La muerte incierta

In India, during the colonial era, wealthy but arrogant plantation owner Clive Dawson has a steamy affair with a local beauty, but he abruptly breaks it off to return to Britain and marry the lovely upper-class Brenda. The native girl - Shaheen - doesn't deal well with rejection and speaks out a curse to Clive and the entire estate. When he returns with his bride Brenda, Shaheen allegedly committed suicide, but he firmly believes her wrathful spirit is still around. While Clive is too busy getting paranoid and convinced his ex-mistress turned into a tiger, his freaky son Rupert - from his first marriage - becomes rather friendly with Brenda.

Is it me, or does the plot summary sounds like it's coming from a sappy TV-soap opera, rather than from an early 70s euro-exploitation flick? The 1930s colonial setting is intriguing, but the plot is rather dull, and the horror elements really don't come to the surface. Still, though, there's something very ominous about the atmosphere, and the leading ladies (Mary Maude, Yelena Samarina and Rosalba Neri) are gorgeous.

I'm an admirer of writer/director José Ramón Larraz, for sure! Perhaps he's not as productive as his contemporary compatriot Jésus Franco, but he made two dozen of worthwhile horror films that between 1970 and 1990. "The Uncertain Death" is, together with "Symptoms" and "The House that Vanished", rather average. For his masterpiece, check out "Vampyres". For his most entertaining outings, look for the 80s trash-slashers "Edge of the Axe" and "Rest in Pieces".

Passable terror, thriller and suspense movie by Spanish filmmaker José Ramón Larraz. India, 1930: At the Dawson family's colonial home, landowner Clive (Antonio Molino Rojos) informs his local lover Shaheen (Rosalba Neri) that he is leaving her and returning to England. Shaheen curses the Dawson family, and shortly afterward, her lifeless body is found in the Ganges. On his return he is seized by a superstitious fear, and his new wife and son become attracted to each other. So Clive Dawson, newly married to the young Brenda (Mary Maude), returns to India y various strange events take place. The young woman quickly realizes that the relationship between her husband and his son Rupert(Raffaele Curi), who maintains the fort of the house during his father's absence, is extremely strained. Things go wrong when strange happenings start appearing at the weird mansion. On an expedition into the jungle, Clive's servant, Sunda (Perez Avila), is attacked by a tiger. Clive succumbs to alcoholism and becomes increasingly paranoid: he believes his son intends to chain him up in the cellar and leave him to die, he is tormented by plants and tigers, and he is obsessed with the idea that Shaheen is still alive and will seek revenge.

An eerie and terrifying movie with tension, thrills, chills, suspense and predictable conclusion. This disturbing horror movie was such a public flop at the time, resulting to be an obscure film, and unfortunately being forgotten; however, nowadays, recuperated from obscurity and partially considered to be a cult movie .

However, "La muerte incierta" (The Uncertain Death), which is barely screened outside of Spain and Italy, is more chaste than some of the director's other films, with hardly any nudity, or explicit scenes of couples making love . For a Spanish film, it boasts an unusual and exotic "setting" in India (although the film crew probably never even set foot in India during filming), but otherwise there's little to recommend it, as not much of interest arises for long stretches-at best, the film can be appreciated for its atmosphere and its interplay with psychological elements, animal horrors, and ghosts. Stars Antonio Molino Rojo in his only leading role in a long career spanning hundreds of films, usually in supporting roles. He plays adequately a planter who remarries, while a native girl commits suicide and living with his son in a remote area of India. Co-stars actress Mary Maude, known for horror films like the notable "The House That Screamed" (1969) and "The Crucible of Terror" (1971), Yelena Samarina ("Night of the Vampires"/"Walpurgis Night," 1971), and special mention for the Eurotrash Godess Rosalba Neri ("Lady Frankenstein," 1971), in a small role as "Shaheen,"

Larraz's direction is slow but deliberate , never missing a chance of jolting the audience with a sudden shock. The print is partially faded and interspersed in long stretches with a strong red tint, almost as a surreal stylistic device; restoration is probably urgently needed.

