a.k.a. ‘La venganza del sexo’
Productores Argentinos Asociados, 1967

starring: Aldo Barbero, Ricardo Bauleo, Gloria Prat, and Susana Beltran

written and directed by: Emilio Vieyra

the plot: Sexually promiscuous 20-somethings are disappearing! Orgy-holding hippies, countryside-dwelling lesbians, and strippers from the city are being kidnapped and loaded into a hearse. Their destination: the remote mansion of Dr. Humpp (Barbero), a rogue scientist who believes that, by harvesting the orgasmic energy of young people, he can live forever. Dr. Humpp is aided in his deviant quest by a young nurse (Beltran) and an army of “robots”—disfigured and brain-dead humans that are the products of Humpp’s failed experiments. After receiving a tip from a bar owner, intrepid newspaperman George (Bauleo) infiltrates Humpp’s secret hideout. There, he meets Rachel (Prat), a stripper desperate to escape Humpp’s evil clutches. George and Rachel team up and make a bid to escape, but find that few can free themselves from Dr. Humpp’s libidinous grasp.

why it’s good: Does a person’s name determine his or her career? Was Dr. Humpp fated to conduct bizarre experiments on sex-crazed hippies because of his laughable last name, or was it simply a case of unfortunate coincidence? The world will never know, primarily because “The Curious Dr. Humpp” offers much in the way of nudity and sleaze, but little in the way of anything else. There’s at least one naked person on screen for about 80 of the movie’s 90 minutes. This may sound like a boon to sleazoids, but be warned: there will be a point in “Dr. Humpp” when you will grow bored with all the boobs and butts. There are precious few other distractions, but some are engaging. Dr. Humpp, it seems, takes his orders from a talking brain in a jar—the final remains of the Italian mad scientist mentor who tipped Humpp off to the awesome power of orgasmic energy so many years ago. (As if to reinforce the stereotype of temperamental Italians, the brain becomes so incensed and angry at the end of the movie that it spontaneously combusts.) There’s also a great bit where Dr. Humpp appears to be testing an early form of virtual reality and/or teledildonics—oh, if only Dr. Humpp lived long enough to see the Internet. Those “robots” are pretty cool, but puzzling—they’re human, but also seem to have cameras (or, at least, flashing lights) implanted in their foreheads, in addition to sporting hideous monster faces. The soundtrack is pretty sweet, too, if you’re into retro lounge music. The sheer weirdness of “Dr. Humpp” is enough to make it enjoyable, but it’s way too long by about 20 minutes—incidentally, the amount of sex and nudity the film’s American distributors (it was originally released in Argentina) added to the movie before releasing it here.

why you should own it: This Valentine’s Day, why not treat your date to a showing of “The Curious Dr. Humpp?” Of course, make sure your date loves retro-sleaze and doesn’t mind bad dubbing and naked hippies. Something Weird Video’s DVD features the nudity-laden U.S. version of the film, along with a trailer for Vieyra’s movie “The Deadly Organ,” a  gallery of exploitation art, and some forgotten short flicks.