DVD Artwork
When you think of Argentina, you might first imagine expansive pampas and gauchos and vast herds of cattle. Next, you may think of the Falkland War (or Islas Malvinas War, depending on your sympathies). Thirdly, you might think of movies, especially horror movies. But I doubt it. And yet, that’s exactly what we have here.
I did learn a couple of tricks for my upcoming career as a mad scientist from this movie. Firstly, build a humanoid monster with a carved wooden head. His clumsy shambling is much more effective than a normal person when sneaking up on people. Also, make sure he’s got a blinking light in the middle of his forehead, so that everyone will go “Dude! You got a blinking light in your forehead!” and they won’t notice that he’s a monster. This will allow him to go out into public and into bars without drawing attention other than stares. Lastly, when kidnapping beautiful women at night, wait for your monster in a big, conspicuous ambulance, and don’t forget to leave the light on top flashing. It makes you damn near invisible.
Sounds goofy, doesn’t it? You bet, and yet the movie is better than it sounds. Exchange the word “entertaining” with “nudity filled” if that floats your boat, and you’ll still have an apt description of the flick.
That right there, the “nudity filled” bit, is a story in itself. Before the American release, some seventeen minutes of softcore porn was spliced into the film. I haven’t tried too hard to figure out what was original and what was added footage, so the additions must not be too different in tone and quality because they don’t stand out to the casual viewer. Still, the outright exploitation flick you’re seeing is not the morality play that the director originally envisioned.
Here’s the story: Someone is kidnapping people at night. A couple making out in the park, a nymphomaniac, four hippies having an orgy, a lesbian couple, each of them was engaged in some sort of sexual play when abducted. Sort of, because a guy leaving a gay bar is also nabbed, as is a stripper.
The incredibly inept police are baffled, until a local reporter digs up evidence about the Doctor, who was run out of Italy for his experiments in sexual behavior. When the police detective scoffs at the story, he asks how that explains the “monster” that’s been reported, and of course the Italian newspaper accounts talk about the Doctor’s monster too.
What the doctor is doing (with the help of his devoted and beautiful nurse assistant) is using aphrodisiacs and “electronic control of the libido” to stimulate the kidnapped people into having frequent sex, after which he extracts the “blood forces of sex” from them. He uses these “blood forces” to create a serum that keeps him young and alive.
When the reporter is captured while snooping around the grounds by the doctor’s minions (dressed in hooded body suits – very stylish), Dr. Humpp has him put with the stripper and they plot their escape.
The nurse wants nothing more than to be loved and made love to by the doctor, but he’s so focused on his research that he has no interest in her. Rejected once too often, she winds up in the reporters bed and afterwards agrees to help them escape.
With the police closing in, the doctor’s evil plans go awry and even the talking brain being kept alive in the jar on the doctor’s desk can’t help the situation much.
This is way more “odd” than “horror”, but if you like weird exploitation movies, then this will be right up your alley.
Most everything about this movie is done better than the average schlock flick. The production values are good, the acting is good and even the dubbing is pretty well done. The plot is more intricate than the usual for the type (even if it is kinda silly) and there are some memorably strange scenes, such as one where the monster plays a guitar-ish thing and serenades a bunch of patients in hospital gowns who wander aimlessly around an empty field. I have no idea.
As on most Something Weird releases, there are quite a few extras on the disk, but whether they’re of any interest to you is kind of hit or miss. This time, they’ve included the original title sequence for comparison to the version released to theaters. Theatrical trailers for Humpp and The Deadly Organ are there, as are TV spots for The Deadly Organ.
There are also three short features, one being an old-fashioned stripper act titled Rasputin and the Princess (1952), an odd snippet of blue movie called The Girl and the Skeleton where a woman masturbates using one of those jointed Halloween-decoration skeletons made out of cardboard (boy howdy, I think). She’s spread eagle for most of it and they’re not shy about the beaver shots. Finally, there’s a goofy music video from way before music video’s were done (1964) called My Teenage Fallout Queen.
Something Weird always includes a “Gallery of Exploitation Art Featuring Horrorama Radio Spot Rarities”. In other words, old movie posters in a slideshow with a soundtrack of old movie radio advertising. You might not like these extras at all, but personally, I love ‘em.
