Carlos Aured, 1973
Starring: Paul Naschy, Diana Lorys, Maria Perschy, Eva Leon
Gilles, a drifter and
convicted rapist, arrives in a rural French village and finds work in an
isolated mansion owned by three sisters. The eldest and head of the family,
Claude, has a prosthetic hand and an uptight personality. Her other two sisters
are equally troubled – Yvette is in a wheelchair and Nicole is a nymphomaniac.
Gilles is not the only newcomer, as Yvette’s nurse disappears and is replaced
with a recommendation from her doctor, who believes Yvette’s condition is
psychosomatic. Several years ago their parents died in a mysterious accident,
which traumatized the three sisters psychologically and physically. Gilles
begins sexual relationships with Claude and Nicole, while a black-gloved killer
is murdering women with blue eyes, then stealing and preserving the eyes.
Gilles is the main suspect and the local police begin to hunt him down, even
though Claude is convinced of his innocence.
Italian giallo films and
Spanish horror are two of my favorite sub-genres and this Paul Naschy vehicle
is an interesting, successful blend of the two. Though Naschy attempted to make
other Spanish giallo films – Seven
Murders for Scotland Yard and A
Dragonfly for Each Corpse, for example – this effort is by far the most
entertaining and cohesive.
Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll isn’t as openly weird or subversive as some of the
other Spanish horror films from the time (such as A Bell from Hell, for
example), but it does have some surreal, nonsensical elements. It is a solid giallo
and ranks as one of Naschy’s most accessible films. This is one of many movies
that he starred in and also wrote or co-wrote, several of which are a complete
mess in terms of the script. Certain elements are taken from early Italian
entries like Bird from the Crystal Plumage, but, in an interesting
twist, the focus here is less on the black-gloved killer and more on the
mounting hysteria between the three sisters, giving the proceedings more of an
exploitation feel.
This quickly paced film
has one or two confusing plot jumps and some weird flashbacks, but is full of
enough twists and red herrings to keep the plot fresh. The killer’s penchant
for killing blonde-haired, blue-eyed women means that several of them get
introduced for the sole purpose of being slaughtered, but the three damaged
sisters more than make up for the lack of female characterization across the
board. The violence is average for the genre, though animal lovers will want to
shut their eyes for the gory slaying of a pig. There is a mild amount of nudity
from the lovely and playful Eva León (also in Naschy’s Inquisition). I often think Naschy wrote films like this just to be
in close proximity to scantily clad European babes.
Though he gives a decent
performance as Gilles, the mysterious, misunderstood, and potentially dangers
drifter, the three sisters carry the film. Diana Lorys (The Awful Dr. Orloff
and more of Jess Franco’s films) as Claude is particularly compelling,
representing the latent trauma, repression, hysteria, and sexual desire that plagues
all three sisters. Inés Morales (Naschy’s Curse of the Devil) rounds out the cast with another strong
performance as the wheelchair-bound Michelle.
There isn't a lot to
complain about with this film, aside from the irritating score from Juan Carlos
Calderón. He unfortunately recycles “Frère Jacques” over and over, and you will
hope to never hear it again by the film’s conclusion. I think it’s meant to have a
creepy, children’s theme to it, which works so well in Deep Red,
but is just grating here.
Delightfully,
Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll is also known as House of Psychotic Women. This is
where Kier-la Janisse got the name of her recently released book,
a blend of film criticism and autobiography. She has been taking her book on
tour with a series of film screenings around the U.S. and Canada and screened Blue
Eyes of the Broken Doll in Philadelphia in late 2012, at the great PhilaMOCA art, film and music space. Check out my interview with her.
Blue Eyes of the Broken
Doll is available on DVD from BCI.
There’s a nice, uncut transfer from the original negative, which includes an
English-dubbed track and the original Spanish track with optional English
subtitles. There are some lovely extras, including a commentary track with
Naschy and director Carlos Aured, one of Naschy’s regular collaborators.
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