In a shocking move, the film opens with a revealing who the killer is.  A young man is invited into a woman’s apartment.  As they begin to kiss on the bed, he pulls a thin wire and strangles her.  The wire is so thin that it cuts into her throat, leading to a grisly death in the first few minutes of the film.  The movie follows the killer, revealed to be Julio (the son of a wealthy businessman), and shows him covetously looking over women’s bodies in public, but when he gets too aroused, he can’t stop himself from strangling the object of his desire.  After trying and failing to talk to his father about his issues, he moves into a new building in a new city. In a dream sequence, he ties a neighbor to her bed with wire.  The woman’s wrists are bleeding where she is tied to the headboard.  Then his former victim appears to him in a surreal scene. At the same time, the young man’s father begins an investigation into his son and starts uncovering disturbed behavior.

Meanwhile, Julio is forming a connection with the daughter of a woman in the boarding house he is staying in.  Feeling tempted when she shows him physical affection, Julio quickly runs away to spare her life.  Instead, he stumbles across the neighbor that appeared in his dream and murders her.  In another dream sequence, a figure bandages his cut hands, and he behaves in a childlike manner, suggesting some type of early life trauma.  Eventually, secrets are revealed and Julio’s inability to control his urges causes things to spiral out of control.

There is a recurring rhinoceros theme that I don’t quite get.  There is also a lot of Catholic imagery throughout the film.  Luckily there is an interview with Angel Sala, director of the Sitges film festival, who explains the movie and Spanish psycho-killer films.  In Franco’s Spain, psycho-killer films weren’t even allowed.  So, directors did not have much experience making them.  The ability to make them was actually a sign of the new liberalism of Spain.  It borrows heavily from the Italian giallos but feels different.   There is no mystery to the killer’s identity.  Instead, the film follows the killer as a character study and the mystery is what trauma made him a killer.  Sadly, I never get an answer to my rhinoceros question as the film critic is confused as well, offering a lame “maybe some kind of phallic representation?”.  The 23-minute interview is enlightening to the culture of 1970s Spanish film though. The film was made in 1973 but not released until 1975.

At 85 minutes, it is a quick watch that does not overstay its welcome. With a 4k restoration from the original negative, the picture quality looks good and there are some interesting shot choices. It is hard to believe that this is the first and only feature film by this Spanish TV director and film critic, Jesus Garcia de Duenas. There is a commentary track with Troy Howarth and Rod Barnett.  The commentators have good banter and occasionally joke with each other in addition to providing insight. Throw in the original trailer and it has an okay but not impressive number of extras.

The film is not an Arthouse film, not a popular thriller, but resides somewhere between the two. Historically, it fell through the cracks and is not that well known. I can see why as it strikes an odd balance between sub-genres and is not quite committed to either. However, it is a well-made film and worth a watch. I recommend it as an interesting contrast to how other countries approach the giallo genre that Italy seems to own.