Al Otro Lado Del Espejo is the 35th film that I have seen directed by Jess Franco, and it has to be one of the worst so far, the prolific Spaniard combining awful lounge jazz music, dull chit-chat, bloodless murders, acts of suicide, and graphic sex to (somehow) create a stupefyingly dull experience.
The film apparently exists in three versions, the one I saw including XXX inserts featuring Franco muse Lina Romay. Howard Vernon plays the father of Annette (Emma Cohen) and Marie (Romay), who have a very close relationship - some might say too close. Jealous of her sister's engagement to Arthur, Marie gets nekkid and impales herself on a big sword. Shocked by Marie's death, Annette calls off her wedding and leaves home to become a jazz pianist. Now, whenever Annette gets close to a man, she hears her sister's voice instructing her to kill him, which she does. This happens several times, until an old lady smashes a mirror and Annette drops dead.
Apparently, the plot varies between versions, with the sisters' father being the one who commits suicide in the Spanish 'director's cut', and the mirror playing a more significant role, but knowing Franco, I imagine that none of them make that much sense. I'm baffled to see that other reviewers here on IMDb seem to hold this in fairly high regard - in my opinion, this is Franco at his laziest and most soporific.
The film apparently exists in three versions, the one I saw including XXX inserts featuring Franco muse Lina Romay. Howard Vernon plays the father of Annette (Emma Cohen) and Marie (Romay), who have a very close relationship - some might say too close. Jealous of her sister's engagement to Arthur, Marie gets nekkid and impales herself on a big sword. Shocked by Marie's death, Annette calls off her wedding and leaves home to become a jazz pianist. Now, whenever Annette gets close to a man, she hears her sister's voice instructing her to kill him, which she does. This happens several times, until an old lady smashes a mirror and Annette drops dead.
Apparently, the plot varies between versions, with the sisters' father being the one who commits suicide in the Spanish 'director's cut', and the mirror playing a more significant role, but knowing Franco, I imagine that none of them make that much sense. I'm baffled to see that other reviewers here on IMDb seem to hold this in fairly high regard - in my opinion, this is Franco at his laziest and most soporific.