The Diabolical Dr Z

At last our genre loving friends in the USA can enjoy what us Europeans have been happily indulging in for sometime with the wondrously diverse output of the Mondo Macabro team. Following their US launch with a somewhat upgraded release of the satanic delight that is 'Alucarda' Mondo Macabro kick into full swing with the DVD debut of Jess Franco's 'Diabolical Dr Z'.

The films opens in true vintage horror style sans old spooky castle at night with a lightning storm ensuing, we soon discover that this is in fact the setting of a jailbreak where death row serial killer Hans Bergen (aka The Woodside Strangler) has made his escape. Injured whilst making his get away he only makes it as far as the residence of Dr Zimmer, an ageing scientist obsessed with the work of one Dr Orloff (yes Franco fans, that Dr Orloff!) and his experiments in 'neuropathology' - simply being that he believes he can control peoples minds and in particular the section of the brain that controls power of good and evil. Of course as is usually the case in movies such as this Dr Zimmer seizes the moment with his gift of the lamed convict and tries out his experiments on him. Following his success in creating his first subservient human zombie he heads off to gatecrash a gathering of wizened scientists to (albeit after the fact) request their support in him trying his experiments on human beings. The outraged gathering condemn poor Dr Zimmer for his endeavours and the old goat has a massive heart attack but not before he whispers in his dying breath to his daughter that he wishes her to carry on his work. Angered by her fathers death and believing the infuriated scientists to be at fault for his demise the bereaved Ms Zimmer blindly seeks to not only continue her fathers experiments but to seek bloody revenge on the aforementioned scientists involved.

And so begins another midnight movie classic and without doubt one that Franco fans will savour no end. For those not familiar with the movie though they should be warned that it may not be what they would have expected from both the title and the little coverage that has been seen of this cult movie till now. Admittedly, when I myself first saw the poster art for this movie I had visions of some sort of Red Skull power mad scientist on the rampage and whilst we can tick the box for the mad scientist scenario he's actually killed off soon after the opening titles roll. What we are left with though is a bewilderingly entertaining tale of revenge told in a somewhat deranged manner that perhaps only Jess Franco at his best would know how to deliver. Indeed kicking off in the vein of the familiar late night black and white horror classic you'll soon find that this is such a film but with tinges of underlying beatnik styled diversions (check out the voluptuous Ms Death's mannequin spiderweb dance, groovy man) and violently seductive noir thriller.

Franco's work has at times over the years been admittedly quite hard to digest but considering the outrageously massive output the man has delivered there's obviously going to be some diamonds in there. I'll openly admit that the thought of the Orloff scenario returning left me somewhat cold (well The Awful Dr Orloff had some atmosphere but I felt it was a lacklustre show) but thankfully with 'The Diabolical Dr Z' Franco has resurrected the Orloff theme (albeit mostly in name and basics only) and given it a very stylish revamp that should generate some deserved interest and applause. Sure up against much of modern horror cinema 'The Diabolical Dr Z' may seem less visceral than the average low attention gore fan is used to but in perspective of the genre movies of the period it has a very dark and perversely violent streak that still packs some weight even today.

Now as for this DVD release from Mondo Macabro you can imagine that there will be very little room for complaint, in fact with this release I can't find any fault whatsoever. The print itself is first rate with no visible damage present and the tones of the black and white image are very strong throughout. The audio comes with the choice of English or French with optional English subtitles - interestingly both options have their repeat viewing merits as the dialogue in both tracks slightly differ and for a change the English dub isn't the off putting theatrical ham garble that we're used to in movies from the period.

As ever with Mondo Macabro releases the bonus features are of a high standard also - always a great pull for fans of their line is the inclusion of their home produced documentary programmes and this time round we get a re-edited version of their Eurotika TV special on Franco's work (complete with not only an interview with the man himself but chats with folk like Michel Lemoine, Daniel Lesour, Nigel Wingrove and Caroline Munro!) which is a fascinating insight into the mans extensive career with the only perhaps unintentionally amusing point being that Franco's own chat is subtitled even though he is talking in English throughout (that said he does mumble most of it so the additional subtitling will be welcomed by most). Also on offer in the extras are the alternate English opening titles (which will only really be of interest to the obsessive completist) and a great US trailer ("how many thrills can you take?") Rounding things off is an extensive gallery of rare stills and images from all over the world (posters, lobby cards etc) and Pete Tombs highly informative illustrated text biography pages on Franco and other key players which are always a pleasure to sift through.

So yet another all round solid package from the folk at Mondo Macabro and again another presentation that they will rightly be proud of. 'The Diabolical Dr Z' may perhaps not be everyones cup of tea but you'd be fool to give this one a miss on the grounds of some of Franco's past crimes to genre cinema. A very worthy addition to the collection of any fans of late night chiller theatre and an informative and fun disc too. Give it a bash now!

Review by Alan Simpson

'The Diabolical Dr Z' can be found waiting in the dark corners of the Mondo Macabro US website for purchase by clicking here.