La muerte llama a las 10

The Killer Wore Gloves is one of the specific subset of giallo films that are of Spanish origin. Despite this one being a Spanish-Italian co-production, it's certainly fair to say that it's primarily an Iberian film. Like other examples of this type, it's of a bit lower quality than its average Italian counterpart, while still essentially being decent overall. As is so often the way in this particular sub-genre, it sports a plot-line that is somewhat convoluted. Set in London, events kick off with the murder of a man in an airport restroom for possession of an enigmatic briefcase. At the same time, a young woman thinks she has spotted her boyfriend driving around in the city, a man who has hitherto gone missing. The girl also has taken in a new tenant to share her home with, a very odd man who wears shades indoors at all times. He soon turns up dead after an apparent suicide. Making matters even worse, an attempt is made on the girl's life by an unknown assassin and this is followed by a bunch of other inter-related murders.

It's a fairly complicated story full of the usual gaggle of red herrings and oddball side characters that typify films from this genre. The murder set-pieces themselves involve a variety of weaponry and there is a modicum of suspense generated. The on location London settings were fine, while Gillian Hills made for a good enough heroine. It is, however, not an especially stylish effort by this genre's usual standards and it's really a fairly middling example of this type of movie on the whole. But, that said, if you are a fan of the genre I know that one thing is for sure and that is that more of the same is never exactly a bad thing. And this entry, while basically unremarkable, still has the good sense to deliver the bread and butter elements of the genre. At the end of the day though, for giallo connoisseurs, I think that overall the most interesting feature in this one is its Spanish origins.

I wasn't expecting too much from this minor giallo. The Spanish director, Juan Bosch, was responsible for what was probably Paul Naschy's worst movie, "Exorcismo" (the one that ends with the Spanish horror star battling a possessed German shepherd). And the lead, English actress Gillian Hills, is most well-known for a couple of famous three-way sex scenes--with Jane Birkin and David Hemmings in "Blow Up" and with Malcolm McDowell and some other girl in "A Clockwork Orange". She had a slightly meatier role in the Hammer film "Demons of the Mind", but nothing to indicate she could carry a movie by herself.

Hills plays a young woman whose boyfriend disappears (we apparently see him killed in the opening scene). She has to rent out a room in her flat to a creepy tenant. She then gets a call from her missing boyfriend luring her to an abandoned airport hanger where she is nearly shot. She returns to find the creepy tenant has apparently committed suicide. But then she finds out he was an impostor when the real tenant shows up. And what's up with her boyfriend? Is he alive or dead? This is a pretty average giallo, but that means if you like gialli in general you'll probably like it. It seems relatively big-budgeted, being shot largely on location in London, but the visual style is not terribly interesting (with the exception of Hills' extended nude scene --it's pretty hard to make that uninteresting). I'd recommend it to gialli fans for sure (even though you really won't see anything you haven't seen before), and for everyone else, well, it's at least worth watching if you stumble across it I guess.

Considering I'm a self-acclaimed giallo film aficionado, I simply must start this review with a pointless rant about how ludicrous and goddamn obvious the international English title is. "The Killer Wore Gloves"… Is that seriously the best title they could come up with? I've seen approximately 120 gialli so far, and in more than 75% of all titles the killer – or killers - always wears gloves. The black (leather) gloves of the killer are one of the main giallo trademarks, along with the convoluted plot-twists and the misogynic violence. There's something wrong with all titles of this particular giallo, in fact. The original Spanish title "La Muerta Llama a las 10" somewhat translates as "Death Calls at 10 O'Clock", which is admittedly a much cooler title but doesn't have any link with the events in the film. And the Italian release titles goes like "The Warm Lips of the Killer". Quite awesome too, but the killer doesn't do anything with his/her lips neither.

