Los ojos siniestros del doctor Orloff

Whoever doubts - and there are many - the value of the inimitable Jess Franco as a director must see this film. It is truly surprising that a film like The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff has remained for so long on the margins of critical recognition, even among defenders of European cult cinema. What Franco presents here is not merely a continuation of the Orloff universe, but one of his most compact, atmospheric, and radical works. A masterclass in genre filmmaking turned into personal territory: deformed, melancholic, and confrontational. In a filmography marked by excess and irregularity, this film shines with a stylistic coherence and thematic depth that place it among the most accomplished and disturbing of Franco's career.

The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff is a brutal, terrifying piece of early Spanish proto-gore - profoundly bold. Franco, often unfairly relegated to the realm of exploitation or marginal cinema, delivers a work that defies the conventions of European horror of its time, diving into a hyper-stylized nightmare universe intimately connected to pain, repression, and monstrosity as expressions of repressed desire.

At first glance, this film might seem like a mere extension of the Orloff mythology - already established in The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962) - but it is, in fact, a visual and conceptual reformulation: Franco distances himself from conventional gothic horror and immerses himself in a realm of oneiric estrangement, supported by a minimalist yet precise mise-en-scène, a cold, clinical cinematography, and a narrative tempo that borders on the hypnotic.

The horror in The Sinister Eyes... is neither loud nor artificial - it is deeply psychological. Dr. Orloff, portrayed with a mix of detachment and scientific fervor, becomes here a symbol of patriarchal and scientific power over the body, particularly the female body. Yet Franco avoids crude strokes: his approach is disturbing, ambiguous, laced with a sickly sensuality that evokes more the most provocative Buñuel than anything from Hammer Studios.

What's most striking is the brutal honesty with which Franco depicts violence - without cynicism or sensationalism: there is no redemption, no moral lesson, only the stark confrontation with madness, cruelty, and loneliness. It is cinema that is profoundly free, unbound by industrial formulas, with a poetic sense of horror that recalls both surrealism and the decaying spirit of postwar Europe.

In short, The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff is one of the most underappreciated peaks of 1970s European horror. An auteur film disguised as B-movie. A work that, in its apparent simplicity, conceals a radical and modern discourse. And above all, irrefutable proof that Jess Franco was - and remains - one of the great cursed filmmakers of the 20th century.

The notorious Spanish writer/director Jess Franco made an incredibly large amount of movies in his career, more than two-hundred, but the vast majority of them aren't very good and many titles actually vanished into total obscurity by now. One of the very first films Jess Franco made, "The Awful Dr. Orloff" in 1962, always remained his best and most successful piece of work, so it's only logical that he never stopped exploiting the name of the main character. This is supposedly already the sixth entry in the Orloff series, but the story has nothing in common with the original plot, the titular doctor turned from a surgeon into a psychiatrist and he's not even depicted by the same actor anymore. The story of "The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff" definitely has potential and could easily have worked as a stand- alone thriller/horror film in its own right, but Franco nevertheless opted to link it to his best-selling franchise. The film tells the story of the young and beautiful but introvert and mentally traumatized Melissa Comfort, who's bound to a wheelchair since the age of ten and living with her uncle, his unfaithful wife and lurid daughter Martha. Melissa is plagued by nightmares in which she vaguely witnesses the death of her own father, which is why her family enlists the acclaimed psychiatrist Dr. Orloff to help her. However, Dr. Orloff seems to know the girl very well and has different plan with her. Soon, poor Melissa's nightmares handle about her committing gruesome murders with a piano cord and – surprise, surprise – the victims turn out missing for real when she wakes up the next day. Franco really did his best to deliver an intriguing mystery thriller, but the screenplay is unnecessarily complex, overly talkative and features far too many supportive characters. The members of the Comfort family have interesting but irrelevant backgrounds, while Dr. Orloff himself remains too much of a closed book. Too many of the supportive characters are too in- depth and receive more screen time than necessary, like the creepy romanticist butler Matthews, police inspector Crosby and the hippie neighbor musician Sweet Davey. The latter's full name is actually Davey Procop Robert Eugene Hutchinson and he also provides the film with a few repetitive and monotonous musical interludes. I watched the film in Spanish, and the only English words are the lyrics of Davey's song "Open your eyes again" which appears to be sung in a voice that is altered by helium. For a Franco movie, this one contains astonishingly little sleaze and perversion. I mean, this was directed by the same man who made dozens of obscene "women-in- prison" and deranged "nunsploitation" movies, but even the slutty aunt and daughter remain fully clothed the entire time! In spite of many positive vibes, "The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff" is difficult to sit through because it's so dull and talkative. If you blink at the wrong moments, you'll miss all the action.

Not to be confused with Jess Franco's El siniestro doctor Orloff (1984), The Sinister Eyes of Dr. Orloff (also by Franco) stars William Berger as the titular physician, who, having lost the woman he loved to Lord Comfort, has sworn revenge against the entire Comfort family. Using his hypnotic influence, Orloff has convinced Melissa Comfort (Montserrat Prous) that she is paralyzed, but when the time comes, he is able to make her rise from her wheelchair to become his obedient instrument of death. Also involved in the dastardly goings-on are Melissa's Aunt Flora (Kali Hansa) and her sister Martha (Loreta Tovar), who are keen to get their hands on the Comfort fortune, and so are happy to help the doctor with his plans.

Even the most incomprehensible and tedious Franco film usually delivers a certain degree of sleaze and gore, but this one is almost tame enough to show to dear old gran. In terms of T&A, Tovar and Lina Romay (in what amounts to a cameo) wander around in their knickers (their top halves fully clothed), and we get a brief glimpse of Tovar's tatas in the bath; gore is limited to a splash of blood here and there. It's extremely disappointing given how extremely sleazy and violent much of Franco's output from this era is. It doesn't help either that the film is incredibly talky, making it a very dull watch indeed. The ending, in which hippy musician Davey (Robert Woods) convinces the police to take action in the nick of time, doesn't come soon enough.

Even for a Jess Franco film, this had always been difficult to obtain for a less than exorbitant price. Strangely, now I've managed to get hold of it, it seems to have become a lot more easily available. Anyway, who cares about that?

This is one of Franco's few 'Orloff' films not to feature the terrific Howard Vernon. Right from the beginning of the prolific Spanish director's career, Vernon had become - and would continue to be - a regular, beginning with the titular role in Franco's first big success, 'The Awful Dr Orlof' released eleven years before this. During this time, a lot had changed with Jess's films - they were now in colour, for a start, but had become much more eccentric, more personal and a lot more perverse.

'The Sinister Eyes of Dr Orloff' represents a restrained step back from all that, to a large extent. Possibly Franco was once more hoping for a more commercial outing here. Another element that separates this from many other such films from this time is dialogue. Whereas in the past, huge swathes of running time would pass with barely a single word. Here, the characters don't stop talking! The chatty discourse makes the experience of watching this seem longer than its modest 70 minutes, and the story is typically thin.

But there is, as usual, much to enjoy in this Franco project. His familiar camera zooms are evident, but only occasionally. The performances are very good, and William Berger makes a solid and menacing Orloff - although he doesn't really seem to have any connection with any other version of the character; he is simply an evil doctor. Monserrat Prous, who would make such an impression the same year in 'Sinner: The Secret Diary of a Nymphomaniac' for the same director, is effective as disabled Melissa.

I enjoyed this. It was worth tracking down. If you like Jess Franco films, I think this will appeal, although the slow-burning story will not win over any converts. My score is 7 out of 10.

A heiress named Melissa Comfort (Monserrat Prous) , who is bounded-chair , keeps suffering from a nightmare dealing with her daddy (Jesus Franco) who was formerly killed . Another daughter (Loreta Tovar) and the widow (Kali Hansa) plan to take the inheritance . There then appears Orloff (William Berger) who is attempting to help her but he has some dark secrets of his own , as he is seeking vengeance . Meanwhile , Inspector Corsby (Edmund Purdom) is investigating the deeds . Melissa is helped by a neighbor (Robert Woods) and her girlfriend (Lina Romay has been almost a constant actress in Franco's films) .

This low-budgeted film contains thrills , chills , intrigue and lots of murders . It's a below average film directed by prolific filmmaker Jess Frank and also produced by his own production company, Manacoa Films, and he uses his usual marks such as zooms , nudism , foreground on objects , filmmaking in ¨do-it-yourself effort¨ style or DIY and managing to work extraordinarily quickly. Mediocre cinematography filmed on location in Barcelona and Islas Canarias . Atmospheric musical score composed by means of synthesizer by David Kunne , who is actually Jesus Franco under pseudonym , among the aliases he used, apart from the names Jess Franco or Franco Manera, were Jess Frank, Robert Zimmerman, Frank Hollman, Clifford Brown, David Khune , Toni Falt, James P. Johnson, Charlie Christian, David Tough , among others. The motion picture was lousily directed by Jesus Franco. In many of the more than 180 films he's directed he has also worked as composer, writer, cinematographer and editor. Jesús's influence has been notable all over Europe . From his huge body of work we can deduce that Jesús Franco is one of the most restless directors of Spanish cinema and often releasing several titles at the same time. Many of his films have had problems in getting released, and others have been made directly for video. More than once his staunchest supporters have found his "new" films to contain much footage from one or more of his older films.Jesús Franco is a survivor in a time when most of his colleagues tried to please the government administration. He broke up with all that and got the independence he was seeking. He always went upstream in an ephemeral industry that fed opportunists and curbed the activity of many professionals. But time doesn't pass in vain, and Jesus' production has diminished since the 90s .

The Orloff character starred a saga , using the same shots in more than one film ; some of his actors relate how they they were hired for one film and later saw their name in two or more different one . Orloff was habitually played by Howard Vernon who initiated in ¨Gritos en la Noche (1962) , the best of all them , also titled "The Awful Dr. Orlof" . It's followed by El Secreto del Dr. Orloff (1964) aka "The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll" - USA . It's gone on by " Orloff y el hombre invisible (1970) aka "Dr. Orloff's Invisible Monster" . Furthermore , El enigma Del Ataúd (1969) aka "Only a Coffin" and El Siniestro doctor Orloff (1984) aka "The Sinister Dr. Orloff . Finally in ¨Faceless¨ or Depredadores de Noche¨(1987) Orloff appears as a secondary role also performed by Howard Vernon , as usual .