Los ojos azules de la muñeca rota (1973)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Carlos Aured

Writers:

Carlos Aured (writer)
Paul Naschy (writer)

Release Date:

September 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An ex-convict, troubled by dreams that he strangles women, is hired as the caretaker on an estate owned by three very strange sisters...

Plot Keywords:

Water | Serial Killer | Blonde | Ex Convict | Night

Cast

Paul Naschy	...	Gilles
Diana Lorys	...	Claude
Eduardo Calvo	...	Doctor Phillipe
Eva León	...	Nicole (as Eva Leon)
Inés Morales	...	Michelle (as Ines Morales)
Antonio Pica	...	Inspector Pierre
Luis Ciges	...	René
Pilar Bardem	...	Caroline
Maria Perschy	...	Ivette

Also Known As:

Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll
House of Doom (USA) (cut version)
House of Psychotic Women (USA)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | USA:Not Rated (DVD rating) | Spain:18 | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Navacerrada, Madrid, Spain

Trivia:

The UK pre-cert Canon video was regularly seized by police during the 1980's 'video nasty' scare and wrongly listed by "Video World" magazine as one of the official DPP 74 nasties.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At the end when the Doctor is in the nursery, a cameraman can be seen reflected in the mirror.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Times Square (1980)

interesting and strange, yet entertaining

Paul Naschy abandons his usual Waldemar the Werewolf shtick here in favor of being an ex-con who is a drifter, and finds work with three strange sisters that live in a big house in rural Spain. One sister is in a wheelchair, one has a prosthetic arm but seems to be the strongest of the three, and the other has nothing really wrong with her except perhaps that she's a shameless slut. Of course, Naschy falls for her allure and also is quite taken with Claude, the one with the prosthetic arm. There's something else going on though, or at least a couple something elses: Naschy has secrets that he's hiding about his past, for he seems to have done some bad things. And, someone is going around killing off blond, blue-eyed girls in grisly fashion. So of course, one immediately suspects Naschy. This is a Spanish take on the Italian "giallo" film genre, and it works fairly well, for the most part, but Naschy's films seem to be an acquired taste, not really for everyone. The eye-gougings are rather nasty too, apparently the killer has not figured out how to just take the eyeball & must take a big hunk of flesh from around each eye, too, which seems a bit ridiculous but on the other hand, it's rather disgusting too. The music is a treat, rather jazzy, jaunty, and haunting at times too. Of course, since this is a "giallo" of sorts, there's a twist that you may or may not see coming, I didn't. The DVD from BCI/Eclipse is a beautiful transfer, and there's even an introduction from Naschy himself urging you to figure out the mystery before it's revealed. Worth seeing if you like Euro-horror or just plain Naschy films in general, otherwise, though, you may not care for it. 6 out of 10.