Los crímenes de Petiot

The engrossingly dark-hearted 'Los crímenes de Petiot' has a delectably deviant plot featuring a Luger-wielding, black-masked maniac meticulously murdering trysting couples in a rather oblique, twist-headed fashion, leaving obscure clues that make for a singularly confounding case. Naschy's gloomy, frost-bitten 70s serial killer chiller plays out excitingly like a vintage Edgar Wallace Krimi. Wintry Munich provides a suitably inclement backdrop to the bleak milieu of matriarchal treachery, violent retribution, and the monstrous realities of inhuman cruelties perpetrated during WW2.

Director, José Luis Madrid's fascinating Los crímenes de Petiot's current obscurity is arguably due to its continued unavailability rather than any technical flaws in the robust film-making. The charismatic terror-Thespian Naschy delivers another bravura performance, and the oppressive, paranoid narrative maintains strong interest throughout. Naschy's gloomy, Giallo-esque thriller has an effectively eerie ambience, plus Ángel Arteaga's evocative score that greatly complements gifted writer, Paul Naschy's engagingly doom-laden screenplay. Made during a prolific period in the illustrious Iberian icon's filmmaking career, 'Los crímenes de Petiot' is one of maestro, Naschy's rare excursions into more mainstream thriller territory.