The motion picture was stylistically but unevenly directed by Jose Ramon Larraz This much-loved 70s shocker expert, José Ramón Larraz, was born on 7 February 1929 in Barcelona and deceased in 2013, started in cinema world by casual way when he meets the famous director Josef Von Stenberg running a cinematographic course in Brussels . Larraz was a director of horror and erotic films and former comic book illustrator and fashion photographer. Who traveled extensively throughout his career. Larraz traveleld around Europe where he directed genre films in Denmark ("Flash-Light," 1970), Sweden ("Deviation," 1971), England and elsewhere (the cult film "Vampyres, Daughters of Dracula," 1974), and Spain ("Sexual Rituals of the Devil," 1980). So heworked in England as Joseph Larraz, and in Spain, using the pseudonym Joseph Braunstein . Larrazshot horror classics , cult obscurities , euro-trash , and even some sexploitation . As he filmed his first movies in England , plenty of terror , suspense and sex , such as ¨Whirlpool¨ (1970) , ¨Deviation¨(1971) , ¨La Muerte Incierta¨(1972) , ¨Scream or die¨(1973) and ¨Symptoms¨ with Angela Pleasence and Peter Vaughan . He also shot soft-cores and then Jose Ramón returns Spain filming horror and semi-exploitative movies such as ¨Estigma¨ , ¨Ritos Sexuales Del Diablo¨, ¨Al Filo del Hacha¨ and ¨Descanse en Piezas¨ , imitating the American Slashers of the 70s and 80s . His most successful film is this ¨Vampyres¨ about bloodsuckers who get victims to pull over hitchhiking , played by Playboy young models with sexy bodies , blending arty house , horror and erotic situations . La muerte incierta (197e) rating: accceptable and passable terror movie . Most hardcore Euro horror fans will appreciate the exotic intrigue of this film as that is what gives it its distinctive flavour . A so-so movie that's a must for connoisseurs of the cinema's darker corners; however, "The Uncertain Death" will likely remain a very obscure and unknown genre title for a long time. .

Quite exotic Spanish horror movie we have here.A planter who lives with his son in a remote area of India has an affair with a native girl.On a trip to England he remarries and the native girl commits suicide.On his return he is seized by a superstitious fear and his wife and son become attracted to each other."La Muerte Incierta" is along with "Emma,Puertas Oscuras"(1974)one of the most obscure horror movies made by Jose Ramon Larraz.It's quite boring and unexciting ghost story with a little bit of gore and absolutely no nudity.Still it's nice to see lovely Mary Maude who was extremely memorable as a sadistic schoolgirl in Chicho Ibanez Serrador's "La Residencia"(1969).Plus the scenes of tiger attack are quite gruesome.6 out of 10.

British aristocrat Clive Dawson (Antonio Molino Rojo) returns to 1930s India with his new bride Brenda (Mary Maude). News of his marriage has forced his paramour Shaheen (Rosalba Neri) to commit suicide, but not before putting a curse on their stately mansion. Filmed the year before VAMPYRES, this is an attempt at a ghost story set in India. I'm sure the closest they got to India was the local curry restaurant in Spain as most of the India footage is stock footage. While the set up offers some promise, it isn't exploited to its full potential at all. Larraz can be accused of slow pacing in his films, but this might be the biggest offender. Literally nothing happens for the first hour. When it finally does, you only have 25 minutes left and, sadly, it isn't that thrilling.

India 1930: When white plantation owner Clive Dawson casts his Indian mistress aside, she puts a curse on the place and kills herself but the place was cursed with insanity long before that...

An older man, his young bride, his handsome son... something bad was bound to happen in the tropical heat but is it supernatural or inherited? Eurotrash goddess Rosealba Neri (a sultry cross between Ava Gardner and Nefertiti) plays the discarded concubine in a haunting, deliberately paced tale of white mischief in the jungle with nice period detail and an evocative score. Well done, Larraz. I was surprised to see the MGM logo of all things introducing the subtitled, letterboxed film.