Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
With the assistance of the mute, disfigured servant Morpho (Ricardo Valle), Dr. Orloff (Howard Vernon) kidnaps young woman which he uses in experiments to try to restore the beauty of his horribly scarred daughter, Melissa (Diana Lorys). Inspector Tanner (Conrado San Martin) is assigned to the case, in which several women have disappeared and descriptions are circulating of two sinister men. His fiance, opera singer Wanda (also played by Lorys), has seen the killer and stupidly decides to try to trap him on her own. Very reminiscent of Eyes without a Face, made two years earlier, almost to the point of being an imitation of it, The Awful Dr. Orloff is atmospheric and beautifully photographed by Godofredo Pacheco. There is full frontal nudity, much grabbing of naked breasts, and the film was undoubtedly considered sick for its day. The performances are adequate, but aside from the moody and poetic visual look of the film, this isn't especially memorable. Still, it's a lot better than many of Franco's movies [Count Dracula]. A Spanish-French co-production. For some reason in this the opera "Faust" is attributed to Meyerbeer instead of Gounod.
Verdict: Nice to look at if little else. **1/2.
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| Irene confronts the headmistress about the missing students |
THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (aka La residencia/1969). Director: Narcisco Ibanez Serrador.
"None of these girls are any good!"
In this dubbed Spanish movie, Madame Forneau (Lilli Palmer) is headmistress of a school for "difficult" girls that functions more as a reformatory. Forneau's idea of discipline is to have one of the girls whip another when the latter talks back to her. Her son, Luis (John Moulder Brown) is fascinated by the school girls, and carrying on a light romance with one of them, Teresa (Cristina Galbo). One of the more interesting students is Irene (Mary Maude), who functions as Forneau's right-hand, tracking down girls who try to escape, doing the whipping, and hitting on at least one young lady. [The film seems to have a rather antiquated attitude regarding "evil lesbians."] The big problem, however, as Irene points out to the headmistress, is that several students have gone missing in the past few months, and are never heard from again. What neither woman apparently knows is that someone has been killing these "runaways" and hiding their bodies ... The House That Screamed has atmosphere to spare and seems to have been filmed in a wonderfully creepy and somewhat dilapidated old manor that adds immeasurably to its otherwise limited impact. There's not much flair to the murder sequences, but the ending packs a small wallop. Palmer is fine as the cold headmistress, and the girls are at the very least enthusiastic, with Maude making the most of her vivid portrayal of Irene.
Verdict: So-so thriller with some compelling sequences. **1/2.