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The Diabolical Dr. Z

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Wikipedia article




'The Diabolical Dr. Z' is a 1965 horror film directed by Jess Franco. The film stars Mabel Karr as Irma Zimmer, a surgeon who creates a machine that turns people into zombified slaves. Ms. Zimmer is the daughter of a Professor Zimmer (a disciple of Dr. Orloff), who was hounded to his death several years earlier by four of his scientific associates. Zimmer uses the machine to control an erotic dancer named Miss Muerte (Estella Blain) who uses her long poison-tipped fingernails to murder the people Ms. Zimmer holds responsible for her father's death.

Cast



* Estella Blain

* Mabel Karr

* Howard Vernon

* Marcelo Arroita Jauregui

* Jess Franco

* Antonio Escribano

* Daniel White

Production



'The Diabolical Dr. Z' was written and Jean-Claude Carrire based on a story by director Jess Franco.Thrower, Stephen (2015). Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco. Strange Attractor Press. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-907222-31-3. The film is loosely based on the 1940 novel 'The Bride Wore Black'. The film's opening credits state that it is based on "a novel by David Khune" which is an alter-ego for director Jess Franco. Franco would later re-use elements from the plot of 'The Diabolical Dr. Z' in his later films including 'The Blood of Fu Manchu' (1968) and 'She Killed in Ecstasy' (1971).

Despite being one of Franco's favourite films of his earlier period, Franco has stated that the film "shouldn't have been made... Censorship was causing me troubles."

Release



'The Diabolical Dr. Z' was released in Spain in August 1966 under the title 'Miss Muerte' with a running time of 86 minutes. The film had 360,990admissions in Spain and grossed a 2019 equivalent of 30,787.00 domestically. It was released in France on 13 September 1967 under the title of 'Dans les griffes du maniaque' with a running time of 88 minutes. It was dubbed in English and shown theatrically in the U.S. in 1967.Thrower, Stephen; Grainger, Julian (2015). Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco. Strange Attractor Press. ISBN 978-1-907222-31-3.

'The Diabolical Dr. Z' was released on DVD by the Mondo Macabro label on 29 April 2003. A Blu-ray was released by Kino International in 2018, with Budd Wilkins of 'Slant Magazine' noting that it surpassed the "already visually impressive" DVD from Mondo Macabro.

Reception



In a contemporary review, the 'Monthly Film Bulletin' noted that Franco "shows an eye for unusual images-notably in Miss Death's bizarre but rather tame dance act"

From retrospective reviews, The online film database Allmovie gave the film three stars, praising it as "One of Franco's most entertaining films, Miss Muerte is a great improvement over the similar 'El Secreto del Dr. Orloff'"

See also



*List of French films of 1966

*List of horror films of 1966

*List of Spanish films of 1966

References



Footnotes



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