Dreadfully Boring

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

The main lesson that "ADO" gives us is that Franco was capable of pretty good work when he took his time and polished it...but even early on, it's obvious from this movie's choices that Franco was mostly interested in shock and exploitation in his films, even at the cost of common sense or real story telling. The movie is an obvious retelling of "Eyes Without A Face", not as well plotted or acted overall. It's still quite watchable thanks to some effective black and white cinematography, some attractive (or at least interesting looking) actors and character designs, and a weird, churning organ/drum based sound track that helps maintain the mood even when things drag. Alas, there are pacing problems, holes in the plot you could drive a submarine through, and some gimmicky nudity (I'll grant that the topless shots actually make sense in the context of the scenes). Franco overuses certain kinds of shots - seemingly half the movie consists of Morpho carrying dead/unconscious women from place to place. And what's the deal with Morpho, anyway? He's got some kind of vampire neck biting thing going on which is never explained, so it's obviously just Franco translating sexual assault through ripping off Universal's and Hammer's versions of "Dracula". And the dubbing (at least in the DVD I saw), sinks it. None of the English voice talent is incompetent, but it seemed as if the "main" voice roles were performed by actors not really fluent in English on a native level - lines are shouted, declaimed, recited and delivered,but nothing sounds authentic. I am sure the movie would be much better with subtitles. Decent. There were moments I forgot I was watching a Jesse Franco film - but inevitably,I would quickly be reminded. See it if you like Franco, exploitation in general, or "Eyes Without A Face".

Completely putting aside all of the rest of this decidedly dumb, B-grade horror movie (from 1962) - My full 3-star rating goes exclusively to Morpho's absolutely priceless make-up effects. In the story, Morpho was the awful Dr. Orlof's bug-eyed, mute, lunatic, assistant/whipping-boy (who just so happened to like to bite the women he abducted).Every time Morpho made an appearance on screen it was, again, another wonderful opportunity for me to get in a good, hearty laugh, or two. Morpho's goofy, never-blinking eyes, along with his petrified-wood performance, made those idiot aliens in 1954's Killers From Space look positively first-rate by comparison.Yes, indeed. Morpho's screen presence was, without a doubt, the absolute highlight of this pure dead-end picture with its ultra-cheap chills & thrills.Set in the year 1912, this sadistic, little fright flick (directed by Jess Franco), also featured a grate-on-your-nerves romance between the big, brave police inspector, Edgar Tanner, and his lovey-dovey, little, prima ballerina girlfriend, Wanda Bronsky.Stunned by this woman's sheer stupidity, I couldn't believe it when Wanda-dear foolishly went way out on a very daring limb in order to help her handsome hero solve the perplexing case of the 5 missing whores.

Dr. Orlof (Howard Vernon), a former prison doctor, abducts beautiful women from nightclubs and tries to use their skin to repair his daughter's fire-scarred face... yes, this is a dark, twisted version of "Eyes Without a Face".This is considered to be the earliest Spanish horror film, and Jess Franco's directorial debut. The second point hardly surprises me, though I have to say this was a strong start (his earlier films in general seem to be more well-developed than his later attempts). The first point seems odd -- was Spain so far behind in film that it took until the 1960s to have a horror film? Franco was influenced by comic books, particularly the work of Manuel Vázquez Gallego, who has a small role here. He was also influenced by Orson Welles, and there are some cinematography moments that suggest "The Third Man". Film historian Tim Lucas calls out the cinematography, and also the composers, comparing the music to the score for Ken Russell's "The Devils".Lucas notes this film introduced the idea of an "oral sadist" rather than vampire or zombie -- a monster who bites necks, but has no interest in drinking blood or eating flesh.Which version is best is beyond me. The Spanish version is longer, particularly in the opening scene, and the wild music is more muted. Plot-wise, it is probably stronger than the French. Anyway, a fine little film with some good black and white shots and a creepy atmosphere. Franco seems to be somewhat focused on people with weird eyes, a theme he would return to in "House of Usher"... okay.

In 1912, five beautiful easy women are kidnapped and the efficient Inspector Tanner (Conrado San Martín), who is engaged of Wanda Bronsky (Diana Lorys), is assigned to the case. The responsible for the abductions is Dr. Orloff (Howard Vernon), a former prison doctor, and his deformed assistant Morpho Lodner (Ricardo Valle), who was a prisoner sentenced to death and revived by Dr. Orloff, that bring the women to the Hartog Castle to remove the skin of his victims to repair the face of his daughter that was burned in a fire. When Wanda decides to help her beloved fiancé to find the criminal, she becomes the next victim of Dr. Orloff. Now Inspector Tanner's last chance to find Dr. Orloff relies on the lead of the drunkard Jeannot (Faustino Cornejo)."Gritos en la Noche" (a.k.a. "The Awful Dr. Orloff") is one of the best films of director Jesus Franco that I have seen so far. The story combines the story lines of the successful 1960 "Les Yeux Sans Visage" ("Eyes without a Face") with Frankenstein, Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes and the result is good. The cinematography in black and white is great and the acting is decent. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "O Terrível Dr. Orloff" ("The Terrible Dr. Orloff")