Spanish Giallo's don't tend to be as good as the bona fide Italian ones, and this film supports that fact. The top of the range Spanish Giallo's include the likes of A Dragonfly for Each Corpse and Seven Murders for Scotland Yard (both starring prolific Spanish horror star Paul Naschy), but The Killer Wore Gloves is pretty much your standard Giallo fare, and was obviously made to cash on the popular style of the day. However, in its own right - The Killer Wore Gloves is not an especially bad film, though the plot isn't exactly original and it could have been carried better. The film begins with a man getting his throat slashed by an unseen assailant with a razor blade. His girlfriend, Peggy Foster, later learns of his disappearance and is drawn to an old abandoned airport, where she is shot at but manages to get away unscathed. Things take a turn for the more mysterious when the lodger she took in turns up dead - and also happens to be an impostor when the real lodger turns up!
The fact that the plot is complicated isn't a problem at all if you ask me (quite the opposite in fact) as I love a good complicated Giallo - but despite it's complexity, the plot here isn't all that interesting. This is unfortunately matched by some lacklustre cinematography, which is a real shame as this is one of the things that makes the Giallo genre as a whole stand out, but it's not capitalised on here. The acting is typically standard stuff, but Gillian Hills (who was a part of the influential 'Blow-Up') at least makes for an engaging lead. The film takes place in London, and unlike a lot of Giallo's that take place outside of their native country - this one is actually shot on location, which is nice. The plot moves steadily throughout and at just eighty five minutes, The Killer Wore Gloves doesn't really have time to get boring. It all boils down to an interesting conclusion that just about justifies the film that came before it and almost wraps everything up. Overall, I can't say that this is a must see Giallo, but it's not terrible and Giallo fans are likely to get something out of it.
The fact that the plot is complicated isn't a problem at all if you ask me (quite the opposite in fact) as I love a good complicated Giallo - but despite it's complexity, the plot here isn't all that interesting. This is unfortunately matched by some lacklustre cinematography, which is a real shame as this is one of the things that makes the Giallo genre as a whole stand out, but it's not capitalised on here. The acting is typically standard stuff, but Gillian Hills (who was a part of the influential 'Blow-Up') at least makes for an engaging lead. The film takes place in London, and unlike a lot of Giallo's that take place outside of their native country - this one is actually shot on location, which is nice. The plot moves steadily throughout and at just eighty five minutes, The Killer Wore Gloves doesn't really have time to get boring. It all boils down to an interesting conclusion that just about justifies the film that came before it and almost wraps everything up. Overall, I can't say that this is a must see Giallo, but it's not terrible and Giallo fans are likely to get something out of it.