Al otro lado del espejo

Obscene Mirror (1973)

*** (out of 4)

This is a pretty well, if highly praised, film from the Spanish director, which is (apparently) available in three different versions. The version getting all the love and praise is the Spanish version while the French and Italian versions are re-edited with hardcore scenes and an alternate cast added to the mix. The version I watched was the Italian one, which is hard to review due to the hardcore scenes, which were added. The basic plot, I believe, is the same from each version and centers on a woman (Emma Cohen) who suffers a breakdown after the suicide of her sister (played by Lina Romay in this version). Soon after the suicide the sister begins to see her dead sister inside a mirror, which causes her to go out, bring men home and kill them. Again, it's really hard to judge this film due to the added scenes and the fact that the Spanish version is apparently totally different but there was enough here to I loved to recommend people seeing this but at the same time you should certainly try and get the original version (which I will be looking for). The film reminded me a lot of Franco's Venus in Furs, which is among the director's best films. There's a deeply haunting, sad and tragic nature and atmosphere, which runs throughout this film and it wasn't hard to get caught up into the mental state of the main character. Franco's direction is very sharp throughout but most of the credit has to go towards Cohen who is simply terrific in the film. She doesn't have to resort to nudity or cheap thrills to get her performance across. I guess the best way to explain it is that she comes across like a spirit and just floats from one scene to the next, slowing breaking down in front of our eyes. Sadly the disc I watched also didn't feature any subtitles so I couldn't follow any of the dialogue, which there was plenty of and I'm sure if I could follow the story more I would have loved it even more. The hardcore scenes, which again, were added, are pretty ugly and add absolutely nothing to the movie. These scenes really killed everything that was going on so I found myself hitting the FF button through them. I'm hoping to track down the director's cut soon since most fans think this Italian version is a complete mess. If it is a mess and I enjoyed it this much then I can't wait to see what the Spanish one offers.

Ana (Emma Cohen) and her father (Howard Vernon) have always meant the world to each other but their idyllic life together shatters when the girl wants to get married and, going into his study to show him her wedding gown, she finds her dad dangling from the end of a rope. Devastated, Ana puts her piano skills to good use by running away to become a singer in a lounge band only to find the pain's inside. She's a beauty and men are interested but whenever Ana reciprocates, the image of her father's suicide appears to her in mirrors and she sees herself stabbing those men to death. Unfortunately, whenever that happens, she either hears or reads in the paper that the men really were murdered. Devastated again, Ana tries to commit suicide but her best friend intervenes and takes her to a beautiful island to rest and recuperate - the island where Ana and her father lived...

The Spanish version of this film is considered to be the "director's cut" and I don't know how personal the film was to Franco but I took it personally. There's a fairytale quality to this adult nightmare about guilt and the burdens of the past we all carry but since it sounds like an oxymoron to put "expertly realized" and Jess Franco in the same sentence, suffice it to say that THE OBSCENE MIRROR was downright hypnotic. So much so, I didn't mind the time it took to get where it was going -and it certainly took its time. There were too many non-essential musical interludes and the camera's meaningless meandering makes Franco the most frustrating director I've ever encountered. All the zoom-in, zoom-out, pan right, scan left would be OK if it meant something but doing that to a flower bed or a harbor? Not only that, he'd go in for a close-up on a patron in a nightclub audience and linger so long I felt the person was bound to become part of the story but, no, they were just extras. Credit must go not only to the screenplay but to the cinematographer because there were long stretches where the film didn't seem like it was being "directed" and was quite beautiful to contemplate. All I can say in defense of my 8/10 rating is "there's something about it".

Before I get into the review, here are my ratings for the movie.

The story gets 0.25 out of 2: The Direction a 0.75: The Pacing receives a 0.75: While the Acting gets 1.00: And my Enjoyment level earns a 0.75 out of 2: This brings the total for The Obscene Mirror to 3.5 out of 10.

I enjoyed Jesus Franco's version of Dracula, so when I came across this title, well, I had to give a viewing, didn't I? Let this be a lesson to me, just because a director has one good film under his belt doesn't mean they are all going to be to the same calibre. In fact, this story is woefully lacking in everything.

Now, listen to this premise: A Nightclub singer is haunted by the ghost of her dead father. A father who was so oppressive and domineering that he couldn't accept his daughter loved another man and so commits suicide on her wedding day. However, this is just the start of her nightmare. Not only does he and his death torment her, but is he forcing her to commit murder?

Doesn't this sound great? It did to me. I envisioned a dark and moody supernatural thriller filled with imagery and eeriness. Regrettably, the writers, Nicole Guettard and Jesus Franco, took a more moralistic view. The whole story has a pretentiousness to it. Guettard and Franco are pushing the differences between sexual equality. I love a good morality tale, but sadly they attack the issues with a heavy hand. And, hardly touch on the more supernatural elements of the story. We spend too much time on self-centred blokes waxing lyrical on how macho and "in-touch" with their feelings they are. One character even gives us a five minute narrative on the history of men in the region.

What this story needed was a much better structure. A better balance of morality and suspense.

I did learn one thing, though. A foreign language film with subtitles is way more boring if you have to read the drivel the characters are spouting. The act of reading forces you into the story more. You have to make the physical effort. When you're listening you can listen with half an ear... just like you do with your spouse.

I even believe the direction the story took hindered Franco in his directing. There's nothing eerie in this movie. It's a suspense-less thriller, and that is death for this style of movie. If the story is weak, the director has to step up to the plate and give the audience something interesting to watch. Alas, Franco opts for a basic, and below average, point and shoot style. By the twentieth minute, my attention was wavering. Luckily, the "history of men" comes towards the end of the movie, by which time, you think, oh well, may as well see it through to the end. Franco isn't too good with pacing. I think he got lucky with Dracula as his one-pace style worked in the confines of that story. Here, however, it only adds to the tediousness of the picture.

The acting is the best part of this film. Don't get me wrong though, the acting is still only average. This comes down to some of the characters being underused and poorly constructed. We needed to see why Ana was the way she was towards men. We are told her father wasn't great, but we are never really shown this. We needed more on this relationship and more on Ana's mental health and well being. The cast do well with what they are given. It's a shame they're not given much. And, if they are, it's generally drivel.

If you thought, upon reading the synopsis, that this movie would be a great film to watch, you have been warned. I cannot, in all faith recommend this nonsense to anyone. And, in all truth, I would suggest staying as far away from this Obscene Mirror as possible.

Now, smash that mirror and jog on over to my Absolute Horror and Killer Thriller Chillers and The Game Is Afoot lists to see where this claptrap crashed in my rankings. At the very least, you should be able to find something better to watch.

Take Care & Stay Well.

As most know, there are 3 versions of the film. The Spanish is considered to be the true director's cut. The French changes the plot and swaps actors, while an Italian print adds hardcore bits to the newly added sex scenes from the French version. While it is frequently cited that the material in the French and Italian films were shot later, this is not entirely true. The Lina Romay footage was lensed later, but there are 3 extended nude scenes with Emma Cohen that were from the initial shoot, and I believe Franco would want them in any 'director's cut' DVD that will hopefully appear. They can easily be edited back into the Spanish print ( I've made myself a copy for future viewings ). Are the nude scenes essential to the plot, well perhaps not. But knowing how Franco adores the female form, coupled with Cohen's beautiful presence....I'd strongly feel he wanted them in the Spanish cut but was prevented by the strict censorship of the Spain at the time.

For years and years, I fanatically defended the work of writer/director Jess Franco, but with every film of his that I watch, I wonder why I ever bothered. Maybe I should accept the fact Franco only made a handful of influential and genuine exploitation classics ("The Awful Dr. Orloff", "The Diabolical Dr. Z", "Faceless"), whereas the vast majority of his excessively large repertoire is just utter garbage.

And yet, for a good 15-20 minutes, it really seemed as if "The Obscene Mirror" would become another Franco-winner! The first quarter is definitely promising, with the introduction of a widower (Franco-regular Howard Vernon) and his two beautiful daughters Annette and Marie. Annette is head over heels in love with archeology student Arthur, but Marie is so jealous of her sister's happiness that she commits suicide by ramming a sword in her stomach one day before the wedding. Following the tragedy, Annette is so confused that she abruptly calls off her wedding and starts a new life as piano player in a raunchy bar. From this moment on, Annette hears and sees her sister appearing in an antique mirror, and Marie's vengeful spirit commands her to brutally slaughter every man she's sexually attracted to.

At least, this is the plot of the version I watched, because - apparently - there also exists a version in which it's Annette's father who commits suicide and commands her to kill. Oh well, just another typical flick in Jess Franco's bizarre universe.

With the exception of the compelling first 15 minutes, "The Obscene Mirror" is a dreadfully boring and frustrating film. Franco reverts to his bad habit of inserting overlong (and very un-sexy) hardcore footage, which absolutely doesn't have any added value. During countless of times during the film, you'll find yourself staring at extreme close-ups of a vagina (probably Lina Romay's), and listening to the sounds of either monotonous moaning or jazzy musical tunes. I don't know which of the two was more irritating.

For some strange reason I will never comprehend, "The Obscene Mirror" - in whatever version - is regarded as one of Franco's finest films, and this also gets confirmed by most of the user-comments on this website. Maybe it's fanstastic if endless close-ups of female genitalia are your thing, but it seems to me there are more effective channels for that.