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In the early 70s, while Italy led the charge in the production of gialli, its neighbor to the West, Spain, began churning out more and more of its own takes on the genre. With their uniquely Catalan flavor and casts, this trio of criminally-underseen Spanish gialli have all been newly restored in 4K from their 35mm camera negatives and are at last making their worldwide Blu-ray debuts from Vinegar Syndrome.
After Lord Archibald Marion is brutally murdered by an unknown assailant, the bitter and feuding members of his family gather at his large country mansion for a reading of the will. But their arrival is marked by a second grisly killing, that of Archibald’s wife, which sets into motion an increasingly chilling series of deaths. One of only a handful of traditional gialli directed by Jess Franco (Venus in Furs), the improbably Louisiana-set, NIGHT OF THE SKULL (La noche de los asesinos) is a delightfully pulpy old-dark-house whodunit. (1974 / 82 min)
A notoriously harsh French judge, vacationing at a luxury resort, finds his holiday interrupted when a mysterious killer begins murdering those in and around the hotel. But what makes these killings all the more unsettling is that they’re being carried out identically to the methods used by the judge’s executed murderers. Offering a more subtextual narrative which leads to a memorably cynical and downbeat ending, Jorge Grau’s (The Blood Spattered Bride) VIOLENT BLOOD BATH (Pena de muerte) is a uniquely thought-provoking entry in the annals of Spanish gialli. (1974 / 92 min)
Derek, a handsome young Englishman, has recently moved to a Spanish seaside town. A lothario, Derek is quick to begin seducing the local women, only for a murderer to start picking them off one by one. Despite his protests of innocence, the police conclude that Derek is a sex maniac and responsible for the crimes. However, could another individual be behind the heinous killings? Remaining thematically and structurally aligned with its Italian forebears, Pedro Luis Ramírez’ (School of Death) THE FISH WITH THE EYES OF GOLD (El pez de los ojos de oro) is an engrossing, twist-filled coastal caper with plenty of murders and other macabre surprises. (1974 / 84 min)
STARRING: Fernando Rey, Alberto Dalbés, Wal Davis