Truly Dreadful Film

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A mad scientist working in a lab in his house thinks he can cure all diseases, if only he can find a young female donor and...wait...didn't I just watch this one under the title of The Head? Ah, no - this is an Italian production of a similar story, but as this one is Italian there's a lot more here that doesn't make much sense, and is all the more entertaining for it. What plays out like a bog-standard mad scientist film branches off into madness as the scientist for no clear reason turns into a bloodthirsty monster halfway into the film, completely out of nowhere.That's enough to raise this one a couple of notches above The Head right away, but let's add in all the stuff that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Fair enough, the scientist turns into a monster of some kind, but that's kind of explained by his visit to Hiroshima post blast (just...eh...leave it at that and don't think too much). There's also the pointless scene where the scientist knocks down a wall in his basement where water is seeping through the bricks (shades of the Beyond there!)....that leads nowhere. Or the belly dancing scene where the dancer breaks the fourth wall. All that kind of crap.Once again, and early Italian trash film, but the trademarks are starting to crop up again, and are more welcome for it. What starts out as yet another mad scientist film is made better by the bad guy turning into a monster for no reason.And a dog kicks his arse, just like in Island Monster!

Seddok, l'erede di Satana (1960) aka Atom Age Vampire CONTAINS SPOILERSAs another IMDb reviewer has written, this film is only "recommended for horror fans." The basic story is very familiar: hubris and the use of questionable, experimental methods to return an injured woman's (Susanne Loret) unblemished beauty leads to murder, mayhem, madness and moral decay. Done better - in places - than the 'Atom Age Vampire' title implies, which is probably more descriptive of the US (1963 drive-ins?) marketing than the film's plot. The actual facial injury is not horrific, or even particularly ugly but still causes great distress - Gloria Grahame would have understood perfectly - and it provides Ms. Loret a couple of opportunities to do Veronica Lake and mask it quite attractively with a fall of hair. It also provides more than a couple of moments of unintentional humor.It is also refreshing to see some small restraint on the gratuitous destruction of the protagonists; the negative side effects, (and funnier makeup), of tampering in inappropriate domains ultimately falls on the tamperer, (where they belong), and not the innocent accident victim. Since Loret's character is a dancer/stripper/etc that could have been used as a pretext, (certainly if this had been a 1960 US production), to turn her into a cardboard cutout labeled Harlot &/or Sin of Vanity and treat her like Dorian Gray or Victor Frankenstein along with the arrogant scientist (Alberto Lupo). Instead, in the end she is apparently cured and free to live happily ever after.Browsing IMDb I learned there exists, (or existed), an original, uncut, un-dubbed 105 minute version, which I will probably never see, but doubt that the omission will be one of my deathbed regrets. However, there is an entry for this movie at Wikipedia which states: "Although no 105 minute print has ever been found, it is believed by some that the 105 minute running time was because the deleted VHS release on Acme Video stated a run time of ±105 Mins. (when it meant 1 Hour and 5 minutes)." The article is supported by the reasonably solid sounding reference: Science Fiction Film Source Book, David Wingrove, Longman Group Ltd., 1985. At any rate the question has apparently been under scrutiny for 30+ years.Just in case this isn't tiresome enough, the US video release was snipped to 72 minutes, and when it made it to DVD was further reduced to 69 minutes....but 1 hr + 5 m = 65 m =/= 69 m, so perhaps the argument above that the 105 minute version never existed is flawed. There are depths to be plumbed here by a courageous investigator.The film is out of copyright, (maybe nobody wanted to bother renewing it), and is available from the Internet Archive – their copy is probably ripped from VHS or other tape media but the quality is quite good, (well, watchable), and it is the full 5220 seconds.XYZ

The actual title for this Italian film is "Seddok, l'erede di Satana". The version/copy I have is dubbed over in English very well which made it easy to watch and enjoy.The movie is not half bad - it actually kept my interest until the very end of the film. This is the type of movie that horror buffs might enjoy when they are in the mood for a fairly good older b-rated sci-fi horror flick.Jeanette Moreneau (Susanne Loret) is a stripper and had her face disfigured in a car accident. She ends up in a hospital where she meets her soon-to-be doctor & caretaker Prof. Alberto Levin (Alberto Lupo). Jeanette soon finds herself trapped in Prof. Levin's care for you see Prof. Levin has developed a treatment that can restore the cells and return the skin back to normal - but for how long and at what cost? I found the movie entertaining and interesting although it's not what I would call a really, really good b-rated horror film - it's simply not bad and is fairly interesting.6/10

The stripper Jeanette Moreneau (Susanne Loret) is dumped by her boyfriend Pierre Mornet (Sergio Fantoni) and she drives her car to talk to him. However, she has a car accident and the left side of her face is completely disfigured by horrible scars. She is approached in the hospital by Monique Riviere (Franca Parisi), who is the assistant and lover of Professor Alberto Levin (Alberto Lupo), and she tells Jeanette that her face can be restored.Jeanette secretly goes to the professor's house and is treated by him, using a process that depends on the cells that Prof. Levin, who is also a monster that strangles his victim, removes from the women that he kills. While treating Jeanette, Prof. Levin falls in an unrequited love for her and kills Monique. Meanwhile, the police inspector that is investigating the mysterious murders, suspects of Prof. Levin."Seddok, l'Erede di Satana" (meaning "Seddok, the Heir of Satan"), a.k.a. "Atom Age Vampire", is a trash Italian horror film that combines "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" with Georges Franju's "Les Yeux Sans Visage" and the vampire of the messy American title. The result is a predictable film, with one actress that recalls Sophia Loren and the other that recalls Madonna. But anyway, it is entertaining and worths be watched. I saw the 87 minutes version and by the way, who is Seddok? My vote is five.Title (Brazil): Not Available