Did you people see the same film I saw?

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

More than anything, 1973's "The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll" seems to pose the question "Can a film be called a giallo if it was not made in Italy?" Well, since this Spanish picture has every attribute of a classic giallo except the Italian soundtrack, let's just say the answer is yes, call it an "amarillo" and move on! This film was my first introduction to the huge oeuvre of the late Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy, an actor/writer/director/producer who in this film contented himself with merely being the lead man. Here he plays Gilles, a likable ex-con in northern France who signs on as handyman at the run-down estate of three very unusual and beautiful sisters: Claude, who is aloof and sports a burnt arm and prosthetic hand; Nicole, a redheaded nymphomaniac; and Ivette, an embittered, wheelchair-bound invalid. When a crazed psycho killer starts slaying women in the area and plucking out their baby blues, Gilles is automatically deemed suspect No. 1. But is he really the guilty party? Anyway, this amarillo, directed by Carlos Aured, provides giallo fans with all the requisite elements they have come to expect. It features any number of grisly and murderous set pieces (although the actual butchering of a pig may be the hardest thing to look at), stylish direction from Aured, some pleasing flashes of nudity courtesy of Eva Leon as the lusty Nicole, and an alternately sprightly and sinuous jazz score from Juan Carlos Calderon that should stick in your head for days. Typical for a giallo, red herrings abound, but the story ultimately manages to cohere very well and make perfect sense, unlike a lot of other gialli that I have seen. You may even be able to figure out the murderer in this one; as usual, the ending came as a complete surprise for me. And I must say that that ending is as pleasingly sick as any viewer could want. "Have a horrible time...and have fun," Naschy urges us during this film's introduction, and a fun time will certainly be had by all genre fans with this one. Oh...the DVD in question here, from the fine folks at Deimos, looks fantastic, is excellently subtitled and comes with some nice extras, too. Gracias, guys!

Gilles (Paul Naschy) takes a job on a farm with three sisters, one (Eva León) of whom is trying very hard to get next to him. To complicate matters, a new nurse (Inés Morales) arrives to take care of one of the sisters, and she is very attractive.Nicole (León) manages to bed him first, only to get locked in her room at night by her hateful older sister Claude (Diana Lorys) But, it isn't long before he Claude in bed.Meanwhile, someone is killing women and stealing their eyes.Suspicion falls on Gilles after it is found that he is an ex-con. But is he guilty? A fascinating Spanish giallo that will keep you guessing.

Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll is a decent enough Spanish Giallo with enough twists and turns in the plot to make it reasonably entertaining. The biggest problem, however, is that it lacks the style I usually associate with the genre. The set-up is wonderful – a drifter, Gilles (played by Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy), is hired as a caretaker at a house inhabited by three beautiful women – all of whom have some sort of problem. Claude has a prosthetic arm, Ivette is wheelchair bound, and Nicole is a raging nymphomaniac. Gilles arrival coincides with a series of brutal murders. Gilles has a secretive past, but is he really capable of the string of vicious deaths? Don't worry, it'll all be sorted out in the end.First - the good. As I've already indicated, I loved the set-up. The big old house full of crazy women provides a wonderful backdrop for the film's events to unfold. The acting is okay. I was most impressed with Diana Lorys' very sympathetic performance as the vulnerable Claude. Next, the plot will keep you guessing right up to the end with its numerous red herrings. Suspicion is thrown on just about everyone. And, even though the ending comes out of nowhere and hardly seems plausible, the final reveal has one of the things I love about Gialli – the total unpredictability of the finale.But as my rating would indicate, there are things about Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll that didn't work for me as well as they could have. First, I'm not the biggest fan of Paul Naschy. I try and try to enjoy the man's work, but for the most part, I don't see the appeal. Next, the special effects are very weak – even for a low budget Giallo. The eyes look ludicrous. Finally, as I indicated in the opening, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll lacks that style I look for in a Giallo. Leaving out the works of Dario Argento and Mario Bava, just compare this movie with the Gialli of Sergio Martino, Luciano Ercoli, or Emilio Miraglia and you'll quickly see what I mean.In the end, I'll give Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll a weak 6/10, verging on a 5/10.

Starring Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy "Blue Eyes of a Broken Doll" tells the story of three sisters,a sexy brunette with horribly mutilated hand,a wheel-chair bound blonde and a nymphomaniacal redhead who hire a handsome handyman to fix up their decaying old house.Naschy soon finds himself embroiled into a series of brutal killings which leave some beautiful local girls dead and eyeless(the eyes were torn out by the killer).Our hero with criminal past attempts to solve the mystery before it's too late. "Blue Eyes of a Broken Doll" is obviously influenced by Italian gialli.The killings are more sleazy than stylish,but there is enough suspense and nudity to keep fans of Eurohorror entertained.It's a crying shame that Carlos Aured died in February 2008.