The Awful Dr. Orlof
- Year: 1962
- Country of origin: Spain, France
- Genre: Horror
- Director: Jesús Franco
- Length: 90 min
A nightmare of terror in the macabre!
Film Synopsis
The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962) portrays a disgraced surgeon who kidnaps young women with the aid of his blind servant, carrying out grotesque experiments in the hope of restoring his daughter’s scarred face. As a determined police inspector investigates a series of mysterious disappearances, the doctor’s relentless obsession draws both pursuers and victims toward an increasingly perilous confrontation. This Spanish-French Gothic horror film blends macabre imagery with investigative suspense, exploring obsession, forbidden science, moral corruption, and the devastating consequences of sacrificing humanity in pursuit of impossible ambitions.
Critical Perspective
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The Awful Dr. Orlof is a film you can safely show to any fan of classic horror, even if they dislike the later films of Jess Franco. It’s slick, creepy, and it’s often quite beautiful to look at.
Stephen Thrower, Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco, Volume One (Strange Attractor Press, 2020) -
One of the first true Spanish horror films and an exploitation classic. Utilizing the familiar themes of old Universal horror films, throwing in a little of Franju’s Eyes Without a Face (Les yeux sans visage, 1959), and mixing it with some subversive perversity, Jess Franco finds the right combination to prove that there was a worldwide market for Spanish exploitation. … What makes Dr. Orlof different from the other Eurocult classics at the time (the French Eyes Without a Face, 1959, or the Italian Black Sunday, 1960) is the gutter perversity that Franco almost succeeds in bringing to the surface. The prostitutes, though pretty, are slightly more worn than in other films of the time, and Franco’s surprising use of some very tasteful nudity (in a distasteful scene) also contributes to that wonderful dirty feeling you sometimes get watching Eurocult. Taken as a whole, Dr. Orlof is a great glimpse into early Spanish filmmaking in a realm where they hadn’t gone before.
Danny Shipka, Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980 (McFarland, 2011)
The Awful Dr. Orlof Blu-ray & DVD editions
See which disc extras are included across selected editions.
| Disc Extras | Redemption BD-ALL/US/OOP 2013 | Image DVD-0/US/OOP 2000 |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas | ||
| Jess! What Are You Doing Now? | ||
| The Young Dr. Orlof Chronicles | ||
| The Horror of Orlof - Interview with Director/Writer Jess Franco | ||
| Stills Gallery | ||
| US Theatrical Trailer |
Edition and Packaging Notes
- Image’s “The Euroshock Collection - Widescreen Edition” DVD includes a 4-page booklet with writing by Tim Lucas and no extras. It is also available in “The Orloff Collection” box set with Dr. Orloff’s Monster (1964), Orloff and the Invisible Man (1970) and Revenge in the House of Usher (1983).
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Collector’s guide
Compare presentation quality and explore notable disc extras across selected editions.
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Jess! What Are You Doing Now? (8:24) -
The Young Dr. Orlof Chronicles (18:42) -
The Horror of Orlof (15:48)
| Editions |
Redemption BD 2013
|
|---|---|
| Extras | Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas Redemption BD |
| Jess! What Are You Doing Now? Redemption BD | |
| The Young Dr. Orlof Chronicles Redemption BD | |
| The Horror of Orlof - Interview with Director/Writer Jess Franco Redemption BD | |
| Stills Gallery Redemption BD | |
| US Theatrical Trailer Redemption BD |