La orgía de los muertos (translated as Orgy of the Dead) a.k.a. The Hanging Woman (US theatrical release), Beyond the Living Dead, Return of the Zombies and Bracula: Terror of the Living Dead, is a 1972 Italian/Spanish horror film directed by José Luis Merino, starring Paul Naschy and Dyanik Zurakowska. The film was shot in March 1972, but was not shown in Spanish theaters (as La orgía de los muertos) until September 3, 1973. It was shown theatrically in the U.S. in 1974 as The Hanging Woman, and then was later re-released there as Beyond the Living Dead. It was released in Germany on April 6, 1976 as Der Totenchor der Knochenmänner / Death Chorus of the Skeletons, and re-released in Germany on March 1, 1977 as Die Bestie aus dem Totenreich / The Beast from the Death Realm. It was shown in the U.K. as Zombies - Terror of the Living Dead, in France as Les Orgies Macabres, and in Australia as Bracula, Terror of the Living Dead.
Merino, the director, pleaded with Naschy to appear in the film as a personal favor to him, upon learning that Naschy had just finished shooting his Horror Rises From the Tomb in February and was available for a very short time. Naschy originally turned him down, as he thought the brief role of Igor the gravedigger was too unimportant and lackluster. Merino allowed Naschy to rework the script and beef up the character, adding a necrophilia angle to Igor. Ironically, Naschy's gravedigger wound up becoming the most memorable character in the whole film.
In April 1980, the German distributor Nobis-Film negotiated a deal to re-release this film yet again in Germany, this time under the title Die Nackte Göttin der Zombies / The Naked Goddess of the Zombies, but the deal fell through at the last minute.
Contents
Plot
Serge Chekov inherits his uncle's estate, only to discover that Professor Droila, a mad scientist, has taken residence in the basement.
The film opens with the beautiful, red-headed woman (the titular “hanging woman”) named Mary going through a crypt to fiddle with the corpse of the late Count. We begin to see a shadow creep towards Mary inside the crypt and she is enveloped while screaming as we cut away. Shortly after we meet Serge as he comes into town. He accidentally stumbles across the hanged corpse of our red-headed victim. Serge appropriately freaks out and desperately tries to awaken the townspeople by banging on windows, doors, and ringing town bells but the most attention he gets is people blowing out their candles. Serve is incredulous at the town’s indifference. He is reluctantly let inside by a mother and son pair, where Serge (and the audience) receives some exposition.
Serge is later finds himself at his uncle’s castle/estate, and a fiery detective does not believe Mary (found out to be a direct relative of Serge) died from suicide via hanging; he sees dragging marks in the dirt and other evidence of murder! In fact, he insinuates that Serge was the one with the most motive as he stood to inherit everything. Serge replies that he never even knew his uncle or Mary, and for all he knew his “inheritance” is a bunch of debt.
All the meanwhile, there are subplots hatching where Professor Droila is up to shenanigans in his basement lab, infusing life into dead things like frogs by using electricity. He wonders aloud what might happen to a human if he could give the same “treatment” right at the moment of death. Additionally, professor’s daughter Doris Droila is feuding with Countess Nadia for Serge’s attention and inheritance. Both have their own angles, but Nadia appears more nefarious as she secretly invokes black magic and summons Igor (the grave digger) to … do something(?) to her while she gets naked. A little later, Doris is open with Serge in why she doesn’t want him to sell the estate per Nadia’s request. She wants to restore/save her father’s work in the laboratory underneath the home. And in case we had any doubts whether our protagonist was a sleaze or not, he commences to make a nonplussed Doris get naked and kiss him while saying “I always prefer to sample the product before purchasing” (or something just as gross). [He also slept with Nadia earlier so the guy is certainly enjoying his trip so far, other than the dead lady].
Cast
Stelvio Rosi (credited as Stan Cooper) as Serge Chekov
Dyanik Zurakowska as Doris Droila
Paul Naschy as Igor the necrophiliac
Gérard Tichy as Professor Leon Droila
Maria Pia Conte as Countess Nadia Minajli
Aurora de Alba as Mary Minajli
Carlos Quiney as Ivan the butler
Isarco Ravaioli as the Mayor
Pasquales Basile as the detective
Eleonora Vargas
Carla Mancini
Release
Since the 1980s, the film has been released on VHS Home Video over the years under three different titles...The Hanging Woman, Return of the Zombies and Beyond the Living Dead.
The Troma DVD release (as The Hanging Woman) was on September 29, 2009 in the USA, with audio commentary by director Jose Luis Merino, an interview with actor Paul Naschy, and as a bonus, the seldom seen Sid Pink film "The Sweet Sound of Death" (starring Dyanik Zurakowska).
Reception
Writing in The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Peter Dendle said, "Scenic nineteenth-century Skopje forms the eerie and beautiful background for this grab bag of twisted motifs, suspect ideology, and gruesome zombies." Jonathan Rigby, in his 2016 book Euro Gothic: Classics of Continental Horror Cinema, noted that "The film boasts an exciting cemetery pursuit, a brilliant seance sequence in which the dead nobleman returns, even an absurd love-making scene in which Rosi and Pia Conte revolve in space. But perhaps its chief charm is, unusually, its English dub track. Rome's veteran ADR director Nick Alexander had a whale of a time here, adapting the dialogue into a series of waggish one-liners."
Bill Gibron of PopMatters rated it 7/10 and wrote, "While not a classic, The Hanging Woman definitely has its high points. It’s got some great locations, a splash of sinister finesse, more than a few ripe red herrings, and a performance by Naschy that’s not to be missed." Stuart Galbraith IV of DVD Talk rated it 2/5 stars and wrote, "It's tough being negative on what was obviously a labor of love for those involved with its release, but The Hanging Woman (1973), a Spanish horror-mystery featuring beefy genre heavyweight Paul Naschy in a supporting role, is a big disappointment." David Johnson of DVD Verdict wrote, "There are some premium bizzaro moments to be found in The Hanging Woman" and recommended it to fans of Naschy and slow-paced Hammer Films.