Crimson, the Color of Blood

I have been a great fan of the late Spanish Horror/Exploitation legend Paul Naschy for a long time now. While not all of his films can be described as great (though some can), they are entirely entertaining. Juan Fortuny's "Las Ratas No Duermen De Noche" aka. "Crimson, the Color of Blood" (I bought it under the title "The Man With The Severed Head") of 1976 is doubtlessly one of the cheesier and more confused flicks in Naschy's wide repertoire, and yet it is an amusing little film that my fellow fans of the man might enjoy.

During a heist, a gangster (Naschy) is shot in the head. In order to safe the man's life, the members of his gang force an obsessed doctor to perform an operation which requires parts of another human being's brain. Not so cleverly, they choose to take the brain of their biggest rival, a criminal aptly named 'The Sadist'...

The film, which starts like a heist-flick, is, more or less, a Spanish 70s take on a concept popular in the classic Horror era. Films such as Karl Freund's fantastic "Mad Love" of 1935 (starring Peter Lorre) or "Black Friday" of 1940 (starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi) had topics about body parts being replaced with those of brutal criminals, which inevitably lead to fatal results. Unfortunately, "Crimson" is an overall rather messy, yet very predictable film that features no surprises and a regrettably short screen-time for its star Paul Naschy. The film still guarantees a fun time, however. There are some moments of gore as well as some sleaze and female nudity (depending on which version you see). Naschy is cool as always, though his screen time is limited. One should try and get hold of the Spanish version, since the English dubbing is one of the most horrendous I have ever heard (which, then again, contributes to the 'camp' factor of the film). Overall, "Las Ratas No Duermen De Noche" is cheesy fun that is mildly recommended to my fellow Naschy-fans.

¨Las ratas no duermen de noche¨ is starred by Spanish legend Paul Naschy. A group of thieves, led by Jack Surnett (Paul Naschy) and his henchmen Henry (Olivier Mathot), Karl (Victor Israel) and Paul (Yul Sanders), are pursued by the police after a failed attempt. Of stealing a safe with jewelry. While fleeing, Surnett is shot in the head. To try to prevent his certain death, his criminal cronies take him to the drunken doctor Dr. Ritter (Carlos Otero), who owes the gang favors. Unable to help him due to the severity of the injury, he turns to a scientist friend, Professor Teets (Richard Palmer), who works on scientific research on brain transplants, with the help of his wife Ana (Sylvia Solar). But the experiment making Surnett even more dangerous and murderous than before. To carry out the strange transplant surgery, the criminals, with the help of Surnett's girlfriend, Ingrid (Gilda Anderson), decide to pursue a rival enemy known as "El Sádico" (Roberto Mauri), to eliminate him and use his brain. However, they will have to face the vengeful fury of the rival gang formed, among others, by second-in-command Willy and the sadist's girlfriend, Barbara (Evelyne Scott). The transplanted mobster boss begins to experience side effects with mental instability, now becoming even more violent, dangerous and unpredictable.

Typical crime thriller with suspense, intrigue, red herrings, shootouts and in which a delinquent is undergone a weird surgical operation. This is more of a thriller than your typical Paul Naschy horror film. It's a routine movie basically about two gangs at war and the leader of one of them who suffers a brain transplant with fatal consequences. Crimson - The Color of Terror is a police thriller with a dispute between rival gangs of criminals with a basic idea of horror and messy science fiction only as a backdrop, through the element of the "mad scientist" and the brain transplant experiences for the supposed good of humanity. A mad doctor performs a head transplant on an injured criminal, but the already fearsome aggressor Surnett, after being transplanted with the enemy's brain. It has little violence and no blood , which does not justify the choice of the title, which emphasizes the color of blood, and the deaths occur almost exclusively in shootouts. The atmosphere of horror is discreet and limited to the moments in the scientist's strange laboratory and Surnett's transformation into an even more ruthless killer. There is an unnecessary scene, which contributes nothing to the story, with a dance number by a woman and two men in a nightclub, which seems more like a way to complete the film's footage. As a trivia, the film's story is similar to and was certainly inspired by "Black Friday" (1940), a black-and-white "Universal" production starring horror icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Here Paul Naschy has little presence, appearing on the scene only at first in the failed robbery attempt, and then is undergone a surgery resulting in a huge psychopathic behavior provoked by the influence of the brain of his enemy. There'are some attractives faces in the cast, most of them regulars in the 60s, 70s, 80s co-productiones (Terror, Spaghetti, Euro-spy, softcore), such as : Silvia Solar, Olivier Mathot, Evelyne Scott, Víctor Israel, Cesar Ojinága, Carlos Otero, actor/director Robert Mauri and Ricardo Palmerola who he played for director Fortuny: Palmer ha muerto, Las aventuras de Taxi Key, El pobrecito Draculin.

