User reviews

The newcomer Dr. Garondet (Francis Valladares) is summoned by professor Orloff (Howard Vernon) but people in his village is afraid to go to his castle. The insistent Dr. Garondet reaches the castle and the servants send him to talk to Cécile Orloff (Brigitte Carva), who is the daughter of the professor and is worried about the mental health of her father. Dr. Garondet meets professor Orloff and he tells what happened to Cécile sometime ago and his experiment with an invisible man, and he explains that his daughter is deranged due to the reported incident. Dr. Garondet has to spend the night in the castle and soon he learns who is the insane in the castle.

"La vie amoureuse de l'homme invisible" is a lame and funny euro trash sexploitation by Pierre Chevalier, a wannabee of Jess Franco and Ed Wood. The silly story has poor acting, awful scenarios and gratuitous nudity. The rape of the servant by the invisible man and the bush of Brigitte Carva are scenes of so bad taste that become hilarious. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Monstro do Dr. Orloff" ("The Monster of the Dr. Orloff")

Anyone encountering this film on VHS in the UK as the Invisible Dead, tag line; " god help us if they rise again" will find themselves utterly baffled or just ripped off by the content of the actual film. Not only have they been lead to believe that it's a zombie flick by the sleeve art but the film itself has been sliced and diced, presumably by the distributors following the 1982 video act,so that sleazy content of any kind is absent, and what we are left with is essentially 80 odd minutes of people wandering through corridors very....slowly.....indeed. As others have doubtless pointed out, none of the dialogue bears much relation to the action on screen, some of the soundtrack has been left blatantly undubbed, and that goddamn music clangs away throughout for all the world like a troop of drunken boy scouts assaulting each other with biscuit tins. Listing the inconsistencies and "what the heck?.." moments would take too damn long, but suffice to say that it's one of those eurosleaze offerings that manage to conjure up a surreal, dream-like atmosphere chiefly through being incoherent and flat out badly made.And judging by the speed of the opening doors and "magically" appearing footprints, the invisible ape-man doesn't really pose much of a threat to anyone who can move faster than a relaxed stroll.It's crap. I quite enjoyed it

ORLOFF AND THE INVISIBLE MAN (1971) *** Howard Vernon, Brigitte Carva, Fernando Sancho, Paco Valladares, Isabel del Río, Evane Hanska. In this 1971 French-Spanish co-production, the irrepressible Howard Vernon returns for his second turn as Dr. Orloff. This time, he's created an invisible man who feeds on human blood. It's fairly typical Eurosleaze fare: there's the usual muddled plot, cheap special effects (wait until you see the invisible `man'!) and a fair amount of gratuitous nudity (the rape of the servant girl by the invisible man, with shots of Vernon leering through the whole thing, is especially tasteless). But a good score, nice atmosphere and fairly brisk direction by Pierre Chevalier manage to keep things interesting.

Moody terror movie about a mad doctor and revolving around an invisible man . The newcomer Dr. Garondet (Francisco Valladares) is called for healing sick professor Orloff (Howard Vernon) , but people in his village are afraid of going to his castle . The insistent doctor asks for his whereabout but the feared villagers tell nothing . The newcomer Dr. Garondet reaches the castle and the servants send him to talk to Cécile Orloff, who is the daughter of the professor and is worried about the insane health of her daddy . Eventually , Dr. Garondet meets professor Orloff and he tells what happened to Cécile sometime ago . But results that evil scientist has created a murderous , invisible ape man-lookalike . Due to strange circumstances , Dr. Garondet has to spend the night in the creepy location and soon he learns there's a dangerous being stalking the castle .

Austerily eerie terror film that contains thrills , chills , fantastic events and being mostly set at a sinister castle . This so-so Spanish/French co-production is generally characterized by botcher images , sleaziness , nudism and contaning a symbolic attack on the ethics of science . Although the film passed European censors upon its original release in 1970 the nudism , grisly killings and the susprising rape by the invisible monster still caused controversy , existing a double version , both , a light Spanish and another hard French one . Being produced in short budget by Marious Lesoeur : Eurocine , Célia Films and Producciones Miguel Mezquíriz . Initial releases of the film were met with negative reactions from film critics , while the general critical reaction had been poor , however ,today is considered an acceptable terror picture . Nice acting by Howard Vernon as Doctor Orloff , his classic role who would repeat over and over again . As Vernon is brilliant as a demented researcher/scientific/surgeon haunted by a past tragedy. Functional acting by the Spanish Francisco Valladares as the doctor who figures out the mysterious events . By the time , Valladares getting big success thanks to his role in hit Spanish TV series as Ana Karenina and Diego de Acevedo . And secondary acting by the great Fernando Sancho , the Mexican antihero in hundreds of Spaghetti/Paella Westerns .The motion picture was regularly directed by Pierre Chevalier . He was a director and assistant director, known for Escuadrón pantera or Panther Squad (1984) with Sybil Danning , Pigalle carrefour des illusions (1973) and La maison des filles perdues (1974). He made various exploitation films , though in his starts he directed A-films with known stars , such as : Micheline Presle , Raymond Pellegrin , Fernandel , Gino Cervi or Eddie Constantine.

