(1974)
Dir - Pedro L. Ramírez
Overall: WOOF
Almost certainly the most lethargic giallo ever made, Pedro L. Ramírez' penultimate film The Fish with the Eyes of Gold, (El pez de los ojos de oro), is unique in its completely sterile presentation. Plot wise, Juan Gallardo Muñoz's script follows the formula to a tee; a foreigner has sex with a stranger and wakes up to her murdered body in his very same bed, whereas he spends the rest of the movie trying to clear himself of suspicion as the police logically suspect him. We uncover the killer within the last few minutes, his motivation is due to a childhood trauma, there is an animal in the movie's title, etc. So many of the pieces are all in their proper place so it is no small wonder that Ramírez took such an unorthodox route to differentiate it. As strictly opposed to virtually every giallo on earth, there is almost no musical score throughout the entire movie so instead, everything, (and not just the suspense-building moments right before someone is picked-off), unfolds to odd silence. All of the performances are equally Quaaluded out, particularly Wal Davis in the lead whose surfer dude looks apparently render him incapable of emoting. It is just a shame that the listless tone renders the entire thing unwatchably boring and awkward instead of refreshingly singular.
(1976)
Dir - Ramón Fernández
Overall: MEH
Giallo-adjacent, La muerte ronda a Mónica, (Death Haunts Monica, Il buio intorno a Monica), is a rare work in the genre from Spanish filmmaker Ramón Fernández and one that features both Jean Sorel and German model-turned leading lady Nadiuska. The aforementioned actors play a doomed, wealthy couple who get in the middle of an endless stream of dubious people trying to either extort money from them or take over their company. In the mean time, such things as extramarital affairs, casual nudity, a little lesbianism, killers hiding in shadows and delivering threatening phone calls, and a whole lot of chatty banter make up the predominant amount of screen time. It is a typical bore in this respect, handled with little to no pizazz from Fernández from behind the lens. That said, the third act finally busts out some sinister music and establishes a couple of intense set pieces, plus the expository scheme reveal at the end is worth a double-take to try and wrap one's head around due to its convoluted ridiculousness. For the most part, everybody on screen besides Nadiuska's character is shady-at-best/vile-at-worst, so it is mostly a flatly paced bit of dour nonsense.
(1978)
Dir - José Ramón Larraz
Overall: MEH
Filmmaker José Ramón Larraz delivers another slow-moving, erotic lesbian genre offering in his native Spain with The Coming of Sin, (La visita del vicio); a borderline disastrous bit of surreal sexploitation. As usual, the pacing is challenging at best, as exciting set pieces are almost entirely absent and in their place is a strange tale of two women, (Patricia Granada and Lidia Zuazo, respectfully), who go about their days doing naked stuff together while also exhibiting inconsistent behavior towards each other. The arrival of Rafael Machado naked on a horse, (don't ask), further complicates things to say the least, as well as adding to the arbitrary mannerisms and mood swings of everyone on screen. Though it maintains an air of evocative strangeness, the narrative is virtually impenetrable and pretentious in its aloofness, with an ending that seems laughably rushed. The intimate cinematography by Fernando Arribas is impressive though, plus Larraz throws in a number of dream sequences that are just as otherworldly in tone as all of the woman-on-woman sex scenes and sleazy rape at the hands of Machado. It may be trying to say something about feminist isolation and post-Franco liberation, but it does so in an aggravatingly indulgent and sluggish manner.
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