Una gota de sangre para morir amando (1972)

... aka: Clockwork Terror
... aka: Dead Angel
... aka: Murder in a Blue World
... aka: To Love, Perhaps to Die

Directed by:
Eloy de la Iglesia

A truly oddball (and tough to categorize) little film, this revolves around both a serial killer ("an unknown killer of young people") and behavior modification experiments being conducted to help reduce criminal activity. It's set sometime in the future and the appropriate look and feel are achieved through bizarre set design and even more bizarre new broadcasts (where the announcer expounds on the virtues of "the perfect race") and commercials (including one for something called "Blue Drink;" "the natural product of nature!"), which are constantly playing on TV sets throughout the film. Even stranger are the amount of Stanley Kubrick film references on hand. During one bizarre sequence, four whip-wielding thugs dressed in black leather outfits and red helmets arrive at an ultra modern house and terrorize the family living there. They trash their furniture, make the husband bark like a dog, whip the wife and then drag both of them off to separate bedrooms to rape them. Yes, this is certainly copying the famous home invasion scene from A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971), but the director has absolutely no problem stating his sources. The couple have just sat down to watch Kubrick's film before they're attacked!

Elsewhere, well-scrubbed blonde Ana Vernia (Sue Lyon), who inherited much from her deceased parents and lives alone in a gated mansion guarded by dogs, has just won a special award for completing her "health officer" studies. Her friend, Dr. Victor Sender (Jean Sorel), a professor in clinical psychotherapy who'd no doubt like to be more than just friends with Ana, thinks she's smart enough to be a doctor. Ana however claims that she's not as much interested in the technical aspects of health care as she is the compassionate ones... which might explain why she's something of an accomplished serial killer! Because her victims are all good-looking young men between the ages of 17 and 25, the press and police have it all wrong that the killer responsible has "tendencies toward homosexuality." Because of their erroneous assumptions, Ana easily gets away with her 'caring nurse by day / murderess by night' routine. That is, until someone accidentally catches on to what she's doing.

Ana utilizes a wide variety of disguises to help lure men into her clutches, seduces them and then stabs them through the heart with a scalpel immediately after sex (and listening to their heartbeat). During one scene, she dresses up as an old woman and goes to a brothel, where she hires over-the-hill underwear model / gigolo Bruno (Charly Bravo) to accompany her home. In another scene, she dresses up as a lesbian in a short black wig and suit, goes to a gay bar and picks up a young guy (Alfredo Alba) who seems to be unsure of (or just fighting against) his sexual orientation. Meanwhile, David (Christopher Mitchum), one of the leather-clad thugs seen in the home invasion scene, has managed to turn all his juvenile delinquent friends against him. Desperate for money, he lucks out in discovering Ana disposing of one of her victims in the river. He sneaks over to her house, watches as she kills another man and then blackmails her to get money and a new motorcycle. Things come to a head at the lab, after David is severely beaten by his gang and is left at the mercy of Ana in the hospital where she works.

The connections to Kubrick extend beyond the droog-like juvenile delinquents and attempted shock treatment cures to criminal impulses (which amusingly backfire during the bloody conclusion), but to the presence of Sue Lyon, star of Kubrick's LOLITA (1962). There are many nods to that film, including a play on the famous sunglasses scene, as well as an actual copy of Vladimir Nabokov's book seen several times.

I'm not even sure what to make of all of this, or what the actual point (aside from those already established in Kubrick's ACO) is, but it's all very interesting to watch play out. de la Iglesia is one of those European directors you hear very little about here in America. He never achieved much notoriety here, and is pretty much only known for the good, though misleadingly-titled, CANNIBAL MAN (1971). However, tracking down copies of his other films has been worthwhile. A gay director, he'd often infuse his films with gay subtext (sometimes subtlely, sometimes more blatantly [as seen here]), and really brought a fresh perspective to many thrillers as a result. See also: THE GLASS CEILING (1971), NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM (1973).

One of the major letdowns are our trio of lead actors. Lyon, Mitchum and Sorel all act like they don't even want to be here and give wooden, forgettable performances. The cast also includes Ramón Pons as a victim Ana picks up at an auction, Antonio del Real, David Carpenter (THE KILLER IS NOT ALONE) and Ramón Fernández Tejela as David's punk friends, Fernando Hilbeck and Eduardo Calvo.

★★1/2

El techo de cristal (1971)

...aka: Glass Ceiling, The

Directed by:
Eloy de la Iglesia

As it turns out, Roman Polanski isn't the only person with an apartment trilogy. Combine THE GLASS CEILING with CANNIBAL MAN (1972; originally and more aptly titled WEEK OF THE KILLER) and NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM (1973) - all of which prominently feature apartment house backdrops - and overlooked Spanish director Eloy de la Iglesia has one as well. Though his films are quieter and less showy than Polanski's horror masterpieces, all three films in de la Iglesia's series are certainly strong enough to merit another look. Specifically I should say they're strong enough to merit a look since not many people outside of Spain have been able to actually see these movies. Two of the three have never been released on video or DVD here in the U.S. and, to further complicate matters, the one that actually has been released is the recipient of a very misleading English-language title that has resulted in some backlash. You know, people who were expecting gore and cannibalism running around claiming it's "boring" and feeling cheated by the title. In reality, none of these movies were made to cater to the exploitation/gore crowd regardless of how they're packaged. Instead, they'll appeal more to viewers who like slow-building suspense and a more psychological horror grounded in reality.

.

Ceiling is set in a small, rural apartment house and details the deceptively normal everyday activities of around a half dozen characters. Because her husband Charles (Fernando Cebrián) is always out of town on business, housewife Martha (Carmen Sevilla) spends most of her time alone with only her pet cat to keep her company. Already prone to fantacizing away her boredom and lonliness, Martha begins to suspect that her upstairs neighbor Julie (Patty Shepard) - who she's caught telling several lies - may have murdered her husband. Their landlord Richard (Dean Selmier), a sculptor and artist, has picqued the interest of farmer's daughter Rosa (Emma Cohen), who delivers milk there every morning, but finds himself being drawn to Martha instead. Pete (Javier De Campos), a grocery delivery man, also seems to have a thing for Martha and may be having an affair with Julie. Meanwhile, someone's spying on and taking provocative pictures of all three of the women. Sounds pretty simple, and in a way it is, but the good stuff comes in the details.

You'd be hard pressed to even consider this a genre film until around the final half-hour, but the fact the director doesn't play by the rules is part of the beauty of his work. By the time the terror finally does hit, you feel interested in and invested enough in all of the principal characters he's created that the horror content has that much more of an impact. de la Iglesia also does an excellent job slowly ratcheting up the suspense here. Once you've settled into the film's quiet pacing and the seemingly innocuous everyday events of the characters (though we're still kept a bit uneasy throughout by the women constantly being photographed) that's when he decides to knock you out of your comfort zone. The apartment setting, where one is generally surrounded by people they sort-of know but not that well, is naturally an ideal location when you're dealing with themes of voyeurism and paranoia. It's exploited here the same effective way Polanski exploited it in his apartment-set films.

All of the performances are very good. Sevilla (also the lead in NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM) is outstanding playing a woman who's either very clever and observant or one who's becoming increasingly unhinged. She won a major award in her home country (the Cinema Writers Circle Award) for this performance. Shepard, who's probably best known for appearing alongside Paul Naschy in several films (including THE WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN), is also effective as the mysterious upstairs neighbor.

The version I saw (a British VHS release on the EKO Video Films label) was English-dubbed. A restored, subtitled release would certainly be welcome, but I don't expect one anytime soon.

★★★

La semana del asesino (1973)

... aka: Apartment on the 13th Floor, The

... aka: Cannibal Man
... aka: Week of the Killer

Directed by:
Eloy de la Iglesia

Even though there's only a hint of (accidental) cannibalism in this misleadingly re-titled effort, Cannibal Man is an undervalued psycho-thriller / character study well worth checking out. Vicente Parra stars as Marcos, a disturbed slaughterhouse worker who lives in a small one bedroom house with his (usually-absent) brother. With his sanity barely in check as it is (notice the loud, ticking clock sound a la Repulsion, an obvious influence), Marcos finally snaps when a lecherous taxi driver attacks him and his girlfriend Paula (Emma Cohen). After fatally clubbing the man with a rock, Marcos and Paula can't agree on what to do and, during an argument about whether to go to the cops or not, Marcos ends up strangling her to death, sticking her under the bed and closing the door (out of sight... out of mind). His brother rolls into town, Marcos confesses to the murder and his sibling also tries to talk him into turning himself in and is immediately clubbed over the head with a wrench. More people will show up to the house (the brother's fiancée, her father, a slutty / lonely waitress from a cafe down the street...) looking for missing loved ones and none are ever heard from again.

The bodies, all kept in the bedroom, are beginning to stink and the neighborhood dogs aren't the only ones to notice. Marcos decides to dispose of the corpses a little at a time by chopping them up with a meat cleaver, sticking them into a small bag and taking them to work with him, where they're mixed in with the meat. He stocks up on perfume and air fresheners in the meantime. And all the while, he's befriended by a peculiar young man named Nestor (Eusebio Poncela) who lives on the 13th floor of an upscale high rise apartment right down the road and keeps an eye on what's going on around him with a pair of binoculars. It's this aspect of the film, the subplot about Nestor and Marcos, very different but social outcasts all the same, and their ability to relate to one another, that gives this film an extra spark of originality and much needed subtext.

Though there are some gruesome scenes at the slaughterhouse where real cows are butchered and some fairly bloody murder scenes, the climax is surprisingly non-gory, mature and believable and the director seldom dwells on blood-and-guts aspect of his film, but more on the psychological aspects of his characters. The production values are pretty good, the English dubbing is tolerable and the acting (particularly the two male leads) is competent, if not excellent, throughout, plus there are even a couple of black comic suspense scenes worthy of Hitchcock, particularly one with some neighborhood bullies playing keep-away with Marcos' bag.

Originally titled La semana del asesino ("The Week of the Killer"), but released to U.S. theaters first under the title The Apartment on the 13th Floor (with an exploitation ad campaign reminiscent of the one used for Last House on the Left). Supposedly banned in many countries upon release (it was a video nasty), the version I saw from Anchor Bay claims to be uncut and uncensored. Director De La Iglesia also made several other horror films. Too bad they're so hard to find. The cast includes Charly Bravo and Fernando Sánchez Polack (both from the director's MURDER IN A BLUE WORLD), Goyo Librero (from the director's NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM, which also featured Parra in a lead role) and Rafael Hernández (the director's GLASS CEILING).

★★★1/2

Nadie oyó gritar (1973)

...aka No One Heard the Scream

Directed by:

Eloy de la Iglesia

For starters, I have to say that the current 4.3 rating on IMDb is an absolute joke. This is a very good, drama/thriller with interesting characterizations, strong performances, suspense, good plot twists and a few well-time shocks. Middle-aged, still very attractive Elisa (Carmen Sevilla) has gotten by in life on her looks. We first meet her as she's bidding farewell with her wealthy older lover Óscar (Antonio Casas), who from all indications has been supporting her financially (apartment, car, money, plane tickets) in exchange for one weekend a month of her time. Elisa's growing tired of it, though, and decides to skip her flight to London so she can call off the arrangement. That night, her relief at being free and able to possibly start anew turns to horror as she exits her apartment and finds her next-door neighbor Miguel (Vicente Parra) dropping the freshly-killed body of his wife Nuria (María Asquerino) down an elevator shaft. Elisa runs back into her apartment and locks the door, but Miguel manages to get in through the window, brandishing a gun. Instead of killing her, Miguel decides to flip things around and turn her into an accomplice; making her accompany him across town so they can properly dispose of the corpse. As the two head toward their destination (a secluded beach house) there are a lot of suspenseful close calls with the police as well as a strange bond that starts growing between the two. After awhile, Elisa seem all too willing to cooperate with her abductor. After they sink the corpse in a lake, she even decides to carry on the relationship with Miguel when they return home to their respective apartments.

Director Eloy de la Iglesia is best known here in America for his 1972 shocker CANNIBAL MAN; which was good enough to encourage me to seek out more of his work. This is the first one I've been able to locate (his films are very hard to find here) and thankfully it's every bit as good as I was hoping it would be. Despite being listed as strictly horror on IMDb, this really defies genre and mixes drama, black comedy, suspense, road movie, character study, psychological thriller and horror, with a few jolts and bloody scenes. In that regard it reminded me a bit of Claude Chabrol's Le boucher; which is horror not in the traditional sense of jump scares, supernatural beings, gore, etc., but one more grounded in the everyday; in reality. It's the lows "normal" people can hit to fulfill themselves and find a sense of belonging in this world.

There are some very Hitchcockian scenes here, such as when Elisa and Miguel end up having to transport people injured in a car accident to a hospital and police ask him to put a suitcase in the trunk... where the body of his wife already is. However, the attention paid to the lead characters and how they were fleshed out is what made the movie stand out to me. We learn a bit more about each person as the film progresses and what makes both tick and what makes them eventually click with one another. Miguel is a man whose dreams of becoming a successful writer never came to fruition and who settled for marriage to a wealthy woman he didn't love instead. Elisa, though supported by a man (or possible several men), in turn has her own younger lover (Tony Isbert), who she supports. She seems to thrive on feeling needed, by someone, anyone, for any reason. At one point she even manages to turn the tables on her abductor and can easily kill him, but decides not to. Events like these may come off as silly in some hands, but they are completely plausible here because of strong dialogue, character detail and the performances. There's also a big twist at the end that I didn't see coming and an ending that is unexpected, ironic and tragic.

If you can find a copy of this anywhere, I highly recommend watching this. And if you need help finding a copy with English subtitles, feel free to PM me and I can point you in the right direction.

★★★1/2