The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966)

- Miss Muerte
My New Favorite Franco, 4 April 2005

A more apt title for the movie might be The Daughter of the Diabolical Doctor Z. Dr. Z doesn't make it through the first 15 minutes of the movie before he dies of a heart attack. His daughter (also a doctor) blames those who scoffed at her father's ideas for his death. Continuing with her father's work, she vows revenge. Using his mind control procedures, she creates two "slaves" to carry out her plan.

I have dubbed this movie "My New Favorite Franco", just beating out Venus in Furs for the title. Where many of his movies seem to lose their way, The Diabolical Doctor Z has a straight forward plot and takes the time necessary to build atmosphere. Too often Franco's films seem rushed or go in so many directions that nothing seems to make much sense.

The choice made by the daughter of the beautiful performance artist, Miss Death, as a "weapon" for her revenge is interesting. Much like a spider, Miss Death first seduces her prey before using her long nails that have been dipped in poison to kill. Miss Death's spider web nightclub dance is a must see.

This is the second Franco film that I've seen that reminded me in some way of Franju's Eyes Without a Face. While the influence on the other Franco film, The Awful Dr. Orloff, is obvious, here it is much more subtle. The face surgery scene is eerily reminiscent of Franju's face surgery scene.

8/10