This is third entry on the long series about Doctor Orloff , a former prison doctor who tries to use skin of his victims to repair his beloved daughter's fire-scarred face and whose role subsequently to show up in various flicks mainly directed by prolific writer/producer/director Jesús Franco . The Orloff character starred a saga , using the same shots in more than one film ; some of his actors relate how they they were hired for one film and later saw their name in two or more different one . Orloff was habitually played by Howard Vernon who initiated the terrifying saga in ¨Gritos en la Noche¨ (1962) , the best of all them , also titled "The Awful Dr. Orlof" , considered to be one of the best films in his first period and deemed to be the first movie of the ¨Spanish Fantaterror¨. This vintage horror motion picture , a classic in some circles , was well directed by Jesús Franco who never considered the film to be a terror story , but instead felt it was tale of "anguish" . Here Franco established his uniquely poetic , stunningly filmed in black and white and expressionist darkness with visually striking style , including unforgettable images that owed a great deal to early cinema in general and German Expressionism in particular , though imitating to classy "Eyes Without A Face" (1960) , the masterpiece directed by George Franju , packing a haunting poetic fantasy . It's followed by ¨El Secreto del Dr. Orloff¨ (1964) aka "The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll" - USA . It's gone on by " Orloff y el hombre invisible (1970) aka "Dr. Orloff's Invisible Monster" , ¨Ojos siniestros de Doctor Orloff¨(1973) . Furthermore , ¨El enigma Del Ataúd¨ (1969) aka "Only a Coffin" and ¨El Siniestro doctor Orloff¨ (1984) aka "The Sinister Dr. Orloff . Finally, ¨Faceless¨ or ¨Depredadores de Noche¨(1987) in which Orloff appears as a secondary role and of course, performed by Howard Vernon.

Everyone else's reviews on here pretty much say what I would say, however, I wanted to add that that music score is quite impressive. I usually don't listen to the music in a film unless it strikes me and this one stuck me as being more than just boring background music. Also, the lighting they used really gave the movie a unique feel. It seemed like everyone was lit up brightly with a light right in their face. It added much needed color to the film. Without the color and music, this movie would have been very drab. Also, the "horror" nature of this film focuses on rape more than anything gory or gross. The rape scene with the maid was too much for me to watch, I had to close my eyes. It seemed to go on forever. Quite unsettling and distasteful. And the ape suit guy was hilarious. Very far from the "superior race" of people the doctor thought he was creating. It seemed like just a dumb ape to me.

3/10 because of the music, lighting and unintentional humor.

Possibly the biggest challenge in watching this Spanish/French horror extravaganza is the dubbing. As is sometimes the case, less than a scrupulous translation of the dialogue can produce unintentionally hilarious results. Some would say that adds to the charm. Perhaps they are right.

You may be led to believe this is a Jess Franco production. I was. It is in fact directed by Pierre Chevalier who delivers a comparatively accessible yarn filled with genre cliches used to fairly good effect. Once again playing Orloff is the mighty Howard Verson (who had played the character for Franco before, and would do so again in the future), the hero-type is Dr. Garondet (Frances Valladares), and the vampy young lady of the piece is Cécile (Brigitte Carva). If you're ready, there's also an invisible ape who gets up to all sorts of nasty business - again, some of his vile antics do unintentionally (I presume) raise a smile.

The story seems to have bits and pieces from most of the horror classics thrown in. You might recognise elements from Dracula, and Frankenstein, and there are dark tunnels and a hero who delights in wearing a red-lined cloak. It's all here and is delightfully unconventional in places and darn right ridiculous in others.

