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Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1973)By Diana Thoren EDITOR'S NOTE: "House of Psychotic Women" was one of the film's many alternate titles. Men of the world could do worse than wake up one morning as star Paul Naschy in “Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll.” Naschy is a swarthy, stocky man with John Belushi’s head circa “Animal House,” and his character Gilles finds himself smack dab in the middle of a Señorita Titty Fest. Poor dude, right? I’m not at all surprised to find him listed as co-writer. Well done, my friend. Here’s what happens: Gilles is running from some kind of shady past, and is hitchhiking in the north of France where he gets picked up by a smoldering beauty named Claude. Claude is genetically perfect in every way except that she has a prosthetic hand. This does not bother Gilles, so he hops in the car and they head out to her splendid mansion where she lives with her two sisters, each hotter and crazier than the last: Nicole is sex personified, and she slithers around the house in unbuttoned shirts and painted-on slacks while attempting to swallow whole every male that crosses her path; Yvette is stunningly beautiful, but is confined to a wheelchair due to the same mysterious accident that destroyed Claude’s hand. There’s also a gorgeous blonde nurse that takes care of Yvette. Not a bad sitch for our hero. The town is experiencing a series of murders, and the victims are all blonde women with blue eyes. The gendarmes have made Gilles their prime suspect as the timing of the murders coincides with his arrival in town. The viewer also comes to this conclusion due to Gilles’ bizarre flashbacks of himself choking a woman to death. Gilles sets to work doing manly things around the manse such as milking the cow, chopping wood shirtless, and systematically banging the hot crazy sisters. One day the Brawny Man leaps over the fence and attacks him, attempting to stab Gilles with a knife. Turns out he used to be the sisters’ houseboy and he’s jealous of the new guy. Gilles manages to subdue him, and folks later discuss how violent this man is and that his behavior is not surprising in the least. And now we have two suspects! The victims and suspects continue to pile up, and the nice misdirection keeps the viewer good and confused right up until the end. And kind of a little bit after the end. And maybe the next day. Director and writer Carlos Aured has an incredible eye for lighting; he knows when to make it dramatic and he knows when to rein it in. The sets are beautiful, and Aured uses lots of white with bright splashes of color. There are only a couple of scenes that feel directly Argento-nian; giallo films are clearly the inspiration, but Aured takes what he likes and really makes it his own. And there’s a fantastic death scene that I had to rewind and watch again – you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it. This is the first time “Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll” is available on home video. The English dubbing is so good that you can almost forget they’re speaking Castilian. The commentary by Paul Naschy and Carlos Aured is pretty long-winded, and they go on and on about how deep the characters are. (Coulda fooled me...) They also hilariously and less-than-modestly brag about how awesome the camera work is. HA! However, the commentary is about 15 seconds ahead of the film so they’re talking about scenes that are yet to happen, and even though they take several breaks in the discussion, no one bothered to adjust it. The stills gallery includes shots from the film and the original gorgeous movie posters. There’s also an introduction by Paul Naschy that plays every single time you load up the DVD. You pretty much can’t escape that thing. And it has nothing at all to do with the movie, regardless of what he says or how convincingly he says it. “Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll” is beautiful and not in the least bit scary. It’s definitely worth a gander if you’re a fan of the genre. And boobs.
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