This 1967 color Franco film picks up considerably in its last twenty minutes or so, when it gets serious, with an accompanying tightening of direction and cinematographic inventiveness, but the earlier parts show a lazy Franco indulging a few of his worst habits. According to the OBSESSION book, Franco shot this back to back with CARTAS BOCA ARRIBA (ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS), so perhaps there was an understandable diminution in the amount of energy and curiosity he could give to the project; or, perhaps, the money wasn't there to give the entirety an edge and a polish.
A few factoids to advance scholarship a few inches:
I watched the Divisa video of the film and can state that the Spanish version of the film DOES contain the Howard Vernon segment. (OBSESSION guessed otherwise.) Wolfgang Preiss, however, does not appear in this version. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see Patty Shepard as one of the girls in the "residencia." The camera makes note of her at least twice. This is the earliest sighting of Ms. Shepard that I know of, so perhaps we can say that Franco "discovered" her. She also appeared in his next film, LUCKY, EL INTREPIDO.
Mirek
A few factoids to advance scholarship a few inches:
I watched the Divisa video of the film and can state that the Spanish version of the film DOES contain the Howard Vernon segment. (OBSESSION guessed otherwise.) Wolfgang Preiss, however, does not appear in this version. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see Patty Shepard as one of the girls in the "residencia." The camera makes note of her at least twice. This is the earliest sighting of Ms. Shepard that I know of, so perhaps we can say that Franco "discovered" her. She also appeared in his next film, LUCKY, EL INTREPIDO.
Mirek
