plot centres on a scientist researching sex. He kidnaps people and feeds them aphrodisiacs so that they'll have sex. He needs them to do so that he can drain some fluid from them, as Dr Humpp is actually a monster and he needs this fluid to stop himself being transformed. You might wonder how all this stuff ended up coming together, but there's a simple explanation for all of it; the doctor is being directed by a talking disembodied brain in a jar!

Despite being silly and not making a lot of sense, the film is very technically competent and the cinematography looks great. The film was obviously shot on a low budget, but the crystal clear black and white picture helps to mask this; which is a very good thing. The set design is good, if a little bare in places; but that's not all that important. There is a lot of sex in the film, which is sure to please anyone with a mind to see a film like this; and the script is fantastic at providing a lot of memorable quotes such as "Sex dominates the world!". The 'monster' that the doctor becomes looks rather silly, but the film ensures that you can just about buy into it as everything is so completely mesmerising. The atmosphere is surreal throughout, and director Emilio Vieyra ensures that it always benefits the tone of the movie. The film doesn't flow too well, as once the basic plot is laid out; we don't get much elaboration on it, but you can't expect too much from a film like this, and for what it is; The Curious Dr Humpp is sure to delight fans of cult cinema that don't mind too many inconsistencies in their films.

Quizzical and somewhat painful Argentinean softcore porn flick has the good quality of being one of the few competent unions of exploitation with mainstream genre film. In this case, sci-fi, and see _Flesh Gordon_ if you have any doubts about how difficult a genre fusion of this kind can be. The movie drags at times, but at others is fabulously bizarre, probably because of the tortured logic Vieyra has to use to establish the (relatively) intricate plot without compromising the explicit scenes. Humpp's legendary sequence -- a weird, mutated critter playing an unidentifiable lutish instrument while people mill about a foggy courtyard -- is strange beyond description.

"The Curious Dr. Humpp" certainly is one of the craziest movies I ever saw and it excellently shows just how low exploitation-filmmakers in the 70's were prepared to sink in order to blend gratuitous sleaze with nasty horror premises. The story is utter nonsense but it really is great fun to see how deranged this film is. Dr. Humpp is a mad scientist who kidnaps people whilst experiencing any form of sexual pleasure (couples making out, masturbation, orgies, lesbians, strippers…) and he surgically steals their libidos! You see, he needs the virility in order to stay alive! He has an army of horribly deformed accomplices (medical experiments gone wrong) and a nurse who constantly begs him to physically abuse her. If all this isn't odd enough for you just yet, we'll throw in a talking brain in a jar that rants about world-domination! This movie is exclusively meant for avid cult-collectors, since it features nothing but weirdness and cheese. Tons of nudity and poorly filmed violence is all it has got to offer; yet I had a great time watching it. The make-up on the 'monsters' is rather cool and the jazzy musical guidance works too. If it weren't for this movie, I never would have known that Argentina was active in the 70's exploitation industry as well. If you like bizarre, check out this flick!