The Awful Dr. Orlof

When beautiful music hall entertainers begin to disappear under mysterious circumstances, Inspector Tanner is summoned to investigate. His resourceful Fiancée decides to help him by going undercover as a cabaret singer, and succeeds all too well, attracting the attention of the diabolical Dr. Orlof, who, with his blind henchman Morpho, is using the skin of slain women to restore the beauty of his disfigured sister, Melissa! "The Awful Dr. Orlof" is one of the last films of the 1960s to strike a genuine chord of Gothic horror reminiscent of the great classics of Universal, and the silent masterworks of Germany's UFA. Simultaneously, it strikes an underlying harmonic of progress and innovation, heralding a new age of erotic and sadomasochistic permissiveness within the genre. Jess Franco's first major film is an atmospheric, well-photographed, amazingly lurid little masterpiece that deserves serious attention from horror fans. The brilliant, cacophonic jazz score and unusual camera angles work to create a real feeling of menace, and there's rich attention paid to period detail, and eerie lighting.