Cookies on FilmShelves
We use essential cookies to keep the site working. With your permission we also use analytics cookies (so we can fix what's broken) and advertising cookies (so the ads you see are more relevant). Read our privacy policy.
You'll still see ads on the free tier — rejecting just means they won't be personalised.

The Horrible Dr Hichcock One day the necrophiliac tendencies of Dr Hichcock (Robert Flemyng, The Quiller Memorandum) go too far and his wife dies from an overdose. Bereft, the doctor leaves his house but returns years later with a new wife, Cynthia (Barbara Steele, Black Sunday). The house they return to is eerie and Cynthia hears strange things, meanwhile, she doesn’t realise Dr Hichcock intends to use her body to re-animate his dead wife's corpse. Released at the height of the Italian horror boom that was produced in the wake of the influence of Hammer’s era-defining horror productions, director Riccardo Freda (The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire) and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (The Whip and the Body) create a dark and wicked gothic horror that brings in sly allusions to the work of Alfred Hitchcock while the period detail of Victorian London provides a lush backdrop. SPECIAL FEATURES New 2023 2K restoration of the film from the original negative presented in three versions across two Blu-rays: Disc 1: the original 87-minute Italian version The Horrible Dr. Hichcock [L’orrible segreto del Dr. Hichcock]; and the English dub of the complete 87-minute Italian cut Raptus: The Secret of Dr. Hichcock; Disc 2, exclusive to the limited edition: the re-ordered 76-minute North American version The Horrible Dr. Hichcock Audio commentary by critics Kat Ellinger and Annie Rose Malamet Audio commentary by Tim Lucas analysing the different versions and distribution history of the film New interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (2023) Visual essay on Bluebeard in gothic film by Miranda Corcoran (2023) An interview with Madeleine Le Despencer on necrophilia and taboo gothic (2023) Trailer Gallery Year: 1962 Cert: 15 Format: Blu-ray Region: B RAD026BD EAN: 5060974680511 Release date: 24/03/24 Press: [A] “gothic masterpiece, a macabre poem as perverse, powerful and fascinating in form as Poe’s best work...Its morbid oneirism, deployed with a perfect control of colour, rhythm and atmosphere, brilliantly integrates such play with fragments of film history into its compelling fantasy texture." - Tom Milne and Paul Willemen, The Encyclopedia of Horror Movies
As an Amazon Associate and eBay Partner Network member, FilmShelves earns from qualifying purchases. These links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962)
88 min
In late 19th century London, a woman weds a necrophiliac doctor whose first wife died under mysterious circumstances - and who might be returning from the grave to torment her successor.