Monica (Nadiuska) is supposedly a rich woman who lives happily with her husband, Federico (Jean Sorel). Thanks to a friend of hers she finds out that he is cheating on her with another woman named Eva (Bárbara Rey). Things go from bad to worse when the company appears to be in trouble and former board members reappear. However, everything seems even more complicated with the appearance of Diego (Damián Velasco), a former adventure partner of Federico who has spent the last few years in prison due to a robbery and who also wants to get hold of the couple's assets, trying to get cold hard cash. The wealthy woman is then implicated in a series of murders. Other partners in this venture include the middle-aged bachelor Arturo (in his usual role as elegant playboy Arturo Fernández), who has a string of lovers throughout the city and used to date Monica herself, and the usually fur-clad glamorous Elena De Fuentes (Karin Schubert), who is a close friend of Mónica. At least that's what she thinks. Trusted friends are also few in the Giallo genre.
In 1976, Giallo was still influencing some directors, as in this Spanish thriller, whose intricate plot does not imply any development, nor due tension, nor an original outcome; however it does contain a few attractive elements. In short, the approach with which the director tries to drive one of the characters to madness is partially interesting. The film offers little more than gratuitous nudity, with a lesbian scene included, something very typical in the era of the "Destape" (ordinary nudist exposure of Spanish actresses in the seventies and eighties). As a trivia, we should add that the film received complaints at the time from certain viewers who had to be assisted in the same theaters due to the shock caused by some violent sequences. This film has a lot of dialogue and is somewhat slow, although it begins in an entertaining way and develops little by little, repetitively, spurred by a ridiculous ending, and not being filmed or directed with much style, but rather with a television aesthetic. Although it's called Giallo, it reminded me much more of a similar film, 'Diabolique'. The only thing you might not find in a television production is that there is a generous helping of female nudity here. All the actresses involved like Nadiuska, Karin Schubert, and Bárbara Rey, the latter more than once, as well as other women in smaller roles like Sandra Alberti, and Jenny Llada act to undress and then disappear. However, it's also worth noting that the scenes themselves are far from erotic. There is no sex here; just a lot of nudist scenes when the girls are showering, or making love, or coming out of the bathroom when the phone rings, or upstairs when they're in bed with their partners. Even a lesbian act in a nightclub is boring when filmed from afar.
I'll give him some credit for generating a bit of intrigue at the end and some well-executed scares, although it's pretty obvious that he's not very skilled at this particular genre. Some of the posters advertised this as an Agatha Christie adaptation, but it is not. The cast also includes the regulars of horror and European Giallo, such as the french Jean Sorel who played as a leading man in many films, standing out in the Italian Giallos, starring Nadiuska , famous as mother of 'John Milius's Conan' and in 'Último deseo' (The People Who Own the Dark,1979), Yelena Samarina and Luis Barboo as Monica's servants, the latter participated in a lot of horror/Western films, Bárbara Rey from 'The Cursed Ship' (or The ghost galleon), Sandra Alberti, who starred in the Spanish exploitation gem 'Satan's Blood' (1978). There has never been an official release for this title, although several outlets offered a faded, albeit widescreen print. The film was mediocrely directed by Ramón Fernández, although it has many deficiencies, cracks and gaps. This was the only Giallo genre film by this director, who made mainly comedies. Ramón was a prolific craftsman who directed all types of genres (but with a penchant for comedy), such as Thrillers: ¨Rueda de sospechosos¨, ¨7 minutos para morir¨; Westerns: ¨Las mujeres de Jeremías¨; Musical: ¨Las aventuras de Enrique y Ana¨, ¨A Tope¨. Being expert on Spanish comedies, such as: ¨Aquí están las vicetiples¨, ¨Cateto a babor¨, ¨Ahí va otro recluta¨, ¨Simón contamos contigo¨, ¨Sor YeYe¨ , ¨Margarita se llama mi amor¨, ¨ Los novios de mujer¨, ¨El adultero¨, ¨El donante¨, ¨Cuando los maridos iban a la guerra¨, ¨Doctor me gustan las mujeres es grave¨, ¨Matrimonio al desnudo¨, ¨El señorito y las seductoras¨, ¨El gran mogollón¨, ¨Aquí el que no corre vuela¨ and he made ¨No desearas al vecino del quinto¨ considered to be the Spanish's most boxoffice at the time. Rating: 6/10. Average but passable .