This Gothic horror film was released by Eurociné who were purveyors of cheap French exploitation movies. While it has slightly higher production values than most of the others released by this distributer, it's still a pretty bargain basement effort. It's one of a series of Dr Orloff movies. The character was a Euro horror alternative to Dr Frankenstein and seems to have fulfilled a similar role. The story starts when a new village doctor is summoned to Orloff's castle on business unspecified. The local populace are aghast that he would consider going to such an evil place. On arrival, it seems it was the doctor's daughter who has requested him secretly in an attempt to turn her father around from his dangerous experiments that she fears are endangering her life and his sanity. It turns out that Orloff has created an invisible man…

I think the chief problem with this one is that an invisible man makes for a very underwhelming villain. Aside from a few simple trick shots an invisible character involves very little effort to create. He is certainly a cheap alternative to a decent monster that's for sure. We are treated to floating drinks trays, pages of books turning by themselves, footprints in flour and…eh…invisible rape. The latter was clearly added to up the requisite sleaze factor that the early 70's Euro Gothic horrors were aiming for. There is quite a bit of nudity in general in the movie but it's never in danger of becoming erotic unfortunately. From the horror side of the fence, aside from the invisible man, there is a back story involving premature burial and grave robbery. Nothing of which is anything too memorable. Perhaps the single most original idea in the film is the fact that, for reasons never really explained, the invisible man appears to be a gorilla! The invisible ape…you couldn't make it up! Acting performances are generally dull but Howard Vernon (Dr Orloff) is always watchable.

OK, so the plot is risible, the acting woeful, and the production values worthy of Ed Wood. However this early Eurocine outing is a great "B" movie- at least for those who understand cinematic irony.

Crumbling castles, dandyesque clothing and buxom wenches all give it the authentic sexploitation feel. The camera angles add that dangerous and unpredictable quality that only lovers of bad movies can really appreciate.

More than that, the film is best known for the most famous bush in cinematic history, that of Brigitte Carva. Oh for the days when women were not just plastic-packed crotch-shaven dollies! The women in this film are real, and the creaking plot makes their naked exploits all the more impressive. For collectors of the genre (or admirers of the hirsute), this B-flick is a must. The plot is only marginally of relevance.

This movie is really lame, unless you're really into Eurocine films, in which case you kind of know what to expect (i.e. Zombies Lake or Oasis of the Living Dead). We start with a young doctor receiving a request for his immediate help at Professor Orloff's Castle. Of course, when he tries to find a ride at a tavern, people act like he's crazy to be going up there; behavior which he ignores. People even slam doors in his face as soon as he mentions Orloff. But we get no real feeling that the doctor wonders why people react this way. I guess he's just really determined to help strangers. The movie is very sloppy and is full of many errors. When his carriage gets stuck, he decides to walk to the castle. The carriage continues in the same direction and the doctor heads off in the direction he just came from?!? Later we meet Orloff's daughter and hear her description of this invisible man: "...it was shapeless and substantial...somehow it was transparent and opaque!" Maybe they should have called it The Invisible Yet Still Somehow Visible Dead. The doctor, after meeting two of the hired help and on his way to meet Professor Orloff, makes this judgment about his daughter: "Visions are not uncommon among girls who live alone." Okay, doc, but what about women who live with three other people? The "invisible dead" is really just one guy/beast thing which Orloff orders to do mostly mundane things: "Get the lantern. Now hold it up higher. Open the door." You know, things that Orloff is perfectly capable of doing. This movie really drags along, though. And even though it seems a lot longer than 90 minutes, the ending is abrupt and sort of cartoony and out of place.

I always assumed that it was Jess Franco who had a monopoly on this type of cinema, namely: the routine euro-exploitation flicks with an always-returning villain (Dr. Orloff), absurd story lines (invisible ape-creatures??), truckloads of sleaze and absolutely no logic at all. Every small detail in "Orloff Against the Invisible Man" has got Franco's name written all over it, so it was quite a surprise to find out that he actually hasn't got anything to do with it. But still Franco admirers don't have to fear that this will be a 'soft' film, because director Pierre Chevalier proves himself to be "Godfather of Sleaze" as well and his movie is delightfully trashy and nonsensical. Howard Vernon (normally a Franco-regular as well) stars as a totally insane man of science who created an invisible monster, supposedly for his daughter that got traumatized after being buried alive when she was 16. How exactly this creation helps the poor girl's situation is entirely beside the point, as are many other sudden twist in the script. Everything eventually revolves on the sexual aspect when the invisible ape-man goes completely berserk after graphically raping the housemaid (sickly illustrated by an overlong scene showing the poor woman struggling naked on a pile of hay). Every normal film-loving person will most likely detest this film, but for exploitation-fans, there is always the weird atmosphere and morbid set pieces to admire. Orloff's castle is genuinely ominous, with lots of dark cellars and secret tombs and Howard Vernon looks uniquely sinister again. Great entertainment for the slightly more demanding cult-freaks among us.

