Paul Naschy's horror-film career embellished his signature "Waldemar Daninsky" werewolf series with various entries in other subgenres: this, in fact, is a giallo. However, it is not among his better outings: he plays a drifter who finds employment at a house in which live three women (one is wheelchair-bound though her condition is actually psychosomatic, another has a maimed hand she hides in a prosthetic and the youngest a nymphomaniac). Naschy himself keeps a skeleton in his closet, having killed his faithless girlfriend (whom the title references). Of course, his ruggedness attracts – and causes much discord between – the ladies of the house; though he has no qualms about sleeping with the sexiest, he is actually drawn to the more mature second (played by Diana Lorys). Amid all of this, a serial killer is apparently offing girls who may or may not look like Naschy's former lover – which, having started with his arrival in town, naturally puts the finger of suspicion on him. Also involved are the crippled woman's blonde nurse (actually a last-minute replacement and who harbors secrets of her own), the woman's doctor (fixated on his dead daughter), not to mention the vengeance-seeking ex-handyman of the central household! So, we get a real menagerie of neurotics here (keeping one guessing as to the killer's identity) – resulting in several elements which are essential to this kind of film: a modicum of style, a convoluted (but not especially engrossing) plot, as well as discreet use of nudity and gore.
Review of Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll
Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll
(1974)
The Blue Eyes Of The Broken Doll (Carlos Aured, 1973) **
23 January 2010