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Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: March 12th, 2025.
Director: Jesús García de Dueñas
Cast: Domingo Codesido Ascanio, Maria Rohm, Lola Flores, James Philbrook, Teresa Rabal
Year: 1975
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The Killer Is Not Alone – Movie Review:
Julio Nieto (Domingo Codesido Ascanio) loves nothing more in life than hot dogs and rhinos save for slashing the throats of loose women! The only son of Don Enrique Nieto (James Philbrook), a wealthy businessman living in Avilés on the coast of Spain, he is, obviously, a troubled young man. We see this firsthand when he heads into a hotel room with a leggy, redheaded streetwalker (Maria Rohm) and promptly pulls out some wire and cuts her throat. While this behavior no doubt stems back to an incident in his childhood involving a frisky babysitter, it clearly resulted in Julio growing up to be damaged goods.
When Julio decides, seemingly on a whim, to travel to Madrid and take up residence in a boarding house, his father becomes instantly concerned and hires a private investigator to track down his son. Julio, meanwhile, befriends a beautiful young woman named Monica (Teresa Rabal), the daughter of the woman who runs the boarding house. They hit it off and things seem to be going ok, but more women are turning up dead in the area and the police, as well as the local residents, are becoming increasingly alarmed.
Monica’s mother (Lola Flores) tries to keep her daughter away from Julio, claiming that she’s too young to be interested in such things, but Monica is starting to fall deeply in love with the new arrival, and he seems to be responding in kind…
The sole directorial offerings from Jesús García de Dueñas, The Killer Is Not Alone isn’t the most suspenseful thriller/Spanish giallo you’ll ever see, but it is quite well-made and stylish in its presentation. The cinematography from Fernando Arribas is excellent across the board and the murder set pieces appropriately grisly, while the score complements the action effectively enough. The film also features some great locations, which add to the already impressive visuals on display.
The best quality of the film, however, is the cast. Domingo Codesido Ascanio, credited as David Carpenter, makes for a really good lead. You can see why women would like him, he’s decent looking and interesting, but he’s just as effective when he snaps and starts killing. He shows good range here and handles the material very well. He and Teresa Rabal have an interesting on-screen chemistry together, you’ll have no trouble believing that they genuinely care about one another, which gives the ending, as predictable as it might be, a bit more punch than it would have otherwise. She’s also very good in her role, sharing some tense moments with the lead but also with Lola Flores as her domineering mother. James Philbrook does a good job as Julio’s concerned father and the film also features Antonio Mayans, María José Cantudo and Maria Rohm in smaller, but no less welcome, supporting roles.
The Killer Is Not Alone – Blu-ray Review:
Mondo Macabro presents The Killer Is Not Alone on a region free 50GB disc in an AVC encoded 1080 high-definition presentation framed in its original 2.35.1 aspect ratio taken from a new high definition 2k remaster of the original 35mm negative. Picture quality is strong, showing nice detail. The colors can lean a little yellowish in spots but are otherwise fine and black levels are deep. Skin tones look accurate and, aside from a few specks here and there, the image is very clean. There aren’t any issues with any noise reduction, compression issues or edge enhancement and the transfer always feels like proper film.
The Spanish language audio, which includes optional English subtitles, is presented in 16-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono and it sounds quite good. Levels are balanced nicely, and the score has some good depth to it. The dialogue is clean and clear and there are no problems with any hiss, distortion or sibilance.
An audio commentary by Troy Howarth and Rodney Barnett starts off the extras on the disc. They talk about the film's obscurity, how it's a Spanish film in the giallo style, the film's release history, details on the cast and crew and thoughts on the performances that actors give, some of the more interesting moments in the cinematography, how the movie compares to other giallo productions such as Hatchet For The Honeymoon, thoughts on the characters and their relationships in the movie, the international casting choices in the movie, the lighting in the film, some of the foreshadowing in the picture, thoughts on some of the more surreal moments in the film and how the cinematography goes along with this, the influence of the Catholic church on Spanish cinema of the era and how that ties into this movie and lots more.
Also included here is an interview with Angel Sala, the Director of the Sitges Film Festival that runs twenty-three minutes. This covers the influence of the Franco regime on Spanish cinema and the signs of liberalization that occurred in the latter years of that era, other Spanish films that were made about psycho killers and how this one compares, some of the themes that these movies explored, some of the more uniquely Spanish elements that are present in the film, thoughts on some of the interesting characters that populate the movie, the performances in the film and how the movie is a precursor to Zito's The Prowler made years later.
The film’s original trailer, menus and chapter selection options are also provided.
The Killer Is Not Alone – The Final Word:
The Killer Is Not Alone is a well-made giallo style picture with some strong performances and grisly murder set pieces to go along with its strong production values. The Blu-ray edition from Mondo Macabro, the film’s worldwide premiere in high-definition and it’s premiere in North America in any format, looks and sounds very good and has some quality extra features that do a good job of dissecting the picture. Recommended.