If you're a fan of director Jose Larraz, you probably won't find this obscure early effort as good as "Vampyres" or "The Coming of Sin" (both of which, unlike this one, have been released on legitimate DVD), but it's better than his recently unearthed (and somewhat disappointing) first effort "Whirlpool",and it's definitely better than most of his later work.
A middle-aged man and his young mistress crash their car and end up in the eerie country estate of a creepy young man (the same actor from "Whirlpool"), his sultry sister, and a bed-ridden aunt who seems to be alternately psychic and psychotic. Not surprisingly, the young man is an amateur taxidermist with an interest in tattooed flesh, and the sister turns out to be a crazed sex killer. Strangely though, Larraz doesn't play up the incest angle like he did in "Whirlpool". He also throws in a couple sex orgies with the brother's hippie friends that are pretty gratuitous and really detract from the eerie isolation of the estate. Still this movie has a lot more atmosphere than "Whirlpool" and it has acting that, while certainly not good, does not take away from the plot at least. Probably the he oddest thing about this movie is the sexual coupling of some very unattractive middle-aged and elderly men (including a hilariously horny druggist)with very attractive young women. (If I ever become bald and paunchy and sprout a pair of bad pork-chop sideburns, I think I'll relocate to the English countryside where all the action apparently is).
This is probably not the best place to start if you're not already a fan of Jose Larraz, but those already familiar with this offbeat director will no doubt find it pretty entertaining.
A middle-aged man and his young mistress crash their car and end up in the eerie country estate of a creepy young man (the same actor from "Whirlpool"), his sultry sister, and a bed-ridden aunt who seems to be alternately psychic and psychotic. Not surprisingly, the young man is an amateur taxidermist with an interest in tattooed flesh, and the sister turns out to be a crazed sex killer. Strangely though, Larraz doesn't play up the incest angle like he did in "Whirlpool". He also throws in a couple sex orgies with the brother's hippie friends that are pretty gratuitous and really detract from the eerie isolation of the estate. Still this movie has a lot more atmosphere than "Whirlpool" and it has acting that, while certainly not good, does not take away from the plot at least. Probably the he oddest thing about this movie is the sexual coupling of some very unattractive middle-aged and elderly men (including a hilariously horny druggist)with very attractive young women. (If I ever become bald and paunchy and sprout a pair of bad pork-chop sideburns, I think I'll relocate to the English countryside where all the action apparently is).
This is probably not the best place to start if you're not already a fan of Jose Larraz, but those already familiar with this offbeat director will no doubt find it pretty entertaining.