For this reviewer, Jess Franco films are like a mind field. As discussed at length before I lean towards Jean Rollins work but lately I’ve been able to find Franco’s exceptional movies and it's changed my opinion lately, so I am tackling this classic.
Diabolical Dr. Z is a trailer from Mad Ron’s Prevues From Hell that I always would put on VHS mixtapes for friends and penpals of mine back in the 90s-00s. It starts off w Dr. Zimmer and his daughters electrocuting and sticking long needles into the face of an escaped convict. The dialogue is mostly dubbed English but sometimes switches to French but I’m guessing the original language is Spanish. Dr. Z is seen by the United Nations as an old fool and looney tune. He mentions Dr. Orloff, which is one of my least favorite movies by Jess Franco and yet its all related. Howard Vernon (JF’s good luck charm) is in the meeting as they all shout insults at the Doctor, these tongue lashings cause him to pass-out in his wheelchair.
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| Franco's good luck charm |
The rich tones of B&W are attractive throughout the film. There’s a wild cabaret show with Miss Death (or Miss Muerte, the original title) who slithers around a mannequin and tacky spiderweb with jarring freakout music. If that’s the talent in this nightclub then what's the food like? They leave soon after so we don’t get to find out!
Dr. Z’s daughter runs down her supposed friend with a sports car and stages it to look like a fiery fatal accident! The blonde daughter’s face is all scarred up which makes her evil, sadistic or both.There’s a scary surgical room with screeching animals and forlorn jazz music.
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| Acupuncture what's that? |
I’m taking a guess because Franco has made and remade the face transplantation subplot numerous times and wait a minute, that’s whats about to happen again!
Faceless (1988) to me is Franco's face transplant masterpiece that’s sleazy as hell. This is the primitive beginnings of that trope. Miss Death is offered by Dr. Z’s secretary to sign a contract but it’s a trap and she is injected with sleepy drugs. Later on she is made to help bring other victims to the gas chamber!
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| ahhh! relaxing |
This is before Franco would appear in his own work or use his wife Lina Romay, who was usually completely nude parading around foggy locations. So this is a bit more tame than his later trash. Vernon's character makes out with Miss Death on a train and gets tossed out. There’s a pretty wafer thin script happening but it never gets dull enough to make you want to bail. The last 23 mins add a gaggle of wacky Brit comedy style actors as the police. This didn’t really work for me.It gets very foggy and atmospheric. Had I seen this before Awful Dr. Orloff i may have thought of Jess Franco in higher terms! This is a fascinating slog through a primitive Eurotrash treat. FOR FRANCO-FILES ONLY, HARD TO BELIEVE I DIDN'T FALL ASLEEP ONCE.
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| I just inhaled 7 cappuccinos |
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| Face the death breath of Dr. Z! |
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