Drive-In Dust Offs: HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE (1973)

Spanish horror superstar Paul Naschy has always been on my radar, yet for whatever reason, I’ve never taken the shot. (And sunk the ship? Metaphors are the worst.) So it is with great shame that I’ve spent far too long ignoring this international treasure as my inaugural Naschy, Javier Aguirre’s Hunchback of the Morgue (1973), is a cheeky Frankenstein riff that offers up its own twisted charms.

Released in its native Spain in July, it hit stateside in September of ’75 when Cinemation Industries (owned and run by Jerry Gross, legendary promoter. See: I Drink Your Blood. No, really, see it) added it to double and triple bills across the land. It…didn’t do very well, and that’s not a big surprise; it’s certainly not your traditional monster movie, with a plot that veers between soapy operatics, laboratory hijinks, and all tied together by Naschy’s magnetic (and sympathetic) portrayal of the titular character.

Pity poor Gotho (Naschy). The lone morgue attendant, he spends his days caring for the cadavers when he isn’t busy dissecting them. When the beautiful Ilse (Maria Elena Arpon – Tombs of the Blind Dead) dies in hospital, Gotho is heartbroken, his daily flower-filled pilgrimages no longer to be (yet a stoning from the towns children is always guaranteed).In fact, he’s so distraught by Ilse’s death that he kidnaps her body from the morgue (after dispensing with the coroners attempting an autopsy on her) and steals it away to an underground catacomb laden with rats, positive that she’s only sleeping. (Really! She isn’t!) Enter Dr. Orla (Alberto Dalbes – Cut-Throats Nine) and his assistant Tauchner (Victor Barrera – It Happened at Nightmare Inn), who as the plot gods would have it, are about to lose their hospital grant for their experiments. Hooking up with Gotho seems to be a convenient fix, and they bunk up with him, pushing aside his cobwebbed skeletons and iron maidens to make room for beakers filled with smoke and green, viscous liquids. (I have no idea how you split that chore list.)

Naturally the police get involved, as Orla promises Gotho he can “create” another Ilse but he’ll need fresh grist for the mill as it were; and wouldn’t you know it, a passage in the catacombs happens to lead right outside the local girl’s reformatory, giving Gotho access to all the fresh victims Orla needs. (All in the name of love/science, of course.) Add in Tauchner’s fiancé Frieda (Maria Perschy – Horror of the Zombies) and a love interest for Gotho (!) in the form of buxom blonde doctor Elke (Rosanna Yanni – Count Dracula’s Great Love), which doesn’t so much muddy the mix as it adds more suds to the load leading up to a thrilling (and disgusting) conclusion.

Regardless of the reason I’ve slept on Spanish horror for this long, I’m here now and if Hunchback of the Morgue is any indication, I’m in for the long haul. This one really does have it all: decapitations, eviscerations, proclamations (of L-U-V), and just enough grue to please discerning gorehounds. It also has a lot of heart which flows directly from Naschy himself.

I understand the appeal now; he has leading man looks with a character actor’s soul, and while his aesthetic here doesn’t extend past a fright wig and a lumpy hump, he imbues Gotho with a great deal of pathos that almost gives the film a sweetness; and I say almost because when he’s not wooing Ilse or professing an affection for Elke (to which she responds in kind), he’s busy stabbing or bludgeoning anyone that either sasses Orla or gets in his way.

These are the two modes of Hunchback, so you’d best adapt; it’s either Gotho making moves on one dead and one living girl, or him flaying, beating, or throttling the life from someone. This by the way is far from a complaint; these are two modes I fully endorse on film, but if you’re looking for something less episodic or more story-driven, you’ve pulled into the wrong village. And frankly I don’t care, because Aguirre (Count Dracula’s Great Love)’s direction is swift and assured, lending as much credence and style to a tender scene between Gotho and Elke as he does to Orla’s mud monster battle royale with Gotho.

Even though he’s often relegated to the side in an effort to fit him into the “Igor” role, Naschy is simply too magnetic and easily gives the best performance in the film. You just can’t help feeling sorry for him, even as he strangles a woman behind a shadowed shower curtain or sawing off a head. GOTHO JUST WANTS TO BE LOVED, DAMMIT, and Naschy’s script (along with Aguirre and Alberto S. Insua) doesn’t see his hump as a hindrance, at least in the romance department; sure the kids call him a monster, but other than that all’s fair in love and war, I guess – both areas being Gotho’s speciality.

But that’s enough about love, because once we’re in the roomy catacombs we can roll call nearly every mad scientist trope and smile; machines that beep, bubbling beakers and cadavers in varying stages of decay, even a truckful of rats for the squeamish. (Please note: real rats are burned alive; an unfortunate product of the cinematic times. Just burn a rubber one and call it a day, I say.) The lab scenes have a goofy charm that not only offset the elevated earnestness of the romantic entanglements, but pay a certain amount of respect to the Universal monsters of yore; and while Orla’s creature will not make you forget Frankie or The Wolfman, his Mudman is still a sight to behold, a pustulant garbage heap intent on destroying everything in its path. (Okay it’s only one room, but he really messes it up, I promise.)

Hunchback of the Morgue even manages to have a happy ending of sorts; maybe not for everyone involved (hello, high body count), but for some. It’s hard to see Gotho as a Valentino, but I have a feeling as I delve deeper into Naschy’s filmography that he’ll be wooing me with tragedy. And I’m perfectly fine with that; the candlelight may be a torch and the centrepiece a bouquet of body parts, but I’ll gladly be serenaded by Paul any day. Sure beats the alternative.

Hunchback of the Morgue is available on Blu-ray as part of the Paul Naschy Collection Volume II from Scream Factory.