The Awful Dr. Orloff

The Awful Dr. Orlof
Directed by Jesús Franco
Produced by Leo Lax
Serge Newman
Written by Jesús Franco
Starring Perla Cristal
Felix Defauce
Diana Lorys
Cinematography Godofredo Pacheco
Production
company
  • Hispamer Film
  • Eurociné

[1]

Release dates
  • May 1962 (1962-05) (Spain)
Running time
 90 minutes
Country Spain
France[2]
Language Spanish[3]

The Awful Dr. Orloff (Spanish: Gritos en la noche) is a 1962 Spanish–French horror film directed by Jesús Franco. It stars Howard Vernon as the mad Dr. Orloff (or sometimes Orlof) who wants to repair his disfigured daughter's face with skin grafts from others, with the aid of a slavish blind henchman named Morpho. The film is considered to be the earliest Spanish horror film.[4] Howard Vernon continued to appear in a number of Franco's horror films up until his death. Franco would later feature a number of blind or disfigured henchmen named Morpho in many of his later horror films, such as Vampyos Lesbos and Revenge in the House of Usher.

Production

Director Jesús Franco was concerned how the film would be handled by Spanish censors. Franco produced two versions of the film: one that was unedited, and one that was for British and Spanish audiences that had the scenes with nudity cut.[5] Spanish censors were also concerned with films that would damage the reputation of Spain. To avoid this, Franco set the film in France.[6][5]

Release

The Awful Dr. Orloff premiered in Madrid, Spain in May 1962 under the title of Gritos en la noche, which translates into Screams in the Night in English.[4][7] It premiered in Paris in May 1963 under the title of L'horrible Dr. Orloff, and was released in the UK as The Demon Doctor later the same year. In the US it was released in 1964, on the second half of a double bill with The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962).[6] A sequel to the film, titled El Secreto del Dr. Orloff also directed by Franco, was released in 1964.[8]

Reception

The film received a negative reception from critics on its initial release.[4]In 1964, a review in the New York Times for both The Horrible Dr. Hichcock and The Awful Dr. Orloff stated "For once, the adjectives in the titles were not only descriptive but also accurate."[9]

In Phil Hardy's book Science Fiction (1984), The Awful Dr. Orloff was declared as "the initiator of an entire subgenre mixing horror and medical Science Fiction in a gory way bordering on the pornographic".[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Credits". BFI Film & Television Database. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Gritos en la noche". BFI Film & Television Database. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Release". BFI Film & Television Database. London: British Film Institute. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 Hortelano, 2011. p.221
  5. 1 2 Shipka, 2011. p. 176
  6. 1 2 Shipka, 2011. p. 177
  7. ↑ Munden, 1971. p. 52
  8. ↑ Firsching, Robert. "Dr. Orloff's Monster". Allrovi. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  9. ↑ Archer, Eugene (December 3, 1964). "L Orribile Segreto del Dottor Hitchcock (1962) A Pair of Films". The New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
  10. ↑ Hardy 1984, p. 214.

References

  • Hardy, Phil, ed. (1984). Science Fiction. New York : Morrow. ISBN 0-688-00842-9. 
  • Hortelano, Lorenzo J. Torres (2011). Directory of World Cinema: Spain. Intellect Books. ISBN 1-84150-463-7. 
  • Munden, Kenneth White (1971). The American Film Institute catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States, Issues 1921-1930. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20970-2. 
  • Shipka, Danny (2011). Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980. McFarland Press. ISBN 0-7864-4888-1. 

External links

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