Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: NR

Also known as:
Dans les griffes du maniaque
Le diabolique docteur Z
Miss Death
Miss Death and Dr. Z in the Grip of the Maniac
Miss Muerte

Synopsis:
When Dr. Zimmer (Antonio Jiménez Escribano) announces that he has created a device that can control good and evil in the human brain, he is ridiculed by his fellow scientists and suffers a fatal heart attack. Trying to comfort Dr. Zimmer's daughter, Irma (Mabel Karr), Dr. Phillipe Brighthouse (Fernando Montes) takes her to a club where the sexy Nadia (Estella Blain) is performing as Miss Death. Later, on her way home, Irma fakes her own death by murdering a hitchhiker that looks like her. When Irma arrives home, her father's assistant Barbara Albert (Ana Castor) announces that she's leaving but Irma uses her father's device to turn Barbara into her obedient servant. She then moves her father's laboratory to an abandoned mansion and begins to plot her revenge on the men that ridiculed her father. With the aid of her henchman Bergen (Guy Mairesse), Irma kidnaps Nadia and uses her father's device to turn Nadia into a sexy assassin armed with poisoned fingernails. When she awakes, Nadia kills Barbara but Irma eventually gets control of her. However, Irma doesn't know that Phillipe and Nadia have fallen in love and Phillipe is suspicious of Nadia's disappearance. Obeying Irma, Nadia seduces and murders her first target, Dr. Vicas (Howard Vernon), but Irma must use her father's machine to reinforce her control over Nadia when Nadia is wracked with guilt over what she did. Next, Irma, Nadia and Bergen murder Dr. Moroni but, once again, Irma must use her father's device to reinforce her control over Nadia. Meanwhile, Phillipe has been helping the police investigate the deaths of the two scientists and he begins to suspect that Irma isn't really dead and is behind the murders. He locates Irma's hideout but when he checks it out, no one is there. That's because Irma, Nadia and Bergen are off killing Dr. Kallman. When Irma and her two brainwashed pawns return to the laboratory, they find Phillipe. Bergen attacks Phillipe and Phillipe kills Bergen. Unfortunately, Irma uses a gun to get the drop on Phillipe and straps him to her father's machine. Nadia breaks free of Irma's control and tries to help Phillipe but Irma gets the drop on her too. Fortunately, the police arrive in the nick of time and shoot Irma, leaving Phillipe and Nadia to live happily ever after.

Type of mind control: Electronic brainwashing

Mind control scenes:
The mind control begins even before the credits roll when we see Dr. Zimmer use his machine on Bergen to make him into his loyal servant. Later, Irma does the same thing to her father's assistant Barbara. Finally, Irma uses her father's device on Nadia to turn her into an obedient killing machine. After that, the movie has numerous scenes of Nadia obeying Irma and Irma using her father's device to reinforce her control over Nadia.

Subjective Rating: 4 out of 5
This movie has everything a mind control fan could ask for. It's got a nifty device that apparently turns people into obedient slaves. It's got a beautiful woman under the control of a mad scientist (or at least the daughter of a mad scientist). It's got the total subjugation of the victim, completely changing her personality and turning her into a cold-blooded killer. The only reason I didn't give this movie a 5 out of 5 is because of the discrepancies between the description of the mind control and it's actual portrayal. Dr. Zimmer says his device can control whether people are good or evil but when we see it actually being used, it looks more like it's just turning people into emotionless slaves. Perhaps the original Spanish version of the movie dialogue was clearer about how the mind control really worked.