La muerte ronda a Monica

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.

In a movie that's less than ninety minutes long, a somewhat unfortunate portion of the length is devoted wholly to introducing the many characters that play a part in the story. All the while, the movie is filled with a frank overabundance of dialogue - up until the 40 minute mark, hardly a second goes by that isn't defined by conversation between characters. Thankfully, though the script continues to be overbearing, thereafter the narrative begins in earnest, with ill-doings and mounting intrigue. 'La muerte ronda a Monica,' or 'Death haunts Monica,' isn't the most captivating thriller in the world, but it's duly entertaining all the same.

Poor Monica is little more than a pawn as those around her make plays for money and power. Why, to some extent the film reminds of a Lifetime original movie - the hapless housewife, a web of lies and deceit, a growing body count. I think the editing and sequencing leaves a bit to be desired, as the resulting picture bears a certain unfortunate inelegance in its presentation. Adolfo Waitzman's score is a bit curious, bearing instrumentation and chords that seem strikingly different from similar features, but ultimately it's quite suitable. Overemphasis on dialogue aside, there's nothing particularly remarkable about the screenplay, yet Juan José Alonso Millán's writing is deft enough to keep us guessing until the very end how it's all going to play out. That so much of the plot is left to be revealed at the climax is a little off-putting, and the curtness of the ending no less so. Yet otherwise the movie is sufficiently sound to allay such consternation.

While the plot is a bit intricate, the character writing generally is not, and for the most part the cast fill roles that feel as though they're pretty well predefined. That's not to say that anyone performs poorly; on the contrary, I think everyone illustrates able skill to bring their characters to life. Still, only the title figure is conjured with an especial measure of complexity, and star Nadiuska demonstrates fine range and physicality in realizing the beleaguered woman.

There's not much more to be said. It's rough around the edges, and imperfect, but this is enjoyable enough. There are certainly more worthy thrillers out there, but if you happen to come across 'La muerte ronda a Monica,' it's not a bad way to spend eighty minutes.

The marriage between Federico and Monica is on the rocks.Federico has a mistress named Eva.There is a conspiracy between Monica's friend Elena and Eva to take over the company Eurozone owned by Federico.Elena and Eva are in a lesbian relationship.The situation becomes complicating when Diego appears,a former associate of Federico and a criminal...Very enjoyable Spanish giallo obviously influenced by legendary French classic "Diabolique".There is plenty of sleaze and full-frontal nudity including lesbian scene between Karin Schubert and Barbara Rey.Nadisuka is exceptionally beautiful and she shows her naked flesh too.A must-see for any self-respecting giallo completist.7 out of 10.

Monica (Nadiuska) is supposedly a rich woman who lives happily with her husband, Federico (Jean Sorel). Thanks to a friend of hers she finds out that he is cheating on her with another woman named Eva (Bárbara Rey). Things go from bad to worse when the company appears to be in trouble and former board members reappear. However, everything seems even more complicated with the appearance of Diego (Damián Velasco), a former adventure partner of Federico who has spent the last few years in prison due to a robbery and who also wants to get hold of the couple's assets, trying to get cold hard cash. The wealthy woman is then implicated in a series of murders. Other partners in this venture include the middle-aged bachelor Arturo (in his usual role as elegant playboy Arturo Fernández), who has a string of lovers throughout the city and used to date Monica herself, and the usually fur-clad glamorous Elena De Fuentes (Karin Schubert), who is a close friend of Mónica. At least that's what she thinks. Trusted friends are also few in the Giallo genre.

In 1976, Giallo was still influencing some directors, as in this Spanish thriller, whose intricate plot does not imply any development, nor due tension, nor an original outcome; however it does contain a few attractive elements. In short, the approach with which the director tries to drive one of the characters to madness is partially interesting. The film offers little more than gratuitous nudity, with a lesbian scene included, something very typical in the era of the "Destape" (ordinary nudist exposure of Spanish actresses in the seventies and eighties). As a trivia, we should add that the film received complaints at the time from certain viewers who had to be assisted in the same theaters due to the shock caused by some violent sequences. This film has a lot of dialogue and is somewhat slow, although it begins in an entertaining way and develops little by little, repetitively, spurred by a ridiculous ending, and not being filmed or directed with much style, but rather with a television aesthetic. Although it's called Giallo, it reminded me much more of a similar film, 'Diabolique'. The only thing you might not find in a television production is that there is a generous helping of female nudity here. All the actresses involved like Nadiuska, Karin Schubert, and Bárbara Rey, the latter more than once, as well as other women in smaller roles like Sandra Alberti, and Jenny Llada act to undress and then disappear. However, it's also worth noting that the scenes themselves are far from erotic. There is no sex here; just a lot of nudist scenes when the girls are showering, or making love, or coming out of the bathroom when the phone rings, or upstairs when they're in bed with their partners. Even a lesbian act in a nightclub is boring when filmed from afar.

I'll give him some credit for generating a bit of intrigue at the end and some well-executed scares, although it's pretty obvious that he's not very skilled at this particular genre. Some of the posters advertised this as an Agatha Christie adaptation, but it is not. The cast also includes the regulars of horror and European Giallo, such as the french Jean Sorel who played as a leading man in many films, standing out in the Italian Giallos, starring Nadiuska , famous as mother of 'John Milius's Conan' and in 'Último deseo' (The People Who Own the Dark,1979), Yelena Samarina and Luis Barboo as Monica's servants, the latter participated in a lot of horror/Western films, Bárbara Rey from 'The Cursed Ship' (or The ghost galleon), Sandra Alberti, who starred in the Spanish exploitation gem 'Satan's Blood' (1978). There has never been an official release for this title, although several outlets offered a faded, albeit widescreen print. The film was mediocrely directed by Ramón Fernández, although it has many deficiencies, cracks and gaps. This was the only Giallo genre film by this director, who made mainly comedies. Ramón was a prolific craftsman who directed all types of genres (but with a penchant for comedy), such as Thrillers: ¨Rueda de sospechosos¨, ¨7 minutos para morir¨; Westerns: ¨Las mujeres de Jeremías¨; Musical: ¨Las aventuras de Enrique y Ana¨, ¨A Tope¨. Being expert on Spanish comedies, such as: ¨Aquí están las vicetiples¨, ¨Cateto a babor¨, ¨Ahí va otro recluta¨, ¨Simón contamos contigo¨, ¨Sor YeYe¨ , ¨Margarita se llama mi amor¨, ¨ Los novios de mujer¨, ¨El adultero¨, ¨El donante¨, ¨Cuando los maridos iban a la guerra¨, ¨Doctor me gustan las mujeres es grave¨, ¨Matrimonio al desnudo¨, ¨El señorito y las seductoras¨, ¨El gran mogollón¨, ¨Aquí el que no corre vuela¨ and he made ¨No desearas al vecino del quinto¨ considered to be the Spanish's most boxoffice at the time. Rating: 6/10. Average but passable .

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.