According to the plot summary this film is set in remote 19th Century Scotland but some reason the signs on the village train station read Skopje and the characters refer to the location as Skopje which I assure you is not a Scottish sounding place . The characters too don't have Scottish sounding names either and I can assure you I've never met a Scotsman called Igor . This mistaken geography is matched by the title of the movie which is known under several different titles one of which is given as the title on this website which is misleading because Dracula doesn't appear but the living dead do . Well done IMDb because the zombies don't appear until the final third and the plotting revolves around this plot turn . Perhaps if the title was the oft used THE HANGING WOMAN it might have made for a better film ? This Spanish film plays out very much like one of those British Hammer horrors with Gothic overtones . A stranger arrives in a small village and he's met by locals who are the usual types who mutter " A stranger sir ? We don't get strangers here sir " . As it stands the protagonist finds himself investigating a mysterious death and if you know the film as THE HANGING WOMAN some mystery is built up unlike if you go in to the film knowing it by the title on this page and it's strange watching zombies stumble around as if they've taken an overdose of methadone rather than the Olympic sprinters they had become after 28 DAYS LATER but I guess the film works better as a horror film than the big budget zombie movie starring Brad Pitt Two things let the film down . One is the rather ill paced structure where not a lot happens throughout much of the running time but for a film trying to build up an air of mystery this is understandable . The second thing is being a dubbed Spanish film many of the accents are laughable with a butler sounding like he's dubbed by Dick Van Dyke from MARY POPPINS . Walt Disney meets zombie horror ! What's not to like ?

One of the movies in which Paul Naschy doesn't play werewolf Waldemar Daninsky casts him in a supporting role, as a guy with a weird fetish. The movie focuses on a man who arrives at an estate where a professor is carrying out bizarre experiments. Among the other things that I noticed in "La orgia de los muertos" ("The Hanging Woman" in English):*Although I couldn't tell that any of the character identified where the movie is set, I noticed a sign that said Skopje, which is the capital of Macedonia. Immediately after that, there was a man who had a rural American accent (although it was obviously dubbed). Whodathunk that Macedonia - if that's the setting - had that?! *The main character is named Chekhov, and at one point, it sounded as though someone tried to say his name and made it sound like a sexual act.Anyway, it's an OK movie. Not great, but entertaining.Paul Naschy died last year. I wonder what the result would have been had he collaborated with Pedro Almodovar.

I would imagine that many, as I, watched this film because of Paul Naschy. He has a supporting part as a gravedigger. For Naschy completists, it is essential. For others, it probably would deserve a pass as it it unremarkable.It opens with a Gothic sound and tone, and the washed out color contributes to the feel. Just what is happening is not very clear.There is plenty of nudity, but there is also some gory nudity, especially where Igor (Naschy) is concerned.The ending features zombies, and a walking Naschy with a knife in his chest, and a mad doctor.Naschy was great, as was Stelvio Rosi and Dyanik Zurakowska.

The Hanging Woman takes obvious influence from both the classic Hammer Horror films and Mario Bava's Gothic masterpiece Kill, Baby...Kill. The result is a slightly plodding, though undoubtedly interesting and very atmospheric little horror film. Like many European films from the seventies; this one has a whole slew of titles, which range from those that don't make sense - 'Dracula the Terror of the Living Dead', to cash-ins; 'Zombie 3: Return of the Living Dead', and innuendo; 'The Orgy of the Dead'...but The Hanging Woman is the best on the merit that it actually fits the story. The plot focuses on a man that travels to an old Scottish village in order to claim his inheritance; an old house, currently inhabited by his uncle's science partner. Upon his arrival; a woman is found hanged in a graveyard; though the circumstances are suspicious as she was already dead before the hanging. Things turn a little more awry when the nature of the experiments going on at the house are revealed, and the village may be harbouring a dark secret.The plot features a number of different elements, which includes black magic, zombies and grave digging. It has to be said that it can be a little messy at times; though nowhere near as much as many films of this ilk and the plot really flows rather well and the various different elements are well used. Undoubtedly the best thing about the film is the atmosphere and director José Luis Merino succeeds admirably in this respect as the atmosphere is thick and foreboding and this helps to further the plot. The film is essentially a mystery with horror elements, and the director keeps our interest with lots of good ideas and some interesting characters. Paul Naschy is the only cast member likely to be recognised by anyone watching the film; but the unknown cast all do well with their roles; particularly Stelvio Rosi and Dyanik Zurakowska. There's not a great deal of blood in the film; but patience is rewarded towards the end with an excellent decapitation sequence. The film is not very well known and I can't say I'm surprised about that; but it's certainly well worth a look and fans of this stuff shouldn't be too disappointed with it.