House of Psychotic Women

Since I have been a great fan of the late Spanish Horror/Exploitation legend Paul Naschy for many years now, and the Italian Giallo is (along with Gothic Horror) my favorite Horror/Suspense sub-genre, I have long been anticipating this film which is a Spanish Giallo starring Naschy. And I was not at all disappointed when I finally saw "Los Ojos Azules De La Muñeca Rota" aka. "Blue Eyes of a Broken Doll" (1973) recently, as this weird, sleazy and brutal little film truly delivers what we Naschy fans want to see. Directed by Carlos Aured, who, in the same year 1973, made two other, more widely known films starring (and co-written by) Naschy, "El Espanto Surge De La Tumba" ("Horror Rises From The Tomb") and "El Retorno De Walpurgis" ("Curse of the Devil"/"Return of the Werewolf"), "Blue Eyes of a Broken Doll" is a film that no Naschy fan should consider missing.

Naschy plays Gilles, an ex con, who gets employed as a handyman in a mansion owned by three very dissimilar sisters, Claude (Dina Lorys) who has a heavily scarred arm, the gorgeous nymphomaniac Nicole (Eva Léon), and the wheel-chair-bound Michelle (Inés Morales). Needless to say that he soon gets sexually involved with more than one of them. Around the same time, an unknown maniac is stalking the area, killing merely blonde teenage girls, and cutting out their blue eyes...

Though the plot may not always be logical (for ingeniously complex plotting, watch Italian Gialli from around the same time), it is wonderfully demented and the atmosphere is creepy from start to finish. The murders are gory and genuinely sadistic, and since this is a Naschy flick it is needless to say that there is sleaze and gratuitous female nudity (especially from the yummy Eva Léon). Naschy's charisma and unique screen-presence is great as always. Dina Lorys, Eva Léon and Inés Morales are great as the three sisters. Most of the films this great Spanish Horror icon was part of may not be masterpieces, but they are all entertaining, and have a certain inimitable charm that can only be found in Naschy films. Overall, this Spanish film may not be the prime example of brilliantly convoluted Giallo-plotting, but it is creepy, atmospheric, sleazy and incredibly entertaining stuff that none of my fellow Paul Naschy fans could possibly afford to miss! 7.5/10

Gilles (Paul Naschy) is a convict on the run, he has bad dreams that he at one point strangled women to death, he is unsure as to whether or not they did or did not happen. Travelling through France he is hired as a handyman at a country house where three beautiful but very different sisters live. One is wheelchair bound, due to psychological issues and is constantly attended by the family doctor, another has a false arm and is afraid men will not like her, the third is a nymphomaniac who immediately sets her sights on Gilles. When women begin to get brutally murdered in the area, the local Gendarme naturally believe the suspicious new guy in town, Gilles, is a suspect.

Decent Giallo, where the killer preys on women with blue eyes, gouging them out after killing them (Hence the title) In classic Giallo style, Aured succeeds in keeping the identity of the killer secret while throwing suspicion on everyone, while also keeping up a fair tempo of sexual goings on at the house. There's the usual misogynistic stuff you might expect, along with some daft plot set up's, like the blonde girl who decides to take a short cut through the cemetery while there's a killer on the loose, but if you can ignore these points, its not a bad film. There is a moment just before the final reveal of the killer, where we are left briefly with no legitimate suspects, to me this was the place to end the film, but that's just my personal taste for vague endings.

Spanish Giallo in Italian style with Naschy as ex-convict and accused as psycho-killer and rapist . It's packed with fetishism killings on blue-eye women , claustrophobic sets , mysterious suspects , and rare characters . This thrilling film deals with Gilles (Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina , here as Iberian sex-symbol) who seeks job and Claude (Diana Lorys) a beautiful woman with orthopedic hand offers him employment as handyman . Claude lives along with her two sisters , Nicole(Eva Leon) a gorgeous nymphomaniac and Ivette ( Maria Perschy) who is wheel-bound, . Gilles's arrival originates a terrible drama among them . The best friend of the family is the doctor (Eduardo Calvo) who cares of Ivette along with a nurse named Michelle (Ines Morales) . After that , on the Angers (France) county occurs various deaths who belong to blue-eyes and blonde hair girls , furthermore their eyes are pulled off. The gendarme named Pierre (Antonio Pica) to investigate the case of the killing series that have been committed by an ominous murderer and discovers Gillian actually is Alain Dupre a dangerous criminal , imprisoned for rape . The psycho-killer murders his victims cruelly by means of slashing , knife and axing . There are several suspicious , who's the killer ? .

This is a Spanish Gialli in low budget about 8.000 Euros and filmed in Navarra and Torrelodones (Madrid) . It contains suspense , tension , whodunit , plot twists and lots of blood and guts with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a Naif style. The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato . B-entertainment with a fairly suspenseful and horrifying story in which a killer series undergoes a criminal spree by means of slitting , decapitation and other brutal executions . Typical Spanish touches as the pig slaughter , the tractor and ordinary Spanish Bar , in spite of French setting is completely shot in Spain . This tale about a suspicious ex-con and a malevolent murderous begins well and grows more and more until the exciting and twisted finale in which we figure out the nasty guilty . There is another double version that packs nudism in charge of Eva Leon, Diana Lorys and other women , as there are gratuitous nudism and top-less . Lots of blood and gore and throat slitting in several images that impacted the viewers for that time . The film follows the Dario Argento wake from his early period when he made Gialli-classics as as ¨Four flies on grey velvet , The cat with nine tails and The bird with the crystal plumage ¨ . Nice cinematography in correct remastering by Francisco Sanchez and shot on location Pamplona and the mansion of Naschy's parents. Ample support cast , usual of Eurotrah as Maria Perschy ,Antonio Pica and Luis Ciges ,Eduardo Calvo , both of whom habitual of Jacinto Molina films . Anti-climatic and unappropiated musical score by Juan Carlos Calderon . The late Naschy was a good professional , writing, filmmaking and acting about hundred titles , mainly in terror genre. ¨House of doom or House of psychotic women¨ is written by Molina along with 21 screenplays as ¨Mark of Wolfman¨, ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Vengeance of the mummy¨, ¨Licantropo¨, among them . He directed 13 films as ¨The Cantabros¨, ¨Return of Wolfman¨, ¨The Beast and the magic sword¨ and many others. This slasher motion picture is professionally directed by Carlos Aured , a slick craftsman who directed all kind of genres, especially Erotic and Terror for Paul Naschy as ¨Horror rises from tomb¨¨¨Vengeance of the mummy¨ and , ¨Return of Walpurgis¨ . The picture will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and Giallo buffs .

Certain movies put you at ease and make you feel confident right from the first sequences. "Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll" opens with moody and enchanting yet remotely ominous musical tunes as Paul Naschy is drifting across a remote and desolate countryside. If you're into 70's and European-made exploitation movies, you know right away this is the ideal intro for a film like this. Naschy – the star and writer and director of numerous movies like this – plays an ex-convict arriving in a secluded house occupied by three eccentric and suspiciously behaving sisters. One is lustful and promptly shows a sexual interest in the new arrival, the second one is wheelchair bound and remains out of sight and the oldest sister (with an impressively mutilated arm) is the bossy and arrogant leader of the pack. With the arrival of yet another ravishing woman – a private nurse to look after the ill sister – Gilles is completely surrounded by lurid women that may not be as defenseless and innocent as they look. One of the more apt and enticing titles of this movie is "House of Psychotic Women"; which gives a slightly more accurate though sadly exaggerated indication of what to expect. Or at least what to expect during the first half! Parallel with the sexual escapades in the mansion, there's a sadistic killer on the loose in town, exclusively prowling for girls with blond hair and bright blue eyes that he/she cuts out and collects in a jar. The perverted killer sub plot, with its vile gore and misogynist violence, makes "Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll" also qualify as a bona fide Giallo next to being a sleazy early 70's Euro-sexploitation feature. It's not the greatest Giallo, since the relevance of the murders in connection with the events at the mansion remains too vague and develops quite late, but it does guarantee a suspenseful and blood-soaked third act. Like the case with so many movies in this genre, it's far more amusing if you don't even bother paying attention to the complete absence of logic and coherence. Enjoy the bloodshed, the fantastic score (courtesy of Juan Carlos Calderón), Naschy's testosterone-laden charisma, the sickening killings and – of course – the various offerings of gratuitous nudity!

More than anything, 1973's "The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll" seems to pose the question "Can a film be called a giallo if it was not made in Italy?" Well, since this Spanish picture has every attribute of a classic giallo except the Italian soundtrack, let's just say the answer is yes, call it an "amarillo" and move on! This film was my first introduction to the huge oeuvre of the late Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy, an actor/writer/director/producer who in this film contented himself with merely being the lead man. Here he plays Gilles, a likable ex-con in northern France who signs on as handyman at the run-down estate of three very unusual and beautiful sisters: Claude, who is aloof and sports a burnt arm and prosthetic hand; Nicole, a redheaded nymphomaniac; and Ivette, an embittered, wheelchair-bound invalid. When a crazed psycho killer starts slaying women in the area and plucking out their baby blues, Gilles is automatically deemed suspect No. 1. But is he really the guilty party? Anyway, this amarillo, directed by Carlos Aured, provides giallo fans with all the requisite elements they have come to expect. It features any number of grisly and murderous set pieces (although the actual butchering of a pig may be the hardest thing to look at), stylish direction from Aured, some pleasing flashes of nudity courtesy of Eva Leon as the lusty Nicole, and an alternately sprightly and sinuous jazz score from Juan Carlos Calderon that should stick in your head for days. Typical for a giallo, red herrings abound, but the story ultimately manages to cohere very well and make perfect sense, unlike a lot of other gialli that I have seen. You may even be able to figure out the murderer in this one; as usual, the ending came as a complete surprise for me. And I must say that that ending is as pleasingly sick as any viewer could want. "Have a horrible time...and have fun," Naschy urges us during this film's introduction, and a fun time will certainly be had by all genre fans with this one. Oh...the DVD in question here, from the fine folks at Deimos, looks fantastic, is excellently subtitled and comes with some nice extras, too. Gracias, guys!