The Awful Doctor Orloff (1962) Released in 1962 as Gritos En La Noche and inspired by the 1939 Bela Lugosi chiller Dark Eyes Of London, this is the film that sparked Franco's monumentally productive career in Euro-sleaze cinema. The brilliant but deranged surgeon Dr Orlof (Vernon) lives in a remote castle with his outspoken and unfaithful wife, disfigured daughter and sightless zombie slave, Morpho (Valle). (Morpho is actually Orlof's brother but when the demon doctor caught him in the arms of his wife, he murdered him and brought back to life as a bulgy-eyed automaton). Orlof is riddled with psychopathic guilt because years ago a blaze in his laboratory ruined his daughter's beauty. Possessed by the urge to rectify the accident, Orlof goes out into the city at night and waits while Morpho abducts pretty (and often drunk) females to be skin donors in his brutal cosmetic surgery. A young police inspector must solve these mysterious disappearances. As news gets about of a madman on the loose, the city is thrown into panic and the inspector's beautiful ballerina girlfriend (Lorys), who bares a striking resemblance to Orlof's daughter, becomes the mad doctor's next target. This dark, atmospheric shocker terrorised audiences 40 years ago with its naked operations, strung-up prisoners and frenzied screaming. Today The Awful Dr. Orlof still holds up as a haunting, unsettling experience, among Franco's finest cinematic efforts. Verdict Jesus Franco's The Awful Dr. Orlof is a truly unsettling piece of schlock horror.
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