unbrokenmetal The young and idealistic Dr Johnson (Fred Williams) proudly presents his work with human embryos, but has his expectations crushed by 4 experts (Howard Vernon, Paul Muller, Ewa Strömberg and Jess Franco himself) who ridicule the work of his lifetime and destroy his experiments. Dr Johnson commits suicide, and his widow (Soledad Miranda) decides she will kill the 4 enemies of her husband - in interesting ways. Meanwhile she keeps the body of the doctor and continues to talk to him as if he were still alive...A thriller with a remarkable straightforward story for a Jess Franco movie. Soledad Miranda is scorching the screen, the director gives her plenty of opportunity to stare with her dark eyes at her future victims. Not even a silly blond wig can damage her maniacal presence. The jazzy lounge music contributes a lot to the freaky atmosphere, but also the locations near Alicante/Spain are beautifully chosen. The only weak point to me is the role of the police inspector (Horst Tappert), because he seems to do a really lazy and sloppy investigation, considering there are several murder cases. Oh, and maybe it's the only time in cinema history that a car falls down a cliff and just breaks apart, it doesn't explode like it's full of dynamite - movie cliché avoided. Most likely it were only the costs which mattered, though.

MartinHafer While I noticed that there were quite a few very positive reviews for this one, mine will certainly not be among them. Some described this as being among director Jesús Franco's best films, though I just don't see it. To me, the film was poorly made, had a plot they 'borrowed' from "The Bride Wore Black" and was just an excuse to show a lot of flesh. The plot, for the most part, seemed relatively unimportant and several times throughout the movie I saw mistakes that should have been eliminated had anyone really cared about producing a quality film.The film begins with some insane (or at least completely amoral) doctor doing experiments on viable embryos. While he assumes folks will hail him as a great man and humanitarian, not surprisingly he's attacked by the medical community and his license is revoked. He becomes depressed and ultimately kills himself. His wife, a bit of a nut-job herself, blames four people for his death and goes about killing them. Inexplicably, all these murders involve her taking off her clothes and showing off her pubic regions.My biggest problem isn't the gratuitous nudity but the way the film was made. Too much emphasis was made on the nudity and too little on constructing a more believable story or interesting murders. There just wasn't a lot of intelligence in constructing the plot--and little style. Plus, the killer wife drug her dead husband's corpse around with her--but he clearly was sweating. And, in one scene, a shroud is pulled away from a dead blonde--and you can see her moving!! She is supposed to be dead and dead people aren't supposed to move! How can this be a great film or among Franco's best?! It was sloppy and these scenes should have been re-shot. Overall, a sloppy film and one that should have been much better.

Thorsten_B For a film directed by Jess Franco (disguised under the alias "Frank Hollmann"), this one has a surprisingly straight forward narrative. Filmed on great locations (both concerning landscapes and architecture) and presented on the DVD in splendid picture quality, Francos delivers a fast-paced and entertaining interpretation of a common theme: the vengeful lady. No doubt much of the film owes to Francois Truffauts "La Mariée était en Noir"; but whereas Truffauts bride aims at revenge only, Francos heroine (as pretty as they usually are) mixes vendetta with arousal. Attention, spoilers ahead: If you ever wanted to see a nude 56year old Howard Vernon (but who would?) this one is the flick to rent. In a particularly bizarre scene Vernons character undresses and goes to bed with what he believes to be a prostitute; before things go further (with Vernon, Francos veteran associate, playing a highly ethical physician demanding to be insulted during the intercourse) comes a prayer... The director has a trademark cameo and so has German cult figure Horst Tappert, playing – as always – the leading policeman. There's also some lesbianism involved (resulting in one girl suffocating the other with a transparent plastic pillow!), but violence is relatively moderate. Some aspects of cadrage are of interest: The picture shows not what the protagonists hands are doing (although these doings are important for the plot), but at first only their faces, then slightly enlarging the view. Of the many films Franco made I own about twenty; of the ones I already saw, this is probably the one with the clearest storyline and the most focused storytelling. Not original, but neatly done, entertaining and still a true Franco.

jriddle73 A naively idealistic scientist engaged in fetal research he hopes will offer tremendous benefits for mankind instead finds himself scandalized, his work condemned as ethically abominable (how's that for a timely premise?). Distraught, he eventually kills himself, and his horrified lover (Soledad Miranda), psychologically broken by it all, sets out for revenge against his persecutors--one by one, she hunts them down, seduces them, and kills them.The film's most astonishing sequence features beautiful Soledad consumed by grief to the point of insanity--as she confronts the horror of it all, Franco zooms into her face and seems to zoom into her soul. We see her thoughts and memories of her previously happy life, and their effect on her. We witness the point at which the madness finally consumes her--we almost experience it ourselves. A breathtaking sequence, and far from the film's only moment of brilliance.Like all Francos, the movie is, unfortunately, plagued by obvious budgetary shortcomings--the final suicidal plunge, in a car, off a cliff was reduced to a rough drive down a somewhat steep embankment. In such cases, the viewer just has to let his imagination more properly fill in the details.