Jean-Pierre Aumont plays Claude Marchand, a debonair, jet-setting photographer whose latest assignment is blind, aged sculptor Franz Badulescu (Boris Karloff). Marchand spends a lot of his time charming sexy Spanish ladies like Valerie (Rosenda Monteros), while sometimes the peace of this exotic locale is disturbed by murders - of men, women, and even a dog. What is done with the remains of these murder victims? It involves a cauldron of acid, not blood.
More of a murder mystery (akin to an Italian Giallo) with horror elements than an out-and-out horror film, this was filmed over the course of a few years, and not released until after Karloffs' death. One has to give the genre star credit, as he was not letting ill health slow him down; his performance is as delightful as many others he gave over the decades. The film is unique for incorporating a loud and lively soundtrack of American jazz, as well as surrealism (there are lots of stylized images in some sequences), psychedelia, and the carefree attitude of the swinging 60s. It includes a dungeon setting that is right in line with horror films of years past. The performances are engaging, especially from an unhinged Viveca Lindfors as Badulescus' conniving wife. Aumont is NOT as charming as he seems to think he is, but he does a decent job in the lead. Monteros is highly enticing as an intended victim, as is Dyanik Zurakowska as Elga. The Spanish locations utilized also help to give this a certain stature; while this is of course not up to Peter Bogdanovichs' great thriller "Targets", it's still superior to those VERY low rent Mexican-American horror films that constituted Karloffs' final film work.
Undeniably, this can get pretty crude. The filming and the editing are not exactly slick. A case in point is the ultimate fate for Badulescu; it comes off as laughable. But this Euro-trashy production manages to provide its audience with an amusing diversion, even in light of its troubled history. Karloff and Lindfors make it all worthwhile.
Seven out of 10.
More of a murder mystery (akin to an Italian Giallo) with horror elements than an out-and-out horror film, this was filmed over the course of a few years, and not released until after Karloffs' death. One has to give the genre star credit, as he was not letting ill health slow him down; his performance is as delightful as many others he gave over the decades. The film is unique for incorporating a loud and lively soundtrack of American jazz, as well as surrealism (there are lots of stylized images in some sequences), psychedelia, and the carefree attitude of the swinging 60s. It includes a dungeon setting that is right in line with horror films of years past. The performances are engaging, especially from an unhinged Viveca Lindfors as Badulescus' conniving wife. Aumont is NOT as charming as he seems to think he is, but he does a decent job in the lead. Monteros is highly enticing as an intended victim, as is Dyanik Zurakowska as Elga. The Spanish locations utilized also help to give this a certain stature; while this is of course not up to Peter Bogdanovichs' great thriller "Targets", it's still superior to those VERY low rent Mexican-American horror films that constituted Karloffs' final film work.
Undeniably, this can get pretty crude. The filming and the editing are not exactly slick. A case in point is the ultimate fate for Badulescu; it comes off as laughable. But this Euro-trashy production manages to provide its audience with an amusing diversion, even in light of its troubled history. Karloff and Lindfors make it all worthwhile.
Seven out of 10.