ORLOFF AGAINST THE INVISIBLE MAN (1970) ** ½

Dr. Garondet (Francis Valladares) is summoned to the castle of Dr. Orloff (Howard Vernon) to treat a mysterious patient.  When he arrives, he is given the cold shoulder by all the servants who try to impress upon him his services are not required.  Garondet does some snooping around the castle and eventually learns Orloff has created an Invisible Man who has sinister, lusty urges. 

This was the fifth of seven Dr. Orloff movies and only one of two that weren’t directed by Jess Franco.  In his place, we have Pierre (Panther Squad) Chevalier, and he does a competent enough job.  (He delivers at least one genuinely spinetingling shot of a funeral procession walking past a lake.)  I suspect Franco would’ve ratcheted up the sleaze factor a bit more, but Orloff Against the Invisible Man is a decent enough slice of exploitation hokum.

The set-up is extremely sluggish though.  Valladares’ dull performance doesn’t especially help to perk things up.  However, if you’re patient enough, you’ll be treated to an atmospheric flashback sequence involving a pair of horny grave robbers.  This stretch of the film is a lot of fun, and taken on its own terms, would’ve made a great chapter in an anthology horror movie.  

The Invisible Man effects are surprisingly well done.  There aren’t many of them, and they are all rather brief.  However, there aren’t any visible strings when books and food trays and what-have-yous are floating around in thin air.  The invisible rape scene isn’t a patch on the one found in The Entity, but it does feature a woman writhing naked on a bale of hay while the camera zooms in and out awkwardly to simulate the invisible thrusting, so it has that going for it.

All this seems like your typical invisible rapist movie until the finale when the Invisible Man gets hit with a bag of flour and you can at last see what he really looks like.  I wouldn’t dream of spoiling his appearance, but the big reveal retroactively adds another uneasy layer to the film’s overall sleaziness.  I will spoil the fact that the title is misleading as Orloff doesn’t fight the Invisible Man.  I have to deduct a Half Star from any flick that promises the sight (heh) of Howard Vernon air wrestling an alleged Invisible Man and then doesn’t deliver.   

AKA:  Orloff and the Invisible Man.  AKA:  The Invisible Ghost.  AKA:  Love Life of the Invisible Man.  AKA:  Dr Orloff’s Invisible Monster.