By Lee Pfeiffer
Scorpion Releasing has made possible the DVD debut of the 1973 cult horror film Doctor Death, Seeker of Souls. The special edition release is top-notch in all respects. The movie was the brainchild of Eddie Saeta, a lifelong member of the movie community who started out as Harry Cohn's messenger boy and later became a well-respected assistant director. (He worked on a number of the Three Stooges shorts at Columbia and several Man From U.N.C.L.E. episodes that were turned into feature films.) Doctor Death was a rare opportunity for Saeta to fulfill his dream of directing a feature film. The low-budget horror opus was shot in 12 days - a remarkable achievement, given the film's ambitious special effects and varying sets and locations. The movie is played primarily for laughs, with John Considine cast as the titular villain, a charismatic practitioner of black magic who has secured the secret to eternal life. When the present body he inhabits is on the verge of death, he is able to transfer his soul into a recently-deceased person. The fly-in-the-ointment is that, if a suitable cadaver is not available, the good doctor secures one through murder. In contemporary times, he turns his art into a for-profit venture by charging distraught people huge sums to bring their loved ones back from the grave by transposing their souls into another body. The script follows one such grieving victim, Fred Saunders (Barry Coe), who cannot accept the fact that his beautiful young wife Laura (Jo Morrow) has died from an illness. He hires Doctor Death to bring her soul back to life - and it doesn't ruin any plot device to inform the reader that certain unexpected complications occur.
The film's primary asset is a delightfully hammy performance by John Considine, who makes Vincent Price's equally enjoyable performance in
House on Haunted Hill look like a model of restraint. The movie is clearly intended to be amusing, though all the actors play it straight and never cross over into slapstick. Saeta moves the action along at a brisk clip, not surprising considering the brief production period. The movie has all the hallmarks of cult horror films from the 70s: doomed teenagers making out in cars, doomed girls in hot pants, doomed girls who watch scary movies while naked in bed, and a potentially doomed love interest for the newly widowed Fred, his secretary Sandy (comely Cheryl Miller.) The blood flows abundantly but the effects, while gruesome, hold up well even by today's standards. The supporting cast includes Leon Askin (who played the German general in
Hogan's Heroes), relegated to the Igor-like character of the brute mute assistant to Doctor Death. There is also a brief appearance by Moe Howard of The Three Stooges that registers as bizarre simply because he plays the role straight. (Howard did the bit as a favor to his old friend Saeta).Â
Scorpion has once again produced a first-rate DVD edition of a "B" movie. Extras include an audio commentary track and new video interview with John Considine, who went on to become a respected character actor and screenwriter. Considine good-naturedly recounts "chewing the scenery" in the title role and the director's satisfaction with any take in which an actor didn't fumble his lines. He also confesses to having concerns about the sheer abundance of his dialogue, which approaches soliloquies on occasion. Considine also discusses his other "B" movies and his appearance in George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told which he refers to as The Longest Story Never Told. The special edition also contains an interview with the late Eddie Saeta's son Steven, who admirably defends the film and his father's career. He also tells personal anecdotes such as the times he met Moe Howard and Larry Fine as a child.Steven points out that the film was rejected for distribution by most major studios and even A.I.P. wouldn't touch it because of the gore. Cinerama Releasing gave the film limited distribution, but it has developed a cult status in the ensuing years. The DVD also includes a vintage 30 second TV spot, and -best of all- it is not regionally encoded, so the disc will play on any system in the world. Make an appointment for Doctor Death to pay a house call to your abode.
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