But anyways, enough about the title issues! "The Killer Wore Gloves" is a Spanish giallo, and they are usually not as well-known or popular as their colleagues from Italy. The fact that it is still extremely obscure and hard to find also means that it's not a fantastic overlooked treasure of 70s Euro-cinema. Still, I would definitely recommend checking out "The Killer Wore Gloves" to more experienced giallo fans because it contains a handful of suspenseful sequences, an exhilarating score, an incredibly beautiful lead actress and a fairly satisfying & ingenious twist ending. The film begins with the lovely Peggy Foster (Gillian Hills) spotting her boyfriend Michael in a car in the center of London, even though his supposed to be fighting in Vietnam. Shortly after Peggy welcomes the creepy new tenant John Kirk Lawford in the apartment above hers, but when she returns from a fruitless attempt to meet up with Michael, the tenant apparently committed suicide by jumping from the apartment balcony. Then, while she's being interrogated by the police, another man rings the doorbell and claims to be the new tenant named John Kirk Lawford. Oh and meanwhile there's a killer – with gloves – slicing up Peggy's acquaintances with a nasty type of sickle. In all honesty the story really isn't that interesting or compelling, but you keep watching (or at least I did) because Peggy is such a likable female lead and you don't want her to get hurt. Gillian Hills depicts her as the ideal damsel in distress and it probably also helps that she has a couple of extended topless sequences. The rather unknown but prolific Spanish director Juan Bosch makes the most out of the scenes where Peggy wanders around her flat all petrified, with loud penetrating music, assuming there is someone there who intends to hurt her. There's some nice London scenery to admire as well as a couple of pointless but entertaining supporting characters, like a naked Orchidea de Santis and a cat-worshiping gay neighbor.

Spanish Giallo's don't tend to be as good as the bona fide Italian ones, and this film supports that fact. The top of the range Spanish Giallo's include the likes of A Dragonfly for Each Corpse and Seven Murders for Scotland Yard (both starring prolific Spanish horror star Paul Naschy), but The Killer Wore Gloves is pretty much your standard Giallo fare, and was obviously made to cash on the popular style of the day. However, in its own right - The Killer Wore Gloves is not an especially bad film, though the plot isn't exactly original and it could have been carried better. The film begins with a man getting his throat slashed by an unseen assailant with a razor blade. His girlfriend, Peggy Foster, later learns of his disappearance and is drawn to an old abandoned airport, where she is shot at but manages to get away unscathed. Things take a turn for the more mysterious when the lodger she took in turns up dead - and also happens to be an impostor when the real lodger turns up!

The fact that the plot is complicated isn't a problem at all if you ask me (quite the opposite in fact) as I love a good complicated Giallo - but despite it's complexity, the plot here isn't all that interesting. This is unfortunately matched by some lacklustre cinematography, which is a real shame as this is one of the things that makes the Giallo genre as a whole stand out, but it's not capitalised on here. The acting is typically standard stuff, but Gillian Hills (who was a part of the influential 'Blow-Up') at least makes for an engaging lead. The film takes place in London, and unlike a lot of Giallo's that take place outside of their native country - this one is actually shot on location, which is nice. The plot moves steadily throughout and at just eighty five minutes, The Killer Wore Gloves doesn't really have time to get boring. It all boils down to an interesting conclusion that just about justifies the film that came before it and almost wraps everything up. Overall, I can't say that this is a must see Giallo, but it's not terrible and Giallo fans are likely to get something out of it.

The killer wore gloves: of course he did... this is a giallo, after all. He also packs a cut-throat razor, with which he kills his first victim, but switches to a curved sickle gardening tool for subsequent murders. All par for the course.

The killer, who also wears a leather jacket, is searching for a missing $1million in cash, half of which falls into the lap of pretty artist Peggy Foster (Gillian Hills), meaning that she is in constant peril throughout the film. Peggy knows nothing of the origin of the money, but thinks that it has something to do with her reporter boyfriend Michael, who is currently on assignment in Vietnam - or is he?

I admit that following obscure Spanish giallo The Killer Wears Gloves was a bit of a struggle for me, not because it is a particularly complex movie, but because it failed to hold my attention, being far from compelling or original. There's very little here to excite avid fans of the genre - no dazzling visuals, no amazingly choreographed death sequences, and no clever revelations - just some nudity (star Hills is very attractive and takes a shower) and a bit of nice travelogue footage of 70s London, where the film is set (although the car chase finalé was very clearly shot in Spain).

4.5/10, rounded up to 5 for Peggy's groovy apartment, complete with giant egg-shaped lamp/ornament, but rounded down to 4 for Peggy having a handy revolver - in the UK?!?!.