Customer Reviews

The Diabolical Doctor Z

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Definitely the greatest of Franco's earliest films and one that set his themes and obsessions for his entire career. Fantastic cinematography and great visuals all add up to an essential Euro sex horror movie. Miss death's spider stage show is one of the great scenes of the genre.
Watching this movie it's obvious why even Orson Welles chose Franco for a sidekick!
The DVD looks great, and comes with the subtitled french track as well as the US dub audio. For me, a movie as important, and a lot wilder, than Eyes Without a Face, for setting the tone for Euro-horror over the next 30 years!

The Diabolical Dr Z is one of director Jess Franco's best 1960s Gothics. The film oozes atmosphere and features some lush black-and-white photography, together with threatening shots of darkened corridors (in a prison, in the doctor's mansion, on a train) which feature prominently in Franco's early work (The Awful Dr Orloff, The Sadistic Baron von Klaus) and in many 1950s/1960s horror movies (for example, Riccardo Freda's The Horrible Dr Hitchcock); psychoanalysts would probably explain these shots by relating the use of this type of mise-en-scène to the concept of the `spider woman' (or the `monstrous feminine'), which is a central concern of this film and of the films of Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava. Knowing that Franco often borrows ideas from Surrealism, however, it may be self-defeating to try to find this type of `meaning' in his films: in his 1960s pictures, Franco simply delights in covering the intertextual quotation that takes place in his films with lashings of Gothic atmosphere. Franco's films are an exploration of excess, and could be likened to onions: once one layer of `meaning' has been peeled away, the viewer is left with an indeterminate number of other layers.

The Diabolical Dr Z also highlights Franco's anti-idealism: most of the characters in this film are simply out for revenge, or are seeking to further their careers, and think nothing of trampling on the people in their path. This theme would become more prominent in later Franco films, which expressed it through the metaphor of vampirism (The Female Vampire), the motif of the `witchhunt' (The Bloody Judge) and the conventions of the Women in Prison film. With hindsight, Franco would have been the ideal candidate to film an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho.

The Diabolical Dr Z will probably not appeal to those whose interest in horror begins and ends with `ironic' horror films such as Scream; as with the work of Mario Bava and Terence Fisher, although there is a large amount of intentional humour in Dr Z (via some very witty dialogue, particularly the comments made by Franco-in a cameo as a policeman-in the final scene), modern audiences may poke fun at its predominantly sombre tone, and will probably be alienated by both the use of black-and-white photography and Daniel White's atonal jazz score. This is a shame, because for me, Franco's 1960s films (together with some of his 1970s pictures, such as Exorcism and The Demons) represent some of the highlights of the horror genre.

Great title, decent movie. By experimenting with lab animals, the good doctor believes he has perfected a way of controlling an individual's morality. He tells his cohorts of the scientific community he would like to try this out on humans; not to worry, though, he'll only utilize "expendable" people, such as death row inmates. Three of his fellow doctors ridicule him for such nonsense and apparently this embarrassment is so strong it causes his death. Now his daughter, Irma, plans vengeance against the three men whom she faults for her father's death. Irma uses her father's technique to command Miss Muerte, a performance artist with dreams of stardom and the deadly fingernails to make it happen, to seduce and kill the three men. I enjoyed the movie, though I wouldn't say it is great by any means. As Miss Muerte, Estella Blain looks fantastic. (I'd like to see her outfit made into a Halloween costume) The jazz score fits fairly well, though it doesn't help to make the movie any scarier. Some of the themes remind me of "A Clockwork Orange," with its themes of medically or biologically controlling morality and the will to either do well or inflict harm. I would guess Anthony Burgess perhaps influenced the story. The DVD is really decent, with a clean transfer and great menu options, including a French language track with English subtitles. I'm giving the DVD an extra ½ star since Mondo Macabro did such an exemplary job with it.

I have never been a huge Franco fan but his earlier work like this is by far his strongest. The best qualities of Franco's films are always atomosphere and this one is on the mark mixing 60s sleaze with themes from 30s style Bela Lugosi serials like Phantom Creeps. My favorite as with all the Mondo Macabro releases is the docu this time about Franco. The only complaint I have is more of a request really. After reading the book Mondo Macabro I was expecting for them to release horror and cult films from more exotic and third world countries. Yet most of their releases have been from Europe and the US. I have nothing against domestic terror films but these days it seems as though every DVD company is releasing Franco, Fulci, HG Lewis. I am still waiting for the Hindu horror films of the Ramsey Brothers, or the cheesy Turkish and Indonesian flicks from the 70s, Midnight Song the 30s Chinese Phantom of the Opera, Pakistani gore fest like Balaa the Witch. These are the undiscovered gold mines wich are in desperate demand for the jaded horror fan.

Un grand film série B des années 60 qui fait partie de ma vidéothèque ! a regarder absolument surtout pour le personnage de miss death, incarne par Estella Blain qui fait ici une prestation remarquable .

In a career that has spanned over five decades, director Jess Franco's films have usually been in the horror and suspense genre, often incorporating erotic elements. Shot in black and white, with a dark gloomy atmosphere, Diabolical Dr. Z (1966) is an early effort, that features some stylish violence, and some creative kills.

Dr. Zimmer (Antonio Jimenez Escribano), is your classic mad scientist type, who along with his daughter Irma (Mabel Karr), is conducting forbidden research in his laboratory. When he makes the case for experimentation on humans at a scientific convention, Zimmer is ridiculed, and suffers a fatal attack. Irma is determined to take revenge upon those who belittled her father.

Irma begins her plan by murdering a hitchhiker, and using the dead body to fake her own death. A sexy night club performer Nadja, aka Miss Death (Estella Bain), is abducted and subjected to Dr. Zimmer's secret methods, which render her a willing slave. Nadja employs poisoned fingernails to dispatch one of the doctors on Irma's hit list, and the film continues along a violent path, as additional victims fall prey to Irma's scheme.

The only real sour note the "hero", doctor Phillippe Brighthouse (Fernando Montes), who is involved in matters way too much. He attended medical school with Irma Zimmer, and now is coincidentally romantically involved with Nadja. He provides comfort to Irma immediately after her father's death. Given those circumstances, taking Irma to see Lady Death's provocative show, seems like a pretty strange choice. Brighthouse also has a lot of time on his hands, and is present whenever the police investigate. He eventually discovers Irma's secret headquarters, ruining what was a very successful plan. Dr. Brighthouse may be of questionable virtue, and isn't a real likeable guy, but he does acquit himself well in a fight scene.

Fans of 1960's horror may appreciate this presentation from Mondo Macabro, which has a generally spooky atmosphere, and decent acting. The quality of the transfer is excellent, and is in 16:9 widescreen. Ms. Bain's performance is what many find noteworthy about the film. Though provocative, you won't see anything really revealing. The story does not stray that far from reality, although the ending is far too convenient and superficial, which was not that uncommon for the time.

This is one Franco film that has everything going for it. Excellent (CRISP/CLEAR) b&w photography gives a chilling low-key gothic feel to the going's-on, a bizzare mixture of artsy murders and kinky nightclub routines. Dr.Z (Strangelove?) hangs around for only a few minutes and then it's his daughter that revenges his death by brainwashing an exotic dancer to dispatch those who ridiculed Dr.Z. With poisoned tipped finger nails, bodies thrown from trains, slammed through windows, etc...you will most likely enjoy this eurotrash classic. Franco regular Howard Vernon has a small role and Franco appears as a police inspector.
Great stuff. Enjoy.