Here, the celebrated Euro-cult filmmaker Jesus Franco gets to put his own spin on the entire film noir genre. The atmosphere is potent, the music is excellent, the story pretty straightforward, and the performances universally engaging. Conrado San Martin stars as Federico de Castro, who's out for revenge against crime kingpin Vogel / Radeck (Georges Rollin). Vogel had set up de Castro and his associate Julius Smith (Manuel Alexandre) two years ago; de Castro had gone to prison, and Smith ends up run down in the street shortly into the story.
The cast also includes Gerard Tichy, Danik Patisson as a sultry singer, Perla Cristal as Radecks' wife, and Adriano Dominguez & Fortunio Bonanova as the authorities. They're all pleasing to watch, especially lovely ladies Patisson & Cristal, and Rollin as an enjoyably cold villain. (Yet he is not *completely* inhuman - he does suffer nightmares.) The black & white photography (by Juan Marine) is first-rate, and the film really benefits from its milieu of smokey jazz clubs & its soundtrack. Set in Jamaica, it does have an exotic appeal you don't see in the majority of the genre. The pacing is pretty snappy, resulting in a very reasonable run time of just over 81 minutes. The film is sexy, violent, and works in an effective and amusing twist into its trim little tale.
Overall, "Death Whistles the Blues" is indicative of Uncle Jess' versatility; some of his very best output came out of this decade. A jazz musician himself, he also has a brief, uncredited cameo as a saxophonist near the beginning of the film.
Seven out of 10.
The cast also includes Gerard Tichy, Danik Patisson as a sultry singer, Perla Cristal as Radecks' wife, and Adriano Dominguez & Fortunio Bonanova as the authorities. They're all pleasing to watch, especially lovely ladies Patisson & Cristal, and Rollin as an enjoyably cold villain. (Yet he is not *completely* inhuman - he does suffer nightmares.) The black & white photography (by Juan Marine) is first-rate, and the film really benefits from its milieu of smokey jazz clubs & its soundtrack. Set in Jamaica, it does have an exotic appeal you don't see in the majority of the genre. The pacing is pretty snappy, resulting in a very reasonable run time of just over 81 minutes. The film is sexy, violent, and works in an effective and amusing twist into its trim little tale.
Overall, "Death Whistles the Blues" is indicative of Uncle Jess' versatility; some of his very best output came out of this decade. A jazz musician himself, he also has a brief, uncredited cameo as a saxophonist near the beginning of the film.
Seven out of 10.