The Awful Dr. Orloff

The Awful Dr. Orloff
Spanish theatrical release poster
SpanishGritos en la noche
Directed byJesús Franco
Written byJesús Franco
Produced by
  • Leo Lax
  • Marius Lesœur
  • Sergio Newman
Starring
CinematographyGodofredo Pacheco[1]
Edited byAlfonso Santacana[1]
Music byJose Pagan[1]
Antonio Ramírez Ángel
Production
companies
  • Hispamer Film
  • Plaza Films Intl.[1]
  • Eurociné[2]
  • Leo Lax Production
Distributed byDelta Films (Spain)
Release dates
  • 9 March 1962 (1962-03-09) (Barcelona premiere)[1]
  • 14 May 1962 (1962-05-14) (Spain)
  • 22 May 1963 (1963-05-22) (France)
Running time
93 minutes[1]
Countries
  • Spain
  • France[2]
LanguageSpanish

The Awful Dr. Orloff (Spanish: Gritos en la noche, lit. 'Screams in the Night'; French: L'Horrible Docteur Orloff) is a 1962 Spanish-French horror film written and directed by Jesús Franco.[3] It stars Howard Vernon as the mad Dr. Orloff (sometimes spelled Orlof) who wants to repair his disfigured daughter's face with skin grafts from other women with the aid of a slavish, blind henchman named Morpho. A co-production between Spain and France, filmed in Madrid, the film is considered to be the earliest Spanish horror film.[4]

The Awful Dr. Orloff was the first horror film directed by cult filmmaker Franco, and the first of many subsequent collaborations with Howard Vernon. Franco would reuse the Orloff and Morpho characters in many of his later horror films, such as Vampyros Lesbos, Revenge in the House of Usher, and Faceless.

  1. ^ a b c d e f Thrower, Stephen (2015). Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco. Strange Attractor Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-907222-31-3.
  2. ^ a b "Credits". BFI Film & Television Database. London: British Film Institute. Archived from the original on February 12, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  3. ^ Thrower, Stephen (2015). Murderous Passions: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco. Strange Attractor Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-907222-31-3.
  4. ^ Hortelano, 2011. p. 221