Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls (1973)

What a nice & trashy early 70s exploitation discovery this turned out to be! "Doctor of Death: Seeker of Souls" is a film that immediately brings a lot of opposite statements to mind… The whole basic concept is pretty derivative and overdone, but at the same time creatively served and continuously feeling fresh. The film is low-budgeted, cheesy and dumb, but simultaneously also inventive, macabre and even occasionally intelligent when you least suspect it! And last not least, whereas sadly most of the drive-in horror/exploitation flicks from that era were incredibly dull and pitiably amateurish, "Doctor Death" is non-stop entertaining and outrageously over-the-top just like the fans want to see them. The concept is as simple as it is genius; Dr. Death is an alchemist/roadshow magician who's been alive for more than a thousand years thanks to his own secret formula. Unlike all other and dumb scientists who tried to obtain immortality, Dr. Death doesn't even attempt to keep his body energized and youthful, as he simply just transfers his soul to a new body whenever the time has come. He naturally has to kill the owner of the new body, but that's a small price to pay when you have been around for centuries and existed in the bodies of various men, women and children. In this modern day and age, Doctor Death now even offers his soul-shifting business as a profitable business and built a flamboyant circus show around it. The heartbroken widower Fred Saunders hires him to transfer a random soul into the beautiful but sadly deceased body of his wife, but this turns out to be a difficult assignment for the magnificent Dr. Death. The body inexplicably refuses every soul that our good doctor brings to her tomb – resulting in a couple of hilarious "I command you to enter that body!" sequences. After a while, even Mr. Saunders abandons the idea (probably because he finally realized that his blond secretary is far hotter than his wife ever was) but Dr. Death stubbornly continues to fulfill his assignment, even if it means that innocent girls' bodies pile up. Sure this film has quite a large number of shortcomings and (not-so) minor defaults, but I was far too entertained to let them bother me. John Considine is a fantastically evil protagonist, the script is full of unpredictable out-of-the-blue plot twists, there's plenty of cheap Grand Guignol gore (the head in the box is awesome) and there's an irresistible atmosphere of weirdness from start to finish.

Soap actor John Considine is a bit too pretty and lightweight for the title role, and it's quite surreal to see Moe Howard appear in the first act of the movie, but DOCTOR DEATH is actually an interesting little movie that might have been better. It's very, very much of its time -- not just in terms of the production design but also its treatment of the occult and of horror stories -- but they really try to do a big story on a little budget. And that's nearly always a respectable thing.For me, one of the highlights of the film is the brief (and silent) appearance of Larry "Seymour" Vincent, the premier Los Angeles horror host of the 1970s. He is part of an amusing movie-within-the-movie that actually makes you wish that you could see *that* movie instead of the one you're actually watching (DOCTOR DEATH)!

everybody remembers this one for Moe Howard's appearance, and his brief cameo is truly a hoot. but, for aging denizens of horror who remember the classic Horror host, "Seymour", his brief appearance is heart wrenching. Unlike other films like "The Incredible 2-headed transplant" where he's just another actor, his brief moment in this film, has him in his "Seymour" character, hosting a horror film on TV! brought a tear to my eye, since I never missed his show, and wish they could dredge some of it up, like they have done with "Ghoulardi" and others. Seymour allegedly ran for President at least twice, and his stickers, buttons and posters, were nearly ubiquitous throughout Southern California, for years. Before Elvira, Commander USA. the Phantom of the Opry, and others, "Seymour" presented old horror classics with a bit of respect. I'm sure I am not alone with my fond memories of this great horror host. Just too bad that his appearance in "Dr. Death", is so brief

Dr.Death is an offbeat horror film about a man who visits a strange doctor in hopes that the latter can bring his dead wife back to life. Of course, things don't go as planned. The film has that early 70s, eerie, anything-can-happen feel and the actors, though not household names, are quite good. There are some truly unnerving moments and a surprise appearance by Moe from the 3 Stooges in a bit role, filmed shortly before his death. The film starts to lose it's strength as it nears the end but it's still a memorable experience.