Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls

Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls is pure '70s horror schlock - an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of hammy performances and cheezy clichés, all washed down with plenty of gaudy fashion, beautiful women-in-peril, and bright red gore.

Putting in a sinister, scene-stealing, somewhat Karloffian performance, John Considine camps it up as the titular villain, who revels in murderous mayhem with the help of his loyal, hulking, one-eyed assistant Thor (Leon Askin). Having mastered the art of soul transferrence during medieval times, Dr. Death has prolonged his life by swapping bodies whenever one wears out, and now makes a living by charging a hefty fee to perform the same procedure for others.

One such person is Fred Saunders (Barry Coe), who wishes to resurrect his late wife Laura (Jo Morrow). After witnessing a demonstration of Dr. Death's skills, Fred engages the man's diabolical services, coughing up $50K for the procedure, but is horrified to learn that in order for Laura's body to be revived, another woman must die to provide a soul. Even worse, Dr. Death isn't the type to accept defeat: when the first soul is rejected by Fred's dead wife, he continues to seek new unwilling donors.

Meanwhile, Fred changes his mind about bringing Laura back when he falls for his sexy secretary Sandy (Cheryl Miller): unfortunately for the new couple, determined Dr. Death decides that Sandy's soul is exactly what he has been looking for.

The film's trashy tongue-in-cheek nature makes this one highly entertaining from start to finish, the fun factor increased by some delightfully lurid violence, the gruesome highlights including a disfigured woman sawn in half, a man's face melting after he is drenched in Dr. Death's corrosive blood, the delivery of a blonde's severed head to Fred's office, and Sandy's wrist being slashed with a scalpel so that she can be slowly bled to death.

This is the only feature directed by a man who otherwise worked primarily in TV (mostly as an assistant director), and despite some gore, it very much feels like an early 1970s television project, with the same kind of flat lighting, compositions, scoring and pacing. (It's exactly the aesthetic parodied by the recent "The Love Witch.") The script is a jumble of illogical nonsense even by horror standards-it's one of those stories that falls apart the second you ask "Why didn't our protagonist just call the police when he realized murders were being committed?"-and doesn't seem even halfway convinced by its own feeble reincarnation hocus-pocus.

John Considine does clearly enjoy camping it up as the villain, and Florence Marly behaves likewise in her briefer role. But the other cast members play it straight in a dull, square fashion, as if they were guesting on some routine network TV series. The movie seems to be halfway making fun of its own grisly silliness, but it's a testament to the pedestrian execution there's not much fun to be shared in watching it.

Dr.Death is an offbeat horror film about a man who visits a strange doctor in hopes that the latter can bring his dead wife back to life. Of course, things don't go as planned. The film has that early 70s, eerie, anything-can-happen feel and the actors, though not household names, are quite good. There are some truly unnerving moments and a surprise appearance by Moe from the 3 Stooges in a bit role, filmed shortly before his death. The film starts to lose it's strength as it nears the end but it's still a memorable experience.

If you are like me and grew up in the 1970s watching horror movies and Creature Features on TV you will love this movie! This was "lost" for years, never played on TV and barely got released to theaters. Odd because this was released by Cinerama (Bing Crosby owned this company --and they released other movies like "Willard" ) so it should have been more well known than it was. I won't tread through the plot again, but if this movie had big name stars and a big budget it would play like a classic Hollywood horror movie from the 1940s or 1950s. It's clear that the director loves the horror/thriller genre and it shows. I expected this to be like an average A.I.P. "Count Yorga" movie--but "Doctor Death" is a notch above. The photography, music, lighting, sets, acting and pacing are above your average 1970s pot-boiler. Remember Warren Publications ? They did the Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella magazines in the 1960s and 1970s. This movie looks exactly like one of their magazines made flesh by cinema. I actually cheered and applauded at some of the scenes in this movie and would LOVE to see this in a theater full of horror fans. The DVD has a amusing commentary track by "Doctor Death" himself and a moderator that is a true horror buff --so this guy asks all the right questions about the history and background of the film. Just perfect. "Doctor Death" is not as scary as say "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" , but is wildly colorful and fun!

Under-rated veteran character actor John Considine relishes a rare leading role in this thoroughly enjoyable horror film. He plays the title character, who over a very long period of time has perfected the ability to transfer souls from one body to another. He's sought out by lawyer Fred Saunders (Barry Coe), who just can't let go of his recently departed wife Laura (Jo Morrow). A problem arises: Doctor Death can't find a soul willing to reside inside Lauras' body, and unwilling to admit defeat, proves himself eager to commit murder in order to obtain fresh souls.

This whole idea of "selective reincarnation" is a cool hook for this movie. It's not anything great, but it is entertaining. This is basically due to the story and to Considines' wonderfully hammy performance. The filmmaking isn't anything special, despite the use of some amusing scene transitions. Considine really is the main reason to watch, although it's also fun to see Leon Askin as Doctor Deaths' mute assistant and Florence Marly as his resentful associate Tana. The ladies are lovely, also including Cheryl Miller as Freds' secretary Sandy and Sivi Aberg as the young soul recipient Venus. There's much ghoulish humour to be found from the concept of Doctor Death trying over and over again, in vain, to fulfill his mission. One delicious sequence has the theatrical Doctor Death relating his entire lengthy back story to the inquisitive Fred. And there is a priceless sequence of one victim watching a late night spook show (featuring TV horror host Larry "Seymour" Vincent as a killer) while being visited by the real life menace of Doctor Death.

Appearances by the legendary Moe Howard (as an audience volunteer) and character actor Jim Boles as Franz the caretaker further add to the overall entertainment value. Coe and Stewart Moss, who plays Freds' friend Greg, can't help but come off as dull when you compare them to the magnetic Considine.

Worth a look for lovers of 70s horror films.

Seven out of 10.