THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1962)

Director: Jesús Franco

Writers: Jesús Franco (as Jess Frank and David Khune), René Sebille, Michel Luckin, Pío Ballesteros, Juan Cobos, Gonzalo Sebastián de Erice

Cast: Ana Castor (as Anna Astor), Howard Vernon, Hugo Blanco, Gogó Rojo (as Gogo Robins), Paula Martel, Georges Rollin, (and uncredited cast members) Fernando Delgado, Ángel Menéndez, Manuel Alexandre, José Carlos Arévalo, José Luis Coll, María Francés, Serafín García Vázquez, Marius Lesoeur, Miguel Madrid, Turia Nelson, Emilio Alonso, Joaquín Pamplona

In the Austrian town of Holfen, there has been a history of murders of women attributed to the ghost of Baron Von Klaus, a 15th century nobleman. When the murders resume in the present, the current descendants of Baron Von Klaus are concerned that his sadistic madness continues to be passed on through the generations.

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Director Jesús Franco, Spain’s horror film pioneer, quickly followed up his The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962) with another gothic horror film. Although set in the modern day, The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus still has plenty of gothic horror atmosphere. The Von Klaus family still lives in the ancestral castle. There are ancestral sins and a curse that have seemingly set in motion a recurring evil resulting in local women being murdered. Village superstition blames the killings on the ghost of the evil 15th century nobleman, though the grandfather of a current Von Klaus family member was also committing murders. The possibility of an inherited madness or a spiritual influence from the original murderous baron on his descendants is a concern in the Von Klaus family.

Franco’s film operates almost like a giallo, though that film genre was just beginning the same year in Italy. There is a prolonged stalking sequence. The murders are sexually sadistic. We do not know who the killer is. There are several potential culprits presented in the story. An amateur sleuth, here a crime magazine reporter, assists the local police inspector in the investigation. Eroticism is a major element in the story and motivates the killer. The killer even wears black leather gloves. One wonders if Mario Bava and Dario Argento were paying attention.

Franco has his original Dr. Orlof, Howard Vernon, return to star as the current day Baron Max Von Klaus. This time around, Vernon’s character is introduced as suspicious rather than immediately revealed as the villain to the audience. Although, being a dead ringer for the murderous ancestor depicted in a painting prominently displayed in the Von Klaus ancestral home certainly reminds everyone that he may have inherited the Von Klaus evil.

Another suspect Von Klaus family member is Max’s nephew Ludwig. He only seems relaxed when playing his piano. Otherwise, he is tormented by the potential of an evil influence from his notorious ancestors. Hugo Blanco plays Ludwig and would appear as the title character in Franco’s next horror film Dr. Orloff’s Monster (1964).

Ana Castor plays Lida, the proprietor of the local inn. She is featured in the prolonged stalking sequence that makes this film seem like a proto-giallo. Her voluptuous, blonde beauty would be featured again in Franco’s fourth, final, and finest black-and-white horror film, The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966). In that latter film, she was Franco’s first choice to play the main villain Irma Zimmer, but she declined that role due to some burn makeup needed for the character. She ended up flaunting her fine figure in the uncredited role of a sexy hitchhiker.

The wonderfully named Gogó Rojo (billed as Gogo Robins) has an even more sexually charged role as the curvy, brunette barmaid Margaret. She appears in a scene that was pretty transgressive for the time and portends the perversity Franco’s films would continue to explore.

Aside from a bit of levity provided by the banter between the crime reporter Karl Steiner (Fernando Delgado) and the frustrated Inspector Borowski (Georges Rollin), there seems to be an oppressive gloom throughout this film that is not alleviated by the conclusion. The true responsibility for the evil acts being perpetrated remains ambiguous; we are never quite sure where to place all of the blame for the recent crimes.

The prolific Jesús Franco’s second exercise in gothic horror has been almost forgotten among his vast body of offbeat films. This Spanish-French production should be considered a possible influence on what would soon become Italy’s giallo film genre. It certainly anticipates many of that genre’s aspects. It also blatantly presents kinky eroticism that would become a more common horror film element in the years to come, especially in Franco’s own work. This film is part of that early period in Franco’s filmography when technical and narrative discipline were still employed to explore some of his interests as he told his strange stories. Despite its slow pace and thin characterizations, The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus builds to a finale that leaves us with a lingering sense of haunting tragedy.

VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960)

Director: Wolf Rilla

Writers: Stirling Silliphant, Wolf Rilla, Ronald Kinnoch (as George Barclay), adapted from John Wyndham’s novel The Midwich Cuckoos

Producer: Ronald Kinnoch

Cast: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Michael Gwynn, Martin Stephens, Laurence Naismith, John Phillips, Richard Vernon, Thomas Heathcote, Jenny Laird, Richard Warner, Sarah Long, Charlotte Mitchell, Pamela Buck, Rosamund Greenwood, Bernard Archard, Susan Richards, Peter Vaughan, John Stuart, Keith Pyott, Alexander Archdale, Sheila Robins, Tom Bowman, Anthony Harrison, Diane Aubrey, Gerald Paris, Bruno (the dog), Clive Powell (uncredited) 

Everyone in the English village of Midwich simultaneously passes out. Anyone entering the perimeter of the town also faints. After several hours the unconscious victims of the strange phenomenon awaken with no ill effects. However, it is soon discovered that all the village women of childbearing age have become pregnant at the time of the Midwich blackout. 

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Bachelorhood has its advantages: I don’t have to pick up after myself, I can decorate my pad in any bizarre manner I see fit, there is no one about to scold me if I forget to put down the toilet seat, and no rugrats are around to disturb my peace and quiet. This last advantage is especially important when there are extraterrestrial forces that can impregnate a townful of women at once to perpetuate their species with soulless, mind-controlling, little bastards. Marriage might be wonderful, but I don’t think that “for better, for worse” business in the vows can make me feel duty bound to be stepfather to an alien brat that will eat all of my chocolate.

Village of the Damned is based on the 1957 John Wyndham novel The Midwich Cuckoos. This is a perfect example of the kind of science fiction that I prefer. It deals with the contemporary, real world consequences of one fantastic phenomenon. Wyndham, like H.G. Wells before him, preferred introducing one fantasy element into a normal setting to create the interest and conflict in a story. I could not agree more. There is a visceral reaction to such scenarios that make the circumstances much more immediate and relatable. This is contrary to far-flung fantasy world movie settings that are presented to bury us in visual effects and usually require accepting mountains of make-believe bullshit. Those often seem like nothing more than daydreams without rules and therefore have no suspension of disbelief.

Like many of my favorite stories, there is a lot of intrigue developed as we are first presented with an inexplicable event that leaves us as puzzled as the story’s characters. Much of the interest is maintained seeing the characters try to understand why the Midwich blackout happened and trying to anticipate the results. Once it becomes apparent that the young women in town are all pregnant, we not only wonder how and why this occurred, but we also wonder just what sort of children these unnatural pregnancies will produce. It is speculated that in Midwich, as in several other locations on Earth, an extraterrestrial force could have caused the mass pregnancies. Once it is apparent that the newborns are all nearly identical, develop much more quickly than normal children, and have mental abilities that are far superior to humans, the town of Midwich and the British government must decide if they can cope with this new breed of beings that could threaten the rest of mankind. 

George Sanders gives a very atypical performance as the optimistic Midwich scientist Gordon Zellaby. Sanders usually played smooth and sardonic cads or smooth and sardonic heroes. Here his customary cynicism is gone. His Gordon Zellaby is a character of great humanity, decency, and good humor. We are always on his side, even if he may be a bit too hopeful trying to manage the education and control of the Midwich brood of cold-blooded, alien hybrids. 

Gordon Zellaby has our sympathies because his wife Anthea (Barbara Shelly) is mother to David, the leader of the dangerously powerful children. Both Gordon and Anthea try to raise David with love and respect, yet such sentiments are never returned. David addresses his parents with a detached formality and courtesy that gives the impression he is merely tolerating them. 

Young Martin Stephens plays David Zellaby, the leader of the gang of superbrats. He is always controlled and confident. His only hints of emotion are concern about opposition to his plans and the subtle satisfaction he takes in the deadly results of the power he can exert over the humans in the village.

The deadly kids in Village of the Damned clearly demonstrate that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Children are often thought of as innocent, but they could be capable of great evil if they had the ability to get what they want. As Gordon Zellaby explains, moral values must be taught. It is only because children are not empowered that adults can condition them to have ethics and empathy for others. Society can’t function without those values. We see all too often how some people in high places never learned that lesson. Unfortunately, many of us see such sociopathic behavior as admirable. Having the power to get what you want and to hell with the consequences is seen by the selfish and ignorant as strength. Apparently, it never occurred to those idiots that the sociopaths they admire could grind them underfoot to achieve their ends. 

Britain produced many fine sci-fi horror films in the '50s and '60s that often were a bit more cerebral and sophisticated than the American productions. Being scary, tragic, and thought-provoking, Village of the Damned is one of the best and must-see viewing for fans of the genre.