The Erotic Experiments of Professor Mandrake (Mount-Faulcon, 1973)

DIRECTOR: DON PORRO. RUNNING TIME: 82 mins. DVD: PEEPSHOW CLASSICS. PRICE £19.99 CERT 18

Randy mad scientists, homoeroticism, a ludicrous plot and past their prime stars – yes, its another 1970s European erotic horror pic. This little-known Franco-Spanish gem opens with crazy camp scientist Professor Mandrake (George Sanders) sending his servant – a cross-dressing werewolf – to kidnap Frankenstein’s monster. Arriving at Castle Frankenstein, the lycanthrope pushes the Elderly Baron Frankenstein (Alastair Sim) over the battlements, leaving him for dead, before sedating the monster and carrying him off. It seems that mincing Mandrake has been admiring the monster from afar and wants to make certain ‘modifications’ to him before taking him as his gay lover. Meanwhile, Frankenstein’s grandson Helmut (David Warbeck), finds the fatally injured Baron and learns of Mandrake’s dastardly experiments. Naturally, Helmut proceeds to penetrate (so to speak) Castle Mandrake in order to derail the Professor’s plans. Along the way he encounters the results of some of Mandrake’s earlier experiments, including an hermaphrodite mummy, a nymphomaniac fish-woman and the transvestite werewolf. Inevitably, Helmut is captured and taken to Mandrake’s lab, where the mad professor unveils his modifications to the monster – a huge gleaming metal phallus. However, the monster has fallen for a young serving girl from the local village and rejects Mandrake’s advances. Enraged, Mandrake throws the monster, Helmut and the girl into his torture chamber…

Shot in Spain with French money, this erotic horror fest could easily be mistaken as the work of the prolific Jess Franco, but is actually directed by the lesser known Portuguese exploitation specialist Don Porro. Indeed, Erotic Experiments seems to be an attempt to overtly parody such pseudo-gothic movies as Franco’s Frankenstein versus Dracula, Erotic Experiences of Frankenstein and The Bare Breasted Countess – although the lack of Franco’s nausea-inducing trademark zoom shots makes Porro’s film far more watchable. The obviously low budget is well deployed, with the art direction – all bright primary colours and shiny fabrics – and locations bordering on the surreal (Castle Mandrake appears to be a 1970s villa complex outside of Madrid, for instance). Frankenstein’s monster is curiously depicted as a gold painted muscleman with silver hair. Nevertheless, his artificial phallus – all shiny steel an d flashing lights – is reasonably impressive. However, the werewolf – apparently intended as a skit on the Waldemar Daninsky character played by Jacinto Molinar in a seemingly endless series of badly dubbed international atrocities – seems ludicrous when seen wandering around in high heels and a summer dress. The torture scenes are surprisingly well handled and have a real sado-erotic frisson to them – particularly when the girl is subjected to ‘The Eroticon’, a vibrator-like device which will shoot out its deadly blades when it detects that it has brought her to climax. The editing, as Porro cuts between close-ups of her face as she struggles to resist her inevitable arousal and Helmut and the monster’s reactions, is masterful. Of course, the monster eventually breaks his bonds, buggers Mandrake to death and frees the others, before they all head off into the sunset, presumably to form some bizarre ménage a trois…

The performances are generally adequate for this type of production, although it is sad to see an actor of Sanders’ calibre reduced to lovingly stroking a monster’s huge silver penis – is it any wonder he committed suicide? The film was previously released on video in the UK in a re-edited form entitled Frankenstein – The Bummer, with Sanders redubbed with a Welsh accent for comic effect. It is now restored to its original form and running time. A minor masterpiece of its genre.