Orloff and the Invisible Man (1970)

** (out of 4)

Answering the call of a medical emergency, a young doctor avoids all warnings and goes to the home of Dr. Orloff (Howard Vernon) where he is told about a medical breakthrough where Orloff has created an invisible man. Vernon would play the Dr. Orloff character several times in his career so it's obvious a role he has no trouble in doing. ORLOFF AND THE INVISIBLE MAN (one of its many titles) is a decent time killer if you don't expect anything too good or too serious. The entire film suffers from a very low-budget and it appears that director Pierre Chevalier doesn't have much faith in anything that he's doing. Most of the scenes seem extremely rushed or at least made quickly without too much effort put into them. There really isn't any story of vision on display here as it almost seems as if Chevalier was just a director-for-hire who got the film in the can as quickly as he could. It's certainly not on the same page as THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF or DR. ORLOFF'S MONSTER but there are a few interesting ideas here. It's funny how the entire doctor coming to the castle is handled because it's clearly ripping off the start of Dracula. The entire relationship between this young doctor and Orloff is a tad bit weird to say the least and the story never really bothered to explain why we need this younger doctor around. At just 75-minutes the film certainly goes by pretty quickly, although, to be honest, not much really happens in regards to the invisible man. The strangest sequence comes towards the end when a woman is stripped totally naked and sexually assaulted by the invisible man. Obviously the special effects aren't that good and the actresses acting isn't all that good either so we're left with an extremely weird sequence that belongs in the Euro Horror Hall of Fame. Vernon is good in his role and the supporting players aren't too bad either. There's plenty of nudity to keep fans of that entertained and there's some mild humor as well.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of The Invisible Dead - AKA Orloff And The Invisible Man; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 0.75 Direction: 0.75 Pace: 0.50 Acting: 0.75 Enjoyment: 0.75

TOTAL: 3.50 out of 10.00

The Invisible Dead is nothing more than a cheap third-rate Hammer'esq period horror that suffers badly throughout.

Pierre Chevalier (who also directed) and Juan Fortuny bring you Doctor Orloff, the mad scientist of the story. And, this guy is truly insane. He has an understandable bee in his bonnet after his housemaid and gamekeeper break into the crypt and robs his daughter's corpse of her jewellery. When his daughter suddenly awakes from death, the gamekeeper stabs her. She stumbles to her chambers and rats out the thief to her father. Who then unleashes his wrath on them both. But he's not merely angry at this devious duo. No, he's furious with the rest of the peasants and villages and sets about their downfall by creating an invisible beast to do his bidding. The concept is sound and offers plenty of possibilities to generate an engaging and absorbing story crammed with credible and intricate characters. Sadly that doesn't happen. The individuals are so flat and dull that I began to dose off. There's a lot of nothing going on in the story. Utilising this emptiness to expand the concept or the folk on the pages would have been ideal. Or the director could have used the void to generate an eerie atmosphere or to add action, etc. - A missed opportunity to achieve a great deal in these spaces of nothingness. And then it gets worse when the performers start to recite their dialogue. It could be down to the translation and the vocal talents employed to do the dub-over, but I don't think so. Some of the lines are dreadful - and they're more noticeable thanks to the hammy overacting of the cast.

Chevalier isn't much better behind the camera. Though he attempts to throw in some stimulating camera angles, they fail due to the scene's content. When the good doctor manages to procure a carriage to transport him to Orloffs Castle, he decides to take a snooze. Chevalier composes this in a head and shoulders shot. And we watch Doc catch some Zeds as he's jostled about on the rough road. The trouble is that Chevalier holds the shot for too long, making it awkward and boring and giving the audience time to analyse what's wrong with the visual - such as nothing is happening in the scene and that the light inside the cab is too bright because it's growing darker outside. Giving the audience time like this is terrible as it draws them out of the movie in an unwarranted way. But then you get the outlandish management of scenes. When the Doc arrives at the castle, he's greeted by the caretaker, who slams the door on him. Luckily, he knows the foot-in-the-door trick and pushes his way in, only to be informed it must have been the maid who sent the message. Then we watch one of the most bizarre conversations I've witnessed in a movie. It's unnatural due to the poor writing and oddball because of the directing. Now, when handled well, strangeness can be a wonderful thing. Sadly, The Invisible Dead, it's not directed well.

Lamentably, the cast has to try and cope with these pitfalls. And, respectfully, most of the performers try to do right. Evane Hanska playing the servant maid, and Fernando Sancho portraying the gamekeeper, are the best of the bunch. Brigitte Carva is okay as the daughter Cecile, though she does tend to go off the rails with hammy gusto. However, the two male leads let the film down most. Both Howard Vernon, as Orloff, and Paco Valladares as the Doctor are dreadful in their tediousness. They appear fed up and uninterested in the movie wherein they're starring. However, Vernon appears to augment a little anger and pride when recanting the history of his daughter and the creature. Regrettably, he falls back into banality when it slips over to a narration. These are not the leading men Hammer would have chosen.

I would recommend digging out a Hammer movie instead of watching The Invisible Dead - you'll be better entertained. This picture is one to miss unless you want a crash course on how not to make a good film.

Jump into the nearest horse-drawn carriage and come over to review my Absolute Horror and The Final Frontier lists and see where I ranked The Invisible Dead - or to find better entertainment.

Take Care & Stay Well.

"La vie amoureuse de l'homme invisible," also known as "The Invisible Dead," is a peculiar Euro horror flick that straddles the line between horror and sexploitation. Directed by Pierre Chevalier, this film offers a mix of absurdity, campiness, and unintentional humor. While it fails to deliver on several fronts, it manages to entertain in its own bizarre way.

"The Invisible Dead" embraces its low-budget roots. Crumbling castles, dandyesque clothing, and buxom wenches contribute to its authentic sexploitation feel. However, the production values are reminiscent of Ed Wood's work, with woeful acting and laughable scenarios. The camera angles add an unpredictable quality that only lovers of bad movies can appreciate. Unfortunately, the film lacks the gore and sleaze typical of the genre, leaving viewers wanting more.

Howard Vernon reprises his role as the infamous Dr. Orloff, previously seen in Jess Franco's films. His presence adds a touch of continuity, but the film fails to capitalize on this potential. The invisible ape-man, central to the plot, remains a snoozer. How a gothic mad scientist flick about a translucent apeman becomes tedious and ugly is baffling. Perhaps it's a testament to Franco's unique touch that this replication falls short.

A Curious Curio for Cult Film Enthusiasts "The Invisible Dead" is far from a masterpiece, but it has its moments. Fans of obscure Euro horror and lovers of cinematic irony may find enjoyment in its absurdity. If you're willing to overlook its flaws and embrace its campiness, you might appreciate this forgotten gem. Just don't expect a coherent narrative or groundbreaking effects. In the end, it's a curious curio that deserves its place in the pantheon of cult cinema.

An evil scientist (Howard Vernon) creates a murderous, invisible ape-man.

Another reviewer said this was a standard Jess Franco film, by someone other than Franco. Yep, that pretty much sums it up -- we even have Howard Vernon as Dr. Orloff, a role he has filled well in the past, and the poor quality filming of people being tortured (by an unseen force).

I actually rather liked this one, and would say it exceeded the average Franco attempt. The special effects are a bit cheesy, but not bad for the time it was released and the presumably low budget. I am not sure if I could have done any better myself.

Now I want to learn more about Pierre Chevalier... he might have been a hidden gem. I will have to track down "Human Cargo" or "Panther Squad".

While frequently lugubrious and unlovely to look at, I adore this coffin-creaky, resplendently goofy, garlic garlanded example of vintage Gallic gothic! Indirectly inserted into Franco's iconic the Orloff cycle, 'Orloff against the invisible man' finds devilishly suave euorocult icon, Howard Vernon on mesmerizingly macabre form as the maniacal professor Orloff. Quite rightly maligned for its sluggish pace, rudimentary FX, and lurid lapses into garish ineptitude, nonetheless, there's plentifully skewed entertainment to be found in Chevalier's bizarro psychotronic gem. Lashings of hot Euro-poon, doomy, rain-splashed dynamics, and a surprisingly robust score by, Camille Sauvage make Orloff against the invisible man such a kooky-spooky, eminently rewatchable, pseudo-science run bloodily amok disasterpiece!