review for Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls on AllMovie

This early-1970's horror quickie is memorably odd but not very good. The big culprit behind the film's problems is Sal Ponti's script, which suffers from a meandering plot, illogical character motivations and an overabundance of comic relief that dilutes the film's mood. Eddie Saeta's direction is competent but uninspired: the film looks nice (one of the cinematographers was Kent Wakeford, who also shot Mean Streets for Martin Scorcese) but it plods along without ever building momentum. In terms of acting, Barry Coe makes a rather dull and inexpressive leading man while most of the other players blend into the woodwork. The most interesting thing about the supporting cast is probably the appearance by Moe Howard of the Three Stooges in his final role. The only ace that Dr. Death: Seeker Of Souls has up its sleeve is John Considine's performance as the title character. He infuses his villainous role with a mixture of menacing charisma and sly wit that makes his character fun to watch. Sadly, his performance isn't enough to carry this curio and as a result Dr. Death: Seeker Of Souls is best left to genre completists.