The Killer is Not Alone – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain, 1975
Director: Jesús García de Dueñas
Writers: Jesús Torbado, Jesús García de Dueñas
Cast: Lola Flores, James Philbrook, Teresa Rabal, Domingo Codesido Ascanio, Francisco Pierrá, José Vivó, Juan José Otegui, Manuel Alexandre, Mayrata O'Wisiedo, Maria Rohm, Antonio Mayans

Release Date: March 10th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 85 Minutes 10 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Spanish, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Julio, the only son of a wealthy businessman, living in the coastal city of Avilés in the north of Spain, is a young man with many problems, including a pathological fear of women due to a psychological trauma he suffered during his childhood.  One night, as he prowls the sleazier quarters of the city, he picks up a prostitute and follows her to a seedy hotel room. As she tries to arouse him to action, he responds violently, garrotting her with a length of piano wire, leaving her dead on the bed, covered with blood.

Julio takes the train to Madrid and checks into a boarding house in the city. He is much younger than the rest of the residents and soon Monica, the boarding house owner’s teenage daughter, finds herself attracted to the new arrival. More murders by the sinister “wire killer” are reported in the newspapers and it seems the police have no clue as to who it might be. As Monica gets ever closer to the troubled Julio her mother tries to warn her off the young man. But it’s too late; and soon it seems likely that Monica herself will fall victim to the dreaded “wire killer”." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Brand new 4k restoration from original negative."

The Killer is Not Alone comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 28.7 GB

Feature: 23 GB

The source looks excellent; colors look correct, image clarity and compression are solid, black levels are strong, and the image retains an organic look.

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD Mono Spanish), 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Spanish and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. The Spanish language track sounds great; dialogue comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise this audio track sounds very good. The English language track has some minor background hiss, and range-wise it sounds more restrained than the Spanish language track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Spanish language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Spanish with removable English subtitles), an interview with Angel Sala, director of the Sitges Film Festival (23 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Troy Howarth and Rod Barnett.

Summary:

A traumatized young man murders young women who arouse him.

Though there is some crossover between Spanish and Italian thrillers, the former delves more into the psychological while the latter relies heavily on visceral murder set pieces. A film like The Killer is Not Alone is a rarer example of a Spanish thriller that is a blend of psychological and visceral. The Killer is Not Alone has a pre-credits sequence in which a prostitute is killed with a wire that slits her throat. This sequence is in line with the level of carnage one expected to see when watching an Italian thriller in the 1970s.

The killer's identity is not a secret; it is revealed in the aforementioned pre-credits sequence. The narrative’s focus is not on stopping the killer and bringing them to justice; it is on unlocking the reason behind why they kill. There is a flashback that details the traumatic event from the killer's childhood.

All around the cast are excellent, especially Maria Rohm (Venus in Furs), who portrays multiple characters. And like so many of her roles, she has a striptease where she gets to show off her sexiness. Domingo Codesido Ascanio is cast in the role of Julio, a disturbed young man who is unable to control his urge to kill women. He delivers an utterly convincing portrayal of a character crippled by trauma. Another performance of note is Teresa Rabal (Viridiana) who portrays Mónica the boarding house owner’s teenage daughter who becomes attached to Julio.

The Killer is Not Alone is filled with stylized visuals that heighten the mood. The murders are gory, and the camera lingers on women’s feet, a fetish the killer has connected to his trauma. The two memorable moments visually are a scene at the dinner table in which everyone freezes while the camera pans the room and everything fades into darkness, and the aforementioned flashback sequence where the killer's trauma began.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where The Killer is Not Alone does not excel. The well-constructed narrative does a superb job creating tense moments, and pacing is never as issues as key moments are given an ample amount of time to resonate. The Killer is Not Alone has an eclectic collection of music cues that vary in quality. That said, its main theme is a song titled No le roces con tu sonrisa, which does a phenomenal job of reinforcing the mood. Also, for a first-time feature film director, Jesús García de Dueñas' direction is solid. Ultimately, The Killer is Not Alone is a well-crafted psychological thriller whose moment of truth lingers on in your mind.

The Killer is Not Alone gets a solid release from Mondo Macabro that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer