The Sinister Dr.Orloff --Blu-ray

This 1982 Golden Films Internacional Production is my personal favorite of Jess Franco's Dr. Orloff series. It replaces the heavy Gothic look of GRITOS EN LA NOCHE (1961) (the Spanish version) with a glittering, full color semi sci-fi look. EL SECRETO DEL DR. ORLOFF (1964) looks more like an Alfred Vohrer Krimi and the Gothic element is more reserved. THE EYES OF DR ORLOFF (1972), the first in color, totally eliminates the Gothic look and has a much more realistic look and feel, sort of more like a typical 1970s Spanish Giallo. By the early 1980s Franco's style has again morphed into something quite different than those monochrome thrillers of the early 1960s.

The new Blu-ray from MONDO MACABRO further enhances those colors and aesthetic choices of Franco which distinguish this from all his previous Dr. Orloff (Orlof, with one f, in GRITOS EN LA NOCHE) films. SINISTER could be titled The Son of Dr. Orloff. Antonio Mayans plays the mad doctor's biologist son as a sexual psychopath who kidnaps local women in Alicante, Spain to restore the comatose body of his mother through an electronic form of soul transfer. His brother (Raf Smog) is a blind beast with skin grown over his eyes, a victim of young Orloff's unethical experiments.The film details the monstrous looking hulk stalking and kidnapping young, attractive women for the macabre expriments of Alfred Orloff. This iteration of a favorite Franco character definitely earns its Classification "S" rating.

Some of the stalk and kidnap sequences are shot-by-shot reconstructions of similar scenes in GRITOS EN LA NOCHE. The final experiment of young Orloff is sabotaged by Orloff Sr. (Howard Vernon), repeating his role in GRITOS EN LA NOCHE, only playing a wheelchair bound, elderly version of the mad scientist, now wiser and reprentant for his sins. He is aware of Alfred's sexual sadism and questions his scientific motives. It all ends in complete scientific and criminal disaster with everyone either dematerialized or the wrong soul going into the wrong body. Only the sarcastic laugh of the senior Orloff resonates as the end credits roll.

Or is that Jess Franco laughing?

ABOVE: Frequent Jess Franco composer and actor, Daniel White.**** BONUS/VIDEO/AUDIO: Beside the audio commentary (see below) and a Stephen Thrower talk on the film, a visit with frequent Franco collaborator Antonio Mayans is included. He speaks fondly of his experiences on this film and other Franco productions over the four decades they worked together, depicting the director as a trickster who would complete two films in four weeks alloted for one film and flee shooting locations just ahead of the landlord. The film is a revelation in HD, with bold colors and layered reflections which give it a cyber-punk aesthetic at times. With a fascinating soundscape by Jess Franco himself, wildly interpreting the Pablo Villa score on a Profeta-5 synthesizer, a versitale five-voice polyphonic synth, used by Kraftwerk and other popular bands in the 1980s to create unique sounds. It's a film with a unique soundscape and look, which at times recalls his futurist styled BLUE RITA (1976) or the ultra- dimensionality of his sci-fi-sex-satanic-spy fantasia, EL SEXO ESTA LOCO (1980).

We should also consider in future blogs such Orloff related films as ALONE AGAINST THE TERROR (1983) and FACELESS (1988), both of which have a Dr. Orloff character and deal with psychological and scientific transgressions. This region free release is the US premiere of the film and its worldwide Blu-ray debut. DISC FEATURES Region free 1080p presentation from a new 4K restoration of the film In Spanish with optional English subtitles Brand new interview with Antonio Mayans Brand new interview with author Stephen Thrower Brand new audio commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson LIMITED EDITION FEATURES 20 page full color booklet by Francesco Cesari and Roberto Curti; reversible sleeve with new and original art; 1500 numbered copies in the usual red case (C) Robert Monell,2023