Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1976)

More than anything, 1973's "The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll" seems to pose the question "Can a film be called a giallo if it was not made in Italy?" Well, since this Spanish picture has every attribute of a classic giallo except the Italian soundtrack, let's just say the answer is yes, call it an "amarillo" and move on! This film was my first introduction to the huge oeuvre of the late Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy, an actor/writer/director/producer who in this film contented himself with merely being the lead man. Here he plays Gilles, a likable ex-con in northern France who signs on as handyman at the run-down estate of three very unusual and beautiful sisters: Claude, who is aloof and sports a burnt arm and prosthetic hand; Nicole, a redheaded nymphomaniac; and Ivette, an embittered, wheelchair-bound invalid. When a crazed psycho killer starts slaying women in the area and plucking out their baby blues, Gilles is automatically deemed suspect No. 1. But is he really the guilty party? Anyway, this amarillo, directed by Carlos Aured, provides giallo fans with all the requisite elements they have come to expect. It features any number of grisly and murderous set pieces (although the actual butchering of a pig may be the hardest thing to look at), stylish direction from Aured, some pleasing flashes of nudity courtesy of Eva Leon as the lusty Nicole, and an alternately sprightly and sinuous jazz score from Juan Carlos Calderon that should stick in your head for days. Typical for a giallo, red herrings abound, but the story ultimately manages to cohere very well and make perfect sense, unlike a lot of other gialli that I have seen. You may even be able to figure out the murderer in this one; as usual, the ending came as a complete surprise for me. And I must say that that ending is as pleasingly sick as any viewer could want. "Have a horrible time...and have fun," Naschy urges us during this film's introduction, and a fun time will certainly be had by all genre fans with this one. Oh...the DVD in question here, from the fine folks at Deimos, looks fantastic, is excellently subtitled and comes with some nice extras, too. Gracias, guys!

The movie Blue Eyes Of The Broken Doll is a film that i find is very much underestimated amongst some fans of the horror genre.I was reminiscent of the film and watched it again last night under the video version of the same name which i believe to be the uncut version as the American versions were entitled House of Doom and House Of the Psychotic Women were both cut versions but i am uncertain as to which scenes were cut out although i suspect that one of them would upset members of PETA.In regards to the movie which is Spanish but set in France, an escaped convict named Gilles has gone to a town in France searching for a new life and work. He visits a local café in waitress is less than welcoming. He later meets a young woman named Claude who after much hardship and a disfigured hand lives with her two sisters Yvette who is wheelchair bound and Nicole who is a nymphomaniac within a house and estate and need some help so he is invited to work and stay with them. Gilles suffers from flashbacks at times from his previous crimes of strangling a woman who was his lover. Nicole wastes no time in seducing Gilles who later turns his affections to Claude who believes a man would never be interested in her. There is bitter rivalry between all three sisters who have different ways of living.Yvette's condition is being helped by the local doctor and a nurse named Michelle who turns up to replace another nurse, Margo since her disappearance, she is suspicious of Michelle who has problems outside of work but her doctor reassures her that she has her best interests at heart.All the main characters are introduced within the first half an for the plot development and all have something to hide once we get to know a little about them, the story takes a more sinister turn when police first discover that the nurse who was supposed to care for Yvette has been found murdered and then an unknown killer starts to stalk and murder young, attractive, blond haired and blued eyed women. There disguise is to be completely covered in black with gloves trademark is to cut out the blue eyes of their victims, although the viewer does not get to see this unfortunately. The set up of the killings is dark and atmospheric like in many other European horror films from the giallo genre with the music from the children's rhyme Feres Jacques playing in the background and it gets more catchy each time, it is very memorable in reference to the film. Although the killings are not as graphic as you would expect due to production limitations and one misleading cover photo in which tries to make you believe the decapitation of one of the women in the film is more explicit then it actually is. This film turns more from horror to that of a thriller when it comes to the viewer finding out who is the culprit if these gruesome murders.The first hour appears quite predictable but no one could expect the disturbing outcome of this classic and intelligent storyline which is only revealed in the last few scenes makes it definitely worth the watch alone, I wont spoil it for you but it should definitely make you appreciate the films plot and understand the killers motive.I am also pleased that after 35 years Blue Eyes Of the Broken Doll has finally been released on DVD and presented in high definition so i hope to see this version soon.I would give this film a 7 out of 10!

Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll is one of the handful of Spanish Giallo's that were made in the seventies. It's one of the better known ones, mostly for the fact that it stars prolific horror star Paul Naschy. Unfortunately, I saw the poorly dubbed American cut version of this film; but even so, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll is certainly a more than decent example of the genre and I would have to say that I enjoyed it. The film is set in a small town and has quite an isolated feel to it. The plot is pure Giallo and of course puts its main focus on a string of murders. Paul Naschy is Gilles, an ex-convict with problems. He strolls into town one day looking for work and ends up finding three sisters looking for a handyman. All are beautiful, but two are disabled - one being in a wheelchair. However, Gilles is a troubled man; he suffers from daydreams in which he is strangling women. These daydreams become even more of a problem when a serial killer moves in and starts murdering all the young blue eyed women. Naturally the suspicion falls on Gilles...The film is directed by Carlos Aured who also directed Naschy in films such as Curse of the Devil and Horror Rises from the Tomb. Aured creates a nice atmosphere that is a mixture of sleaziness and claustrophobia as a result of the isolated situation. There isn't a great deal of sex in the film despite some beautiful women, but this is not too important as it allows the director to focus on the more important elements. Paul Naschy is a good actor with some real screen presence and he gives a nice performance here in the lead role. The film is fairly short at just eighty five minutes but the running time is well used and not much time is spent on things that aren't anything to do with the central plot. Naturally there are a few murder scenes in the film, though unfortunately none of them are particularly graphic. The film boils down to the expected 'shock' ending. The ending is really quite unlikely, but to be honest it's one of the things I love most about this genre, so I can't really complain about it! Overall, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll is a nice little Giallo and certainly one of the better Spanish ones. Recommended!

Based upon a real life story that I'm not going to share here, in order to avoid obvious spoilers, "Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll" is perhaps one of the most unreasonably overlooked giallos ever made. I know this term is essentially meant to classify certain Italian horror and mystery movies, but whoever thinks other countries cannot produce decent giallos that can be equally entertaining and highly appreciated, is wrong. "Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll", is perhaps one of the best examples to demonstrate this, without actually emulating some of the most distinguished giallos that were released back then. As a matter of fact, it seems that director Carlos Aured, was clever enough to avoid the cliché of putting the name of an animal on the title. Many other directors were inclined to do so, during the giallo profusion that took place during the 1970s. No big deal, after all, but I just thought it would be fair to comment on this little detail as well.In "Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll", an ex-convict named Gilles, tries to start a new life by taking refuge in a small town of the French border. Regardless of the people's aloofness, he stays around to find a job in this new place. Claude, on the other hand, is a beautiful woman with an orthopedic hand, who lives in a big gloomy house in the outskirts with her two eccentric sisters, Yvette and Nicole. Gilles starts working at Claude's house as a handyman and simultaneously, a mysterious nurse called Michelle arrives to take care of Yvette, who is crippled and has to be under constant surveillance. Concurrently, young girls begin to appear brutally murdered out of the blue and the police have no clue about what is going on. All the victims share certain parallels, like, having blue eyes and light-colored hair, but it seems like there's nothing else to tie them with each other. The only thing that matches perfectly with the sudden murders is the arrival of Gilles and Michelle to the old house. Everyone gossips about the former convict, but Claude remains loyal to her secret love towards him and continues to give him shelter and a job no matter what. Unfortunately, Gilles has strange visions of himself murdering young women for no reason and struggles with himself to avoid doing something that he might regret later. As the days go by, the relationship between Gilles, Michelle and the three psychotic women becomes more and more tense each day and meanwhile, the mysterious killer keeps slaughtering beautiful girls out there.To be honest, I was actually looking forward to something satisfying but in a less serious way. I assumed this was going to be some kind of mindless exploitation flick with lots of gore and pointless sex, lesbianism and a mildly predictable ending. Unexpectedly, I got a genuinely good product with a truly unexpected ending and a decent and yet moderate share of gore that somehow doesn't make the movie fit in the exploitation category. Not that I have anything against exploitation films. As a matter of fact, I also enjoy these films very much, but my point is that "Blue Eyes of the Broken Dolls", didn't fall into this less-respected category and it ended up being a charming giallo that has nothing to envy to the Italian ones. Frankly, I still cannot believe that being a film with Paul Naschy, there's no nudity or sex whatsoever. Especially if we keep in mind that these is a movie that has four attractive female character and a lusty man with all the ladies for himself. Of course, Mr. Naschy didn't miss the opportunity to appear shirtless and showing off his body all sweaty. It's alright, a little bit of vanity doesn't hurt anyone, I suppose. So concluding, I think this film will be highly regarded by anyone who is in the mood for a nice little giallo with a twisted ending and repetitive dancy music here and there.