Paul Naschy isn't my cup of tea - a short, stocky brute and erstwhile werewolf in horrid monster flicks that aren't my bag, either. Naschy is the hero of male giallo fans who like tough guys, but I'll say he was well cast into this one particular movie as an ex-convict and drifter hired by the the three weird sisters.
A breathtakingly beautiful villa is shared by a depressed paralytic invalid, a nymphomaniac who probably has borderline personality disorder, and the kind of tough, "salt of the earth" over-responsible older sister ...who has a prosthetic arm, a pretty bad one that was apparently dated even at the time the film was made and it's pointed out by the doctor in the story.
I found the writing and acting engaging and appreciate the atmosphere (as well as an especially insane final scene). Naschy never fails to underwhelm me though on his way out, every inch the idiot "coppers will never take me alive, see" and pathetically shooting a handgun at multiple police officers with more sophisticated weapons. Granted the part was probably written that way, to portray him as an illiterate working class man who has more braun than brains, but I could have done without it. The scene seems lifted straight out of some silly 1930s American gangster joint. And yet...it's strangely effective at the very last, and I would bet money it influenced Stanley Kubrick's The Shining several years later, take note. This is arguably an important film in the giallo canon despite its Spanish origin and English dubbing.
A breathtakingly beautiful villa is shared by a depressed paralytic invalid, a nymphomaniac who probably has borderline personality disorder, and the kind of tough, "salt of the earth" over-responsible older sister ...who has a prosthetic arm, a pretty bad one that was apparently dated even at the time the film was made and it's pointed out by the doctor in the story.
I found the writing and acting engaging and appreciate the atmosphere (as well as an especially insane final scene). Naschy never fails to underwhelm me though on his way out, every inch the idiot "coppers will never take me alive, see" and pathetically shooting a handgun at multiple police officers with more sophisticated weapons. Granted the part was probably written that way, to portray him as an illiterate working class man who has more braun than brains, but I could have done without it. The scene seems lifted straight out of some silly 1930s American gangster joint. And yet...it's strangely effective at the very last, and I would bet money it influenced Stanley Kubrick's The Shining several years later, take note. This is arguably an important film in the giallo canon despite its Spanish origin and English dubbing.