lemon_magic 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".

GL84 When a series of strange women disappearances cause the authorities to get suspicious, a police investigator stumbles onto the scientist responsible and his deformed assistant abducting the women for experiments on his daughter and race to stop him.This was overall a really enjoyable Gothic horror. One of the best elements to this is the film's rather gritty atmosphere from the different stalking scenes out amongst the fog-enshrouded city streets as the shadows flitting across the walls make for truly impressive shots, and the slow-building mystery surrounding the disappearances makes for an even bigger part of what's going on. The appearance of the deformed helper and his grotesque visage strikes a very imposing image as he moves through his scenes as obedient as possible, generating one of the film's stand-out scenes as he stalks a helpless victim through a multi- floor Gothic mansion as she desperately tries to get away, and with the film's rousing finale in the laboratory and a pretty queasy surgery scene thrown in it makes for the film's best points. There's some flaws here, mainly in the fact that it's a straight rip of several other films that won't be too hard to come up with as inspiration here, and that this does nothing new with the material other than added a deformed hulk doing the killings doesn't allow this to stand-out all that much. As well, the low-budget nature of this one is quite apparent and allows some silliness to shine through in inopportune times to really hurt this one somewhat, but it's still enjoyable enough when it counts.Today's Rating-R: Violence and Nudity.

Scarecrow-88 One of Jesús Franco's first films, early in his career, may be too straight and commercial for his more die-hard admirers who prefer the more surreal and experimental work, which included freedom to explore adult subject matter and the human body for that matter. And while I like some of his later films, I like this early Gothic horror period because the genre is my favorite. I like the period setting, the castle on the hill, the mad scientist Orloff(Franco's long time collaborator Howard Vernon, whose interesting face was always utilized well by the director ), his grotesque henchman (Ricardo Valle)the diabolical experiments(Orloff's insane desire to preserve beauty, returning it to his scar-faced child), the detective out to catch the kidnappers, the damsel in distress(the Inspector's fiancé), and the difficulty developing a case as our heroes must secure clues to find the criminals body snatching. Kind of an uninspired, abrupt conclusion, but "The Awful Dr. Orloff" was more of a launchpad for Franco anyway. I like the movie's villain even though the film's premise is similar to countless other plots involving "face graft" experiments where a scientist attempts to restore loveliness to his daughter's damaged visage(Eyes without a Face; The Witch's Mirror), often more than not failing to succeed almost always on the verge of a breakthrough, yet coming up short. In this film, Orloff realizes he must use tissue from live specimens, understanding that his failures were because of using face flesh from dead women. Orloff likes to frequent the cabaret for potential lab rats to experiment with, dancers and singers he considers undesirables and unworthy to live, their importance less than his daughter's recovering her beauty. There are two scenes containing nudity such as a female victim being cut with a scalpel by Orloff, her breasts exposed. Conrado San Martin is Inspector Tanner, in charge of catching Orloff, the curvy, voluptuous Diana Lorys(Fangs of the Living Dead)his fiancé, ballerina Wanda, who puts herself in harm's way by posing as a floozy to upend the mad doctor. I think Orloff and Count Dracula are films made by Jesús Franco that will appeal to a larger horror audience than his more out-there work as "The Awful Dr. Orloff" maintains a more professional, conventional, and level-headed presentation..that's a good or bad thing depending on what you prefer when watching a Jesús Franco film.

Woodyanders Ruthless and obsessive Dr. Orlof (an excellent performance by Howard Vernon) abducts gorgeous young women so he can restore his disfigured sister Melissa's beauty. Earnest Inspector Tanner (a likable portrayal by Conrado San Martin) tries to nab Orlof. Meanwhile, Tanner's sweet ballerina girlfriend Wanda Bronsky (winningly played by Diana Lorys) poses as a cabaret singer to lure the diabolical doctor. Writer/director Jess Franco's first notable foray into the horror genre delivers a bold and creative blend of standard Gothic elements like the remote forbidding castle and fog-shrouded dark empty streets with such more racy contemporary ingredients as gore, nudity, and an offbeat experimental score. Moreover, Franco relates the luridly compelling story at a steady pace, stages the murder set pieces with real brio and style, does an expert job of maintaining a properly spooky atmosphere throughout, and even tosses in a few nifty nigh club scenes to further spruce things up. The acting is overall solid, with stand-out contributions by Riccardo Valle as Orlof's blind and malformed henchman Morpho, Perla Cristal as Orlof's reluctant assistant Anne, and Maria Silva as sultry singer Dany. Godofredo Pacheco's crisp and lively black and white cinematography offers a wealth of striking visuals (a shot of Orlof and Morpho carrying a body across a windy landscape is particularly stunning). The eclectic score by Jose Pagan and Antonio Ramirez Angel alternates between crashing free-form cacophony and more conventional shuddery ooga-booga stuff. Well worth seeing.