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Released by: Intervision Picture Corp.
Released on: 2/8/2011
Director: Jess Franco
Cast: William Berger, Montserrat Prous, Edmund Purdom, Lina Romay, Robert Woods, Jesus Franco
Year: 1973
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The Movie:
Produced by director Jess Franco's own Manocoa Films in 1973, The Sinister Eyes Of Dr. Orlof has been a fairly elusive film over the last few years, having only ever been released on a Spanish VHS tape sans English subtitles. The popularity of its title character made it one that fans were eager to check out, however, as the earlier Orlof movies are widely regarded as some of Franco's better gothic offerings, made before he would start to up the ante with the sex and violence of output from the mid seventies and beyond.
The film follows a lovely young woman named Melissa (Montserrat Prous) who, when we meet her, is awakened by one of many nightmares she's had involving an attack from a strange, unnamed man (played by Franco himself). Her half-sister, Martha (Loreta Tovar) is at her side when she wakes up, and soon launches into a tirade which she hopes will convince Melissa to get out and mingle a little more. Being bound to a wheelchair and all, Melissa is a bit of a recluse.
Enter the family's esteemed butler, Matthews (Jose Manuel Martin), loyal to Melissa since the passing of her father who he describes as 'a gentleman' and who believes Martha to be involved in a plot with her aunt, Lady Flora (Kali Hansa) that will get rid of Melissa and her kindly uncle, Henry (Jaime Picas), once and for all. Henry, concerned by Melissa's condition, calls in a shrink named Dr. Orlof (William Berger), to see what he can do for her. During their initial meeting, Orlof strangely opens up to her and tells her how he was in love with her mother and how he named his own daughter, now deceased, Melissa as well. You'd think this creepy news would ruffle Melissa's fur, but nope, she seems unusually at ease with this man she's never met before. Soon, however, Melissa has a strange dream in which she murders her uncle only to wake up the next morning and find that he's gone on a trip - but his car is gone, so is a gun, and a dead body turns up… as does Inspector Crosby (Edmond Purdom), and he'd like some answers.
Not quite as atmospheric as the earlier Orlof films, The Sinister Eyes Of Dr. Orlof still has some nice visuals working in its favor. Franco's trademark zoom lens is here but in considerably more subdued fashion than in some of his other pictures. Those expecting him to have poured on the sexuality that many of his films are known for will be disappointed, as this film is pretty tame in that department as well. The film moves at a slow but determined pace and plays off as more of a psychological mystery than a flat out horror film - there's not much in the way of bloodshed to appease horror fans nor are there really any scares.
The movie is nicely shot, however, and it makes very good use of its stately locations and features a strong cast of Spanish horror regulars. With that said, William Berger isn't a particularly good replacement for Howard Vernon, who had played the character for Franco before. Where Vernon played the role with enthusiasm and spirit, here Vernon takes the exact opposite approach and underplays the part almost to a fault. He's almost lifeless, showing very little physicality or spark at all. It's cool to see the lovely Montserrat Prous from Sinner, also recently released on DVD as well, in the lead role, however.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Intervision presents The Sinister Eyes Of Dr. Orlof in a fullframe transfer taken from a smeary looking tape source. The image is cropped on the left and right side of the screen, judging by the missing text in the opening credits, and there appears to be some PAL conversion related ghosting throughout the film. Detail is soft, colors are faded and if the image is at least watchable, it's pretty far from what most would consider to be 'good.' In the company's defense, film elements may not have been available so this could be a case of the label doing the best with what they have to work with (their release of Paula Paula looks quite a bit better) but it really doesn't look so hot.
The audio chores are handled by a Spanish language Dolby Digital Mono mix with subtitles in English only. The audio clarity is okay for an older Mono mix despite the presence of some hiss. That said, the subtitles go by pretty quickly and are a bit on the small side. There's also an odd four minute gap where, despite the presence of some dialogue, no subtitles actually appear and then random occurrences of unsubbed sentences here and there.
While the presentation is weak, at least Intervision has stepped up a bit with the extra features. While there are no trailers or still galleries here, there is a nineteen minute interview with Franco himself who is seemingly fairly keen on talking about this film and its history. The drawback here is that Franco speaks in English and with a very thick, at times almost indiscernible, accent and there are no subtitles offered so it can be a bit tricky to understand him at times. Regardless, with cigarette in hand Jess discusses the cast members who worked with him on this picture, the absence of Howard Vernon, the film's score and star William Berger's personal addiction issues.
The Final Word:
The presentation is definitely lacking on this Intervision release of The Sinister Eyes Of Dr. Orlof, but the movie itself is an interesting one despite some fairly obvious flaws, and a welcome addition to any Franco fan's library. Here's hoping Intervision fixes some of the issues they've run into on this inaugural offering for future titles.
