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.

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.

This outrageous Spanish thriller was distributed in the US as Death Haunts Mónica--an apt enough title until one realizes how much else is haunting the poor girl. Murder, mayhem, kinky Sapphic encounters, and risqué bathing behavior are just a few of the elements in Ramon Fernandez's off-the-wall Giallo.

It features no fewer than three European beauties: Nadiuska, Bárbara Rey, and Karin Schubert. All three are on full display for a significant part of the film. They are accompanied by several others who present brief glimpses.

The principal male, Monica's (Nadiuska) husband, is French actor Jean Sorel. I remember him in front of a firing squad in the original Day of the Jackal. Of course, Monica may be putting him in front of a firing squad if he doesn't leave his mistress (Bárbara Rey).

Elena (Karin Schubert) is plotting to steal the company, and stirring things up with Monica and her husband. But, things get twisted and you don't know who is fooling whom.

There exist two types of gialli, and I'm not referring to the Italian ones versus all the other countries. No, I'm actually talking about two types of plots. Either a giallo handles about a masked psycho-killer with black gloves who savagely butchers people – preferably pretty young models – with sharp objects, or it handles about a convoluted murder conspiracy complete with sexual intrigues, betrayal and triangular relationships. "Death Haunts Monica", a Spanish giallo released when the glory years of the genre were already fading out, belongs in the second category and it also takes an incredibly long time before the murders start occurring. But don't be alarmed too much because the film still provides plenty of entertainment during the first gore-free hour, thanks to interesting character developments, tension building and – of course – copious amounts of 100% gratuitous nudity. The beautiful and rich Monica is married to Federico (played by Jean Sorel who plays an adulterous scumbag in pretty much every movie I've ever seen starring him) and lives a rather dull and monotonous life inside their big luxurious mansion. Federico and his sex- addicted partner Arturo run a successful company, but Federico also has an affair with the sexy model Eva. However, Eva is actually in a lesbian relationship with Federico's secretary Elena, and the both of them want to blackmail him by threatening to inform Monica about her husband unfaithfulness. And as if life isn't difficult enough already for Federico, a sinister ex-convict shows up at his doorstep and threatens to expose a horrible secret from the past. And then, suddenly, poor Monica is attacked in her own house by a violent perpetrator dressed in black… The main problem with "Death Haunts Monica" is a typical one for over-ambitious gialli from unknown and largely inexperienced directors. The plot and suspense keeps on building up towards a climax that can't possibly meet the expectations that were raised during the film. In spite of all the intrigues and the red herrings and the secrecy, the conclusion is rather dumb and multiple essential key-characters are eliminated abruptly. Like several of my fellow reviewers already pointed out, director Ramón Fernandez clearly tried to imitate the French suspense masterpiece "Les Diaboliques", especially during the wannabe sensual sequences where Nadiuska and Karin Schubert are sitting on a bed naked and conspiring against Federico, but the homage doesn't really work. The character of Arturo is amusing (but totally implausible) and the sub plot with the mysterious Diego definitely holds potential but remains too vague. "Death Haunts Monica" is perhaps worth a look in case you're a fellow giallo-lover and have already seen all the more popular Italian classics, but not a movie worth tracing down.

Most enjoyable, Spanish giallo type mystery thriller starring the very fine Jean Sorel, just a shame the Spanish dub removes his voice and that someone decided he should have dark hair. Maybe light hair was too effeminate on men at this time as the Spanish rushed out from under the fallen censorship of dead Franco. Certainly the ladies take every opportunity to pepper the proceedings with regular showers and changes of clothes. And despite all this I enjoyed it! Seriously, this is well worth seeking out, it runs less than 90 minutes and races along from start to finish barely allowing time for the subtitles to appear or the next character to speak. During this fascinating tale with at least two plot lines. Absolutely never a dull moment and although this is more psychological than gory, there are still plenty of killings to keep one guessing. Nadiuska is also worth a mention as the lovely and wealthy wife of Sorel who tends to glide about beautifully in the early stages and then go berserk towards the end. Really good fun.