The year 1962 was a big year for horror films worldwide. The films released that year covered nearly every possible horror story. Every country seemed to be jumping on the horror bandwagon in some fashion.
Two films stand out because of their similarities and their differences.
“What Ever Happened To Baby Jane” 1962 was a huge US hit. This is a terrifying film very different from the ghosts, vampires, and spooks haunting US theaters at that time. This is a creepy and unpleasant look inside the home of two faded personalities. Two elderly sisters, bound by guilt, hatred, and loneliness thrash about against the invisible chains of their personal prisons.
Joan Crawford had 37 years of film experience and Bette Davis had 31 yet neither had ever done anything like this film. Every frame drips with hatred fueled by guilt and resentment. The sadism here is both physical and emotional and the two actors bring everything they have to the screen. This is a hard film to watch and that’s what makes it such a delicious treat.
“La Mano de un Hombre Muerto” 1962 (US title “The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus”) was Jesus Franco’s sixth feature. His other feature “Gritos en la Noche” (US title “The Awful Dr. Orlof”) released earlier the same year, had been a big international hit and put him on the map as a director. He would return to that films story, atmosphere, and structure many times in his career with various degrees of success.
“La Mano…” is a very different film and may be the movie that began Mr. Franco’s reputation as an inconsistent director, at least as perceived by critics and fans alike. The story is sent in the mountains of Austria in present (1962) day. Someone is murdering young women in unsavory ways. A reporter and a local inspector join forces to solve the mystery and bring the killer to justice. This is a standard murder mystery that lacks nearly all of the cinematic magic Mr. Franco had demonstrated in “Gritos…”. It is almost entirely forgettable.
..Except for one bizarre and shocking (even viewed today) sequence. Like all Spanish filmmakers of the day, Mr. Franco would film two versions of some scenes. If a scene contained any nudity it would be filmed with and then without the nudity. The nudes scenes were for the international market. The clothed ones were for the Spanish market, because of the extreme restrictions of the Spanish politics at the time.
Spoiler Alert: The following is a description of the scene in question. This scene only appears in the restored Spanish version. The scene identifies the murderer, is unfortunate lover, and demonstrates a level of sexual frankness and graphic torture not seen in films of that time. Stop here if you’d rather see the scene first hand.
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The scene shows that the murderer is Ludwig, not the Baron. Ludwig meets his secret lover Margaret in his dungeon. (as one does) She is shown lying on a mattress, naked except for black panties. Ludwig, fully clothed, joins her, embracing and kissing her. His kisses move from her lips down her body till his head is mostly out of frame. Her reactions leave no doubt that Ludwig is giving her nether region some very personal oral attention. He leaves her and takes a whip, striping her pale body. Writhing in agony, it’s visually obvious this she’s not into this. Ludwig then secures her wrists with manacles attached to chains from a winch attached to the ceiling. He hauls her up till her hands are near teh ceiling and her feet are dangling just above the floor. He kisses her and then moves to a fire where several irons are heating. He selects a sword with a broad blade. The scene cuts, showing only his lower body and her dangling legs. We see him raise the sword but don’t see him actually use it. Her dangling legs suddenly jerk violently, effectively showing the effect of the torture without showing the torture itself.