Review of The Diabolical Dr. Z

Dr. Z. senior, as he's marvelously depicted on the DVD-cover with an outrageous hair-style and funky goggles, has the chance to act mildly diabolical for exactly 15 minutes and then he banally dies from an ordinary heart-attack. Why picture HIS mug on all the posters and – even more importantly - why refer to the lethal titular character Miss Death as HIS creation when he's nothing more than a supportive character? I usually loath movies with misleading titles and inappropriate pictures on the cover, but I'll gladly make an exception for Jess Franco's finest cinematic achievement, as this movie is honestly too good to get upset about small details. Besides, the title more or less remains apt because Dr. Z's daughter reprises the diabolical family business. Irma Zimmer helplessly witnessed how her father's intelligent, albeit unethical research got condemned by an opinionated committee of eminent doctors, resulting in the poor man's fatal heart-attack. She swears to avenge her father's death as well as to continue his work, which involves the control and direction of man's hostile behavior through spinal injections. She develops a fiendish plan to fake her own death and subsequently kidnaps a sexy nightclub dancer who'll serve as her mindless killing instrument. The ravishing Nadja is sent to seduce the naughty doctors responsible for Dr. Z Senior's death and then murder them with her poisonous fingernails. Arguably a kind of sequel to "The Awful Dr. Orloff", this is unquestionably Jess Franco's best accomplishment to date, with a coherent script (for a change) and a genuinely sinister atmosphere throughout. Without losing control over the pacing once, Franco brings forward a series of bright ideas and merges them all together in a plausible & effective fashion. There's the recruitment of an escaped maniacal killer from death row, the elaboration of Irma's insane disappearance plot, a love-story, the slow-moving police investigation and the versatile murders of three doctors. Franco's direction doesn't feel rushed at all, the filming locations and scenery are exquisite and the use of black & white cinematography makes the wholesome even more staggering. Unlike the majority of titles on Franco's repertoire, "The Diabolical Dr. Z" is a stylish and truly unsettling masterpiece! Sure, certain (sub) plots and the ambiance may be derived from the French classic "Les Yeux Sans Visage", but so many contemporary films were influenced by that one and at least Franco's style is straightforward and unpretentious. Bearing in mind the era and budget limitations, the film features surprisingly shocking visual & make-up effects. Especially the images of Irma's horribly burned face are eerie and nightmarish. The acting performances are far above average as well. Franco-regular and friend Howard Vernon stars in a small role as Dr. Vicar and our beloved director himself briefly appears in a glorious role as police detective. Bravo Jess, you're my hero.