Barbara Steele on the making of The Horrible Dr. Hichcock

Riccardo Freda's true classic of 60's Italian horror, The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (AKA The Terror of Doctor Hichcock), remains a mesmerizing, beautiful gothic tale and one of the high points of European horror. To think the film was pulled off in 10 days (14 by some accounts) makes it even more impressive. Love or hate Italian horror cinema, one thing is undeniable - These boys could overcome any financial and/or time constraints with incredible craftsmanship and artistry (take that DOGMA 95).

The movie, while reserved, features for its time a pretty shocking and sickening premise. Dr. Bernard Hichcock (played with sweaty intensity by a game Robert Fleming) is a legendary surgeon who has mastered the use of anesthesia. When he isn't at the hospital he enjoys knocking his willing wife out for a little make believe necrophilia. One night Dr. Hichcock goes too far with his dosage and accidentally kills her.

Overcome with grief the good Doc leaves for 12 years and returns with a new wife Cynthia (our fave Barbara Steele). His creepy as hell mansion, a shady maid, the maid's screaming insane sister locked in a room, and a tremendous thunderstorm all leave Cynthia extremely edgy. In a classic scene Cynthia hears what she believes to be the maid's insane sister plodding down the hallway to her room. Once outside her door the knobs turns but thankfully the door is locked! A classic scene! They don't make this kind of shit anymore!

Soon Cynthia is seeing frightening apparitions of what appears to be the Doc's deceased wife and having horrific nightmares. Meanwhile Doctor Hichcock is beginning to act cold to his new wife and spending way to much time at work fondling corpses. What is the Doctor thinking? Will he return to his perverted ways? Is the house haunted or is the maid's insane sister still in the house? Good stuff, if you haven't seen it check it out!

Doctor Hichcock's name is an obvious reference to the great Alfred Hitchcock with the "t" being left out to avoid lawsuits. It was both a marketing ploy (Hitchcock was obviously huge in Europe at the time), but also a nice homage to him. The film has numerous Hitchcockian moments, many borrowed straight from his films (we won't list them it's more fun to play the game yourself). The Horrible Dr. Hichcock is one of the few films that actually contains suspense scenes to rival some of Hitchcock's most famous scenes.