Gritos en la noche (1962)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jesus Franco

Writer:

Jesus Franco (novel)

Release Date:

2 December 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

You'll get an insight into the face of terror!

Plot:

Dr. Orlof, a former prison doctor, abducts beautiful women from nightclubs and tries to use their skin to repair his daughter's fire-scarred face...

Plot Keywords:

Fall From Height | Female Nudity | Skin Graft | Scalpel | Disfigured Face

Cast

Howard Vernon	...	Dr. Orloff
Conrado San Martín	...	Inspector Tanner
Diana Lorys	...	Wanda Bronsky
Perla Cristal	...	Arne
María Silva	...	Dany (as Mary Silvers)
Ricardo Valle	...	Morpho
Mara Laso	...	Irma Gold
Venancio Muro	...	Jean Rousseau
Félix Dafauce	...	Inspector
Faustino Cornejo
Manuel Vázquez	...	Klemp
Juan Antonio Riquelme
Fernando Montes	...	Maurice (as Fernando C. Montes)
Elena María Tejeiro
Javier de Rivera

Also Known As:

Cries in the Night
L'horrible Docteur Orlof (France)
Screams in the Night (literal English title)
The Awful Dr. Orlof (USA)
The Awful Dr. Orloff (USA)
The Demon Doctor (UK)
The Diabolical Dr. Satan

Runtime:

90 min | Sweden:86 min (banned version)

Country:

Spain | France

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | UK:15 (cut) | Netherlands:16 | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | Sweden:(Banned)

Company:

Hispamer Films

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Creature Features: The Awful Dr. Orloff (#1.36)" (1971)

No "Eyes Without A Face" But Still Pretty Darn Good

It is very difficult for me to discuss the various merits of the 1962 Spanish-French horror film "The Awful Dr. Orlof" without comparing them to the French-Italian horror film "Les Yeux Sans Visage" ("Eyes Without a Face"), which came out three years earlier. While both films concern a deranged doctor who kidnaps young women in order to procure skin grafts for his mutilated daughter, "Les Yeux" is the classier of the two; more literate, more shocking and more poetic. Still, despite its lousy reputation, "Orlof" does have lots to offer. It is beautifully shot in B&W, with consistently interesting camera work, and features an effectively creepy score, utilizing mainly piano, percussion and weird sound effects. Thus, a genuinely unsettling aura is achieved throughout the picture. The film also boasts some surprising nudity and a few shock scenes; these latter are not as gross as the ones in "Les Yeux," but still make an impression. And whereas "Les Yeux" gave us the sinister and beautiful Valli as the mad doctor's accomplice, "Orlof" gives us Morpho, a scarred, bug-eyed human robot whose every appearance is visually fascinating. The gorgeous Spanish actress Diana Lorys also stands out here as the police inspector's ballerina girlfriend who goes undercover to stop the demented doctor. Though a fairly paint-by-numbers affair, "Orlof" still proved a fun and riveting entertainment for me, and, thanks to the fine folks at Image Entertainment, it has been nicely transferred into a fine-looking DVD. Too bad about the terrible dubbing, however; subtitles would've been so much more preferable.