The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll

If you've suffered through some of the hack work Jess Franco cranked out in the last two decades, you may find it difficult to believe that he once took some pride in his craft and evinced a certain mastery of cinematic technique, as well as a modicum of discipline. "Dr Orloff's Monster" is a case in point. Despite the title, it bears no direct relation to the creepy and perverse opus, "The Awful Dr Orloff", which put the director on the map back in the early 60s. However, it shares the same doom-laden aura -- with the expected (but always riveting) kinky asides -- that so resemble that earlier picture as well as the German Edgar Wallace 'krimi' series which was reaching its peak at the same time.

The picture is rife with carefully-executed camera angles and atmospherics, something that would become anathema to Franco's slash-and-burn methods of the 80s. The best scenes are reminiscent of (dare I say) Lewton and Franju. It builds up a strong pathos for the title character, thanks to a subtle, wordless portrayal that evokes Cesar in 'Cabinet of Dr Caligari' and Christiane in 'Eyes without a Face' (such homages were a Franco specialty). There is a particularly poignant sequence in which the zombie stumbles about near his own tombstone in a bleak, wintry cemetery. No matter what depths Franco's movies plunged to, they always offered a few wonderfully oddball cabaret scenes in smoky jazz or rock bars, and this is no exception. One singer performs a wacky, rhythmic Latin ditty that must have sparked the imagination of the members of the retro band 'Les Rita Mitsouko'. (These cabaret scenes were a welcome staple of the Euro-thriller genre of the 60s, also perking up the krimi series, several of the campier works of the Italian Gothic revival, and especially the outlaw melodramas of Jose Benazeraf.)

There are already foreshadowings of the director's latter-day carelessness -- a few too many zooms, cutting from the middle of one scene to another, and a general neglect of motivation. And, of course, he'd end up doing the revenge plot to death. But overall, this one (along with the much more perverse 'Sadistic Baron von Klaus') comes highly recommended for Franco skeptics and genre fans alike. Surprisingly, this film was immediately followed by his magnum opus, the delirious 'Succubus' (aka 'Necronomicon'), which in its pseudo-sophisticated Radley-Metzger-like style is miles removed from the Gothic horror of his early work.

It's sometimes hard to keep your faith in Jess Franco when you've seen so much of his by-the-numbers horror and sleaze crap like I have... This notorious Spanish director made over 180 films in approximately 40 years. That's an average of more than four films each year, so it shouldn't be a surprise that really a lot of his movies are carelessly filmed and poorly edited routine jobs. However, his older films (let's say, everything released before 1972) are definite cinema classics and particularly the black & white Gothic horror try-outs of the early 60's are highly listed among my personal favorites. "Dr. Jekyll's Mistresses" is some sort of sequel to Franco's biggest success "The Awful Dr. Orloff", even though it mainly introduces new characters and an entirely different storyline. The uncanny castle setting was maintained, however, and so were the sinister atmosphere and inventive camera angles. Beautiful young orphan Melissa spends Christmas with her drunk aunt and scientist uncle up in their old, ramshackle castle. The uncle, Dr. Conrad Jekyll, can't dedicate much time to her as he inherited the secret formula of his tutor Dr. Orloff, which causes the dead to walk again and their actions can by controlled by ultrasonic noises. Jekyll resurrects his own dead brother (whom he killed for having an affair with his wife) and uses him to strangle random strip-bar dancers and prostitutes. Deceased Andros slowly begins to develop his own will again when he finds out that his poor and defenseless daughter stays at the castle. The script leaves too many questions unanswered (does Jekyll has anything against strippers or are they just test cases for his experiments?) but it's more coherent than most of Franco's other movies and there's a constant tension surrounding the film. Many sequences are stunningly beautiful and almost poetic, like when the "zombie" visits his own final resting place at the graveyard or when he pays nightly visits to his daughter's bedroom to look at her. The sound effects during the murder sequences are quite disturbing and the acting performances are overall very adequate. Even the dialogues are professionally written and that truly proves that "Dr. Jekyll's Mistresses" is one of Jess Franco's absolute finest achievements. Recommended!

The teenager Melissa (Agnès Spaak) travels from her small town in Austria with the Spanish Juan Manuel (José Rubio), who flirts with her, to the creepy castle of her uncle Dr. Conrad Jekyll (Marcelo Arroita- Jáuregui) in Holfen to spend Christmas with him and her aunt Inglud (Luisa Sala). Melissa's father Andros (Hugh White) has mysteriously died at the house of his brother Conrad sometime ago. Now she has just reached majority and Conrad intends to transfer the inheritance to her. Melissa is received by the servant Ciceron (Manuel Guitián) and she meets the strange Inglud. Then she meets Conrad in his laboratory, where he secretly carries out a sinister experiment. Melissa wants to get information about the death of her father but she is ignored by Conrad and Inglud. In the past, Andros and Inglud had a love affair and Conrad surprised them and killed Andros. Now, Conrad has turned Andros into a killer zombie controlled by ultrasonic radio wave and uses him to kill women with easy life. Inspector Klein (Pastor Serrador) is investigating the murders but has no clue. Will Melissa find the truth about her father?

"El secreto del Dr. Orloff" is one of the best movies by Jess Franco in the earlier stage of his uneven filmography. The story is simple but makes sense; the acting is not bad but unfortunately Marcelo Arroita- Jáuregui is weak for a villain; and the black and white cinematography and the camera angles are top-notch. The music score by Daniel White is perfect for the atmosphere of this film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "As Amantes do Dr. Jekyll" ("The Mistresses of the Dr. Jejyll")

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by Jesus Franco; Produced by Marius Lesoeur, released on American television as "Dr. Orloff's Monster" by American-International TV. Screenplay by Jesus Franco; Photography by Alfonso Nieva; Edited by Angel Serrano; Music by Daniel White. Starring: Hugo Blanco, Agnes Spaak, Perla Cristal, Magda Maldonado and Pepe Rubio.

Spanish horror sequel to director Franco's "The Awful Dr. Orloff" which is even crummier than the first outing, as Orloff's human-like robot minion terrorizes pretty babes again. Featuring white nightgown action.

1964's "Dr. Orloff's Monster" (El Secreto del Dr. Orloff or Les Maitresses du Docteur Jekyll), a Spanish-French-Austrian coproduction and sequel (the first in a lengthy series) to Jesus Franco's 1961 "The Awful Dr. Orlof," basically a continuation of the same outline, murderous undead assassin stalking pretty showgirls in various stages of undress. A similar castle setting finds Marcelo Arroita-Jauregui's evil Dr. Conrad Jekyll (no Hyde in evidence, his name changed to Fisherman in other territories) ruling his beaten down wife, who has been grieving for her lost love over the decades, in fact the doctor's own beloved brother Andros (Hugo White), now his robotic pawn drawn to each victim by a radio transmitting necklace that police prove slow to pick up on (a lost necklace was also a catalyst in the original ORLOF). Only when he tries to murder his visiting niece Melissa (Agnes Spaak) does he meet his fate at the hands of her protective father, though one wonders how Andros would recognize his now adult daughter after being, well, dead for so many years! Andros isn't as fearful as the original film's Morpho (Ricardo Valle), but he does prove more sympathetic and has the benefit of sight where his predecessor was blind. This doctor is a real cold fish, addicted to opium, lacking even the menacing qualities of Howard Vernon, who would reprise the Orloff role on many occasions into the 80s, plus a well meaning surgeon in Claude Mulot's unrelated French title "The Blood Rose." A perfunctory love interest for Melissa helps flesh out her character, Agnes Spaak the elder sister of Catherine Spaak, who would soon retire from the screen to work as a photographer. This early Franco shows that he was capable of good work with a decent budget, and without the dizzying zoom lens that would become his trademark.