The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966) (Blu-ray Review)

The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: Jess Franco
Starring: Estella Blain, Mabel Karr, Howard Vernon
Rated: UR/Region A/1:66/1080p/Number of Discs 1
Available from Kino/Redemption

Dr. Zimmer invents a mind control machine, and then dies from a heart attack after being insulted at a medical conference. His beautiful but deadly daughter, Irma, seeks revenge on the officials who stressed him out. At a club she sees the act of “Miss Death”, a beautiful woman in a sheer body stocking whose act consists of seducing a mannequin in the center of a spider web. Inspired, Irma fakes her own death, performs plastic surgery on herself, kidnaps Miss Death, controls her mind via her father’s machine, and then sends her out to seduce and slash her enemies with poison fingernails. Miss Death’s boyfriend Phillip and a sleepy police inspector try to find her before she kills again…

The evil Doctor Zimmerman is up to no good here in Jess Franco’s Diabolical Dr. Z! One of the many weird and strange movies from director Jess Franco. When this film opens we see a man shoot his way out of prison and end up at the doctor’s home. One thing leads to another and events then unfold that set the main plot of the film in motion. You might think heading into this one and seeing the cover that the “Diabolical” doctor is going to be the old man, but we soon learn that the real evil doctor here is his daughter. If that plot move doesn’t scream Jess Franco then I don’t know what does. If nothing else you can hold this film in a higher regard due to the fact that it could very well be one of the very first body horror films long before the term was ever even invented. This is exactly the type of movie you’d expect to be an influence on such named as David Cronenberg who would go on to become the definition of the term later on.

I’ve been known to be a bit hit and miss on Jess Franco films but this is a Franco movie that does seem to keep things more on the level and tell more of a story rather than just going headlong into the T and A areas of the cinematic world. Because of the actual plot of this one I had a much better time watching this one than expected. The lead is strong, the story is good enough, and Kino gives us a beautiful transfer here to go along with it all. Being more Blood Moon than the Erotic Rights of anything, you’ll find this pre-body horror film that is actually body horror to be a good one to sit back and watch if you love Franco or maybe even if you don’t. This one shocks me a bit because I really didn’t expect to like it but I did.

Extras

– French and English Language Tracks
– Trailer
– Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas, Co-Author of Obsession: The Films of Jess Franco

Quality of Transfer: 100%