Death Haunts Monica (1976)

Beautiful, moving film.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

In Spain it appears that ladies keep their telephones in the shower and, when answering the door, have time only to put on a pair of shoes, but not a pair of grundies. Welcome to Death Haunts Monica, an old school giallo (the kind that involves a rich person and loads of untrustworthy people trying to get their money) that has an mid-seventies giallo mindset (loads and loads and loads of nudity).Monica herself is a rich lady who is married to and stressed out by playboy Jean Sorel, who has used her money to set up a successful company along with friend Arturo (who is also ex-boyfriend of Monica) and Elena, who tells Monica that Jean is having an affair with Eve, who is also Elena's lover. Jean also has a bit of a dodgy past and that comes back to haunt him in the form of Diego, a man who tries to blackmail Jean and discovers it's really Monica who is holding the purse strings. That's about as much plot as I'm willing to give away as this film relies on its many twists and turns for impact, and as it's looking back towards those late-sixties gialli (like Umberto Lenzi's Paranoia) it wouldn't be fair to spoil anything else that happens. The seventies archetypal black-gloved killer does show up eventually, but even then things aren't so straightforward. This is a fine example of the genre with an almost complete lack of gore, although every single actress gets naked (and many others do to, just for the sake of it). Jean Sorel has barely aged a day since the last film I watched him in.

Taking part in a ICM poll for the best movies of 1976,I started checking the shelf for the DVD of Ruggero Deodato's Italian Crime epic Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man. Looking down the shelves,I was pleased to find the 1976 duo of Nico Mastorakis's debut Death Has Blue Eyes,and an enticing-sounding Giallo,which led to me meeting Mónica.The plot:Getting married to heiress Mónica, Federico uses her money to set-up a successful company called Eurozona. Dominating boardroom meetings, Federico starts an affair with Eva, (who is a lesbian,and deeply in love with Elena)Unknown to Federico,Elena and Eva have made plans to blackmail Eurozona out of Federico's hands. Aware of their marriage being in trouble and feeling uncomfortable around Eurozona's co- CEO/her husbands pal Arturo, Mónica is shaken when a burglar enters her house and she shoots him. Waking up after fainting from fear, Mónica finds the dead body of Federico's former business partner Diego. Dropping Diego's body in the river, Mónica soon finds her sanity to drop with it.View on the film:Investigating this psychological "bloodless" Giallo with a Film Noir flavour, director Ramón Fernández & cinematographer Hans Burmann make their three leading ladies appear incredible beautiful,with the extended scenes where they are naked being presented in elegant side-shots that give a playfully casual mood to the double-dealing conversations taking place. Smashing into Mónica's mansion, Fernández burns down her life of luxury with ultra-stylised creeping camera moves slithering round the house,and lingering glimpses in the corner of rooms building on the anxiety of Mónica's crumbling mind.Laying out all of their possessions, the screenplay by Juan José Alonso Millán superbly agitates the gaps in Federico and Mónica "perfect marriage", where Federico's dangerous liaison with Eva brings out a cold Film Noir fear in Mónica of being surrounded by vipers. Racing to a wonderfully odd mad-dash double-crossing revelation to the mystery, Millán chips into Mónica's doubts over her sight with gripping Giallo sleigh of hand that in this case actually does run like clockwork, and uses the double trouble of Elena and Eva as Femme Fatale sirens who attract Mónica anxiety to their underhanded dealing.Wrapping tightly round each other,sexy Karin Schubert and Bárbara Rey give terrific performances as Elena and Eva,who are both given an icy vibe that gives their exchanges with Federico and Mónica a venomous snap. Bouncing off Jean Sorel delicately playing the ambiguity of Federico, "Nadiuska" sizzles as Mónica,whose ruptures in paranoia Nadiuska pushes Mónica deep into the Giallo black gloves.

Most enjoyable, Spanish giallo type mystery thriller starring the very fine Jean Sorel, just a shame the Spanish dub removes his voice and that someone decided he should have dark hair. Maybe light hair was too effeminate on men at this time as the Spanish rushed out from under the fallen censorship of dead Franco. Certainly the ladies take every opportunity to pepper the proceedings with regular showers and changes of clothes. And despite all this I enjoyed it! Seriously, this is well worth seeking out, it runs less than 90 minutes and races along from start to finish barely allowing time for the subtitles to appear or the next character to speak. No dosing during this fascinating tale with at least two plot lines. Absolutely never a dull moment and although this is more psychological than gory, there are still plenty of killings to keep one guessing. Nadiuska is also worth a mention as the lovely and wealthy wife of Sorel who tends to glide about beautifully in the early stages and then go berserk towards the end. Really good fun.

A wealthy woman shoots her husband's blackmailer but he won't stay dead in this twisty DIABOLIQUE-like thriller starring handsome devil Jean Sorel, a little league Alain Delon and a much-beloved "mascot" of 60s and 70s Italian gialli. Director Ramón Fernández may have crafted a run-of-the-mill "erotic thriller" in classic Eurotrash fashion but for a "bloodless" (e.g. psychological) giallo, it's never dull and the Eurobabes all get naked, even the titular death magnet, Naduiska, who looks something like Sophia Loren. Teutonic tart Karin Shubert would later go on to make hardcore porn at the age of forty to support her drug habit.