This mediocre flick results to be a low budget co-production between Merqueriz (Juan Fortuny's production company) and Eurociné of Marius Lesoeur. Among the different alternative titles, it is known in Spain as ¨Las ratas no duermen de noche¨and other titles: Le viol et l'enfer des X (France) L'homme à la tête coupée (France) Crimson, the Color of Blood (World-wide, English title) The Man with the Severed Head (Canada, English title) Crimson (United States), "Rats don't sleep at night" (international title). The motion picture was regularly directed by Spanish filmmaker Juan Fortuny . This Catalonia director was an artisan who wrote/produced/directed some so-so films. He directed and photographed various movies in all kinds of genres , some of them co-producing with other countries as France and Panama , such as : El pobrecito Draculín , Marchands de femmes , Huyendo de sí mismo, Palmer ha muerto , Las aventuras de Taxi Key , Delincuentes , La melodía misteriosa, El rey de la carretera , Huyendo de sí mismo , Unas páginas en negro , Legión de héroes . Rating: 4.5/10 . Only for the satisfaction of collectors and connoisseurs of European fantasy cinema. Very mediocre.

What we have here is an example of what happens when a crime film meets horror - it's a bungled heist, and the result is not jail time or dead gang members, but a transplanted head! Yep, that's the premise of Juan Fortuny's weird little horror film that features the talents of the ever-popular Paul Naschy as the lucky recipient of a radical new operation. Obviously the major inspiration for this film is Mary Shelly's all-time classic horror story 'Frankenstein' as we've got a mad scientist, a 'monster' and some new medical breakthrough. The main story focuses on the fortune of Jack Surnett, played by Paul Naschy. He and his gang decide to pull a jewel heist, but when one of them cocks up, the alarms start ringing and the cops turn up. This is bad news for Jack as he gets shot in the head and it looks like his time may be up. However, his gang aren't ready to just sit back and watch him die so they take him to their own doctor and soon it transpires that the only way to save him is a brain transplant, and the only brain available used to belong to "The Sadist"...

It's probably obvious from the plot summary, but Crimson really is a bizarre film. Quite how anyone thought these elements could come together well is beyond me, but actually the result isn't as bad as thought it might be; although it's not really as fun either. It's clear that this film was never really meant to be taken seriously and it's a good job it doesn't take itself seriously. The best thing about most of Paul Naschy's films is Paul Naschy, although that's not really the case here as he spends most of the film lying in bed. However, when he finally does get up the film really takes a turn for the better as we get to watch Naschy with a bandage round his head running all over the countryside getting up to no good. The film isn't especially gory, but there's a fair bit of that cheap looking bright crimson blood to keep horror fans happy. It's clear that the film is never really going to go anywhere, and it really doesn't...but I only saw this for a fun time and it just about delivers that much. I wont call this brilliant or a must see, but its decent stuff and I can recommend it.

I am a Paul Naschy fan and he is always worth watching.

No, this will not garner any awards, but I bet it is on Quentin Tarantino's shelf. A perfect combination of crime and horror and a bit of Frankenstein thrown in, this is the perfect film to sit around and get drunk to with a group of friends.

Silvia Solar, Euro-trash veteran, and remembered for her role in at least one video nasty, is the wife of a mad scientist (Ricardo Palmerola), called upon to save Naschy, who was injured in a botched robbery.

They have to find a brain for a transplant. These hardened killers don't want to cut the head off the person they found, so they put him on train tracks to let the train do it. LOL Gilda Arancio (Zombie Lake) plays Naschy's girl, and plays a crucial part in getting the head they need, as she used to be the girlfriend of The Sadist (Roberto Mauri), the man who's brain they took.

Things don't turn out as planned - do they ever? The Sadist brain turns Naschy into a madman.

Just pure fun.

After being shot in the head by police, a criminal (Paul Naschy) winds up in the hands of a mad doctor experimenting with transplants.

Oh no!

The drunken doctor's hands have been damaged, leaving the surgery to his wife! Through a chain of absurd events, the brain transplant is completed. This leads to the inevitable, blood-soaked finale.

CRIMSON, THE COLOR OF BLOOD is a fantastically cheeezy mix of horror and crime drama. Lovers of mad science, gore, and / or Paul Naschy should be in ecstasy over